Professor Brendan Crabb AC AAS FAHMS is an infectious diseases researcher with a special interest in malaria. His research group develops and exploits genetic approaches to better understand malaria parasite biology, principally to help prioritise vaccine and drug targets. He described the first gene knockout in the human malaria parasite—technology that has transformed the field—and he discovered the elusive malaria translocon, a novel molecular machine that serves as an unusually vulnerable point in the parasite lifecycle. Although a molecular scientist by training, Brendan’s interests include addressing technical and non-technical barriers to maternal, newborn and child health in the developing world. In 2019 he was awarded the GSK Award for Research Excellence and in 2020 he was awarded the Global Citizen Prize: Australia’s Hero Award.

Since 2008 he has been the director and CEO of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health in Australia. He is the past-president of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI), the peak body for independent medical research institutes in Australia. Brendan has played critical roles in transformative government policy and funding initiatives, including in the generation of the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund.

He is a Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Australian Society for Microbiology, and in 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He serves on the council of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia and is a member of the Academy of Health and Medical Sciences COVID-19 Expert Committee. Internationally, he serves on the international advisory boards of both the Sanger Institute, UK, and the Vaccine Science Portfolio Advisory Committee at PATH/MVI, US, a group he chaired for four years. He is the current chair of Pacific Friends of Global Health. In Victoria, Brendan serves on the Victorian government’s Medical Research Strategic Advisory Committee and is president of the Victorian chapter of AAMRI.

Prior to 2008, Brendan was a senior principal research fellow in the NHMRC and an international fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US, with both positions based at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia. He is an experienced educator, having been teaching and a research academic full time at the University of Melbourne from 1996 to 2000, and has been immersed in education at secondary and tertiary levels ever since. In 2015, Brendan was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest civilian honour, for contributions to better understanding infectious diseases and their impact on poor and vulnerable communities, and for fostering medical research as an advocate, mentor and administrator.

Website: www.burnet.edu.au/people/66_brendan_crabb_ac

Brendan is one of the three Australian convenors at the 2021 Australia–Brazil Virtual Research Collaboration event.

Possui graduação em Odontologia (UFMS). Mestrado em Clínica Odontológica (UFMS). Doutorado em Odontologia (Saúde Coletiva - FOP/Unicamp). Especialista em Saúde da Família (FOP/Unicamp). Especialista em Política, Planejamento, Gestão e Avaliação em Saúde Bucal (UFPE). MBA em Economia e Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde (HAOC). Experiência de seis anos em processos de ensino-aprendizagem à distância e presencial. Atualmente é docente do Programa de Pós-Graduação Profissional em Saúde da Família, Curso de Mestrado Profissional - PROFSAÚDE (Fiocruz). Servidora pública estatutária vinculada a Secretária de Estado de Saúde de Mato Grosso do Sul. Gerente de Pesquisa, Extensão e Inovação em Saúde na Escola de Saúde Pública Dr. Jorge David Nasser (ESP/SES/MS). Docente do curso de Medicina da Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) no Módulo Habilidades de Comunicação, Liderança e Gestão II

Research interests: public health

Collaboration ideas: It is an opportunity for us to work in a collaborative network format, exchanging experiences and internationalizing our work carried out in Brazil.

Professor Fabrício F de Melo Freire PhD is a professor at the Multidisciplinary Institute of Health of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil. He is currently a Research and Extension Coordinator at the aforementioned institute. He completed a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais in 2004 and a master’s degree in 2007, a PhD in 2011, and a postdoctoral fellowship in 2013 in biological sciences (microbiology) from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. Fabrício was also a visiting researcher at the Medical Entomology Laboratory at the René Rachou Institute, Brazil.

Fabrício shares his professional activity between research work and academic teaching, participating in diverse research projects. His main areas of research involve infection by Helicobacter pylori, arboviruses, and, currently, SARS-CoV-2. He has developed extensive work on Helicobacter pylori, which includes investigations on the differences between the immune responses observed in children and adults infected with the bacterium. Fabrício work in several areas has already been recognized and awarded worldwide, being the cover of the World Journal of Clinical Oncology (Volume 11, Issue 11).

Fabrício is a member of the editorial board of the World Journal of Clinical Oncology, academic editor of the World Journal of Gastroenterology, and a reviewer at journals including the World Journal of Gastroenterology, World Journal of Clinical Cases, and World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology.

Research interests: host-parasite relationship

Collaboration ideas: research projects related to Coronavirus; helicobacter pylori and arboviruses

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5680-2753
Lattes ID: 1083095899810595

Dr Monique Deon is a professor at the Pharmacosciences Department at Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Brazil. She attained a bachelor degree in chemistry at Universidade de Passo Fundo in 2013, and MS and PhD Degrees at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in 2015 and 2019, respectively. She was a visiting research fellow during her PhD at Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, France, in 2019 and postdoctoral fellow in pharmaceutical sciences at UFRGS in 2020. Monique has research experience on nanomaterials (mesoporous silica, magnetic and metal nanoparticles) allied with 3D printing to design materials for biocatalysis, biosensing, antimicrobial systems and controlled and personalized drug delivery.

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9889-7420
Lattes ID: 6021445976296111

Dr Betânia Drumond is a Biologist with BS, MSc and PhD in microbiology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and postdoctoral in genomics from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil. Betânia has a broad background in virology/microbiology and molecular biology applied to viral infectious diseases. She started her career as an associate professor in 2010 and since 2016 she has had a permanent position at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. She is involved with academic activities, teaching virology and microbiology for undergrad and graduate students, and research activities coordinating projects and training graduate students.

Betânia’s early studies/publications focused on studies pioneer studies about the origins of the Vaccinia virus circulating nowadays in Brazil causing a significant occupational zoonotic disease. These studies elucidated important questions and brought knowledge about the origins, biological and genetic properties of different populations of the Vaccinia virus circulating in the country. She also has other studies in veterinary virology, and studies of giant viruses, focusing mainly on evolutive aspects of those.

Betânia’s major research interest is the study of arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses). She has been working on arboviruses focusing on virus surveillance, molecular and biological characterization, viral evolution and dynamics, including arboviral investigation in vectors and vertebrate hosts. Her studies demonstrated important aspects of viral emergence, circulation and epidemiology Dengue virus, Zika virus, Saint Louis encephalitis virus and more recently Yellow fever virus, among other viruses in Brazil. Her team has a record of collaborative work with public local health authorities as illustrated by the responses to yellow fever epidemics and epizootics and COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. During the YF outbreaks that took place in Brazil from 2016–2018, she has been working with a collaborative group of research and initial studies have brought light on the origin, ecological aspects and dynamics of yellow fever outbreaks, and also important aspects of yellow fever disease course, virological, epidemiological and immunological aspects during the course of yellow fever.

Research interests: virology; Arbovirology; virus ecology and evolution

Collaboration ideas:
- Collaboration with working groups on viral ecology and evolution
- Investigation of viruses in different animal hosts
- Training human resources
- Establishing working groups to share protocols and development of projects in collaboration (integrative approaches).

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4049-4055
Lattes ID: 5131781092819681

Dr Kamal Dua is an award-winning pharmaceutics and drug delivery researcher who has deep roots in teaching, research and industry spanning three nations and two continents. He holds dual doctoral degrees in pharmaceutical sciences and immunology & microbiology and has completed four professional diplomas in the areas of clinical research, product development, drug regulation, and documentation and intellectual property rights. Kamal’s academic research has contributed significantly to the field of managing chronic inflammatory diseases, especially airway diseases, using novel nano-carriers to deliver potential therapeutic molecules including phytoconstituents. His research involves identifying potential key targets regulating the pathophysiology of the disease and formulating them into effective drug delivery systems that could be translated to clinical settings.

To date, Kamal’s research has resulted in more than 190 peer-reviewed publications in various recognised pharmacy and pharmacology journals, with citations exceeding 6110. He has also presented his research at more than 100 national and international conferences, published more than 25 book chapters, and four books on issues ranging from drug delivery and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying respiratory diseases to cancer.

Research interests: respiratory diseases; nanotechnology; drug delivery; inflammation

Collaboration ideas: This collaboration opportunity will ultimately provide a goal of developing and formulating new therapies to improve the quality of life of patients with chronic lung diseases and other inflammatory conditions. Collaboration with various Brazilian researchers would allow exploring the mechanisms of pathogenesis of influenza, COVID, and other infections; and to develop new treatments and formulations particularly for those who are most susceptible. It will also enable me to translate my research findings into humans as part of clinical collaborations with respiratory physicians in Brazil. This high-profile, highly supportive research environment will also help me to develop my collaborative and supervisory skills. Overall, these opportunities will help make collaborative research to the next level in the coming years, strengthening career, research group and ultimately providing substantial benefits to the community.

Website: https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Kamal.Dua
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7507-1159

Dr Deepak Dubal is an associate professor (Australian Future Fellow) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, and has a strong research background in the field of nano-materials for clean energy conversion and storage systems. Deepak’s research interest is focused on designing and engineering functional materials such as new oxides/nitrides, polyoxometalates and conducting polymers and their hybrids for energy storage applications, with special emphasis on supercapacitors, li-ion batteries and beyond li-ion batteries. At QUT, his research focuses on developing an integrated system as a self-charging power source for wearable electronics and implantable medical devices.

Website: www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/deepak.dubal
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=5RaaXvsAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Dr Amalie Dyda is an infectious disease epidemiologist specialising in digital epidemiology. She completed a master of applied epidemiology at the Australian National University, followed by a PhD investigating vaccine-preventable diseases in adults at the University of New South Wales in 2017. She has experience working as a field epidemiologist in numerous health departments throughout Australia and has research experience in infectious diseases, data linkage and public health informatics.

Amalie is currently working on projects investigating the use of technology and machine learning methods to assist the public health response to infectious diseases, and links between social media use and health.

Research interests: digital public health

Collaboration ideas: There have been rapid digital transformations in response to COVID-19 in both countries. How to better use digital methods and novel data sources for surveillance could be of interest.

Website: http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/29291
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2806-4834

Dr Joel Henrique Ellwanger DSc completed his doctor of science in genetics and molecular biology in 2019 from the Graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. He also did a master’s in cellular and molecular biology in 2015 at the Center of Biotechnology at UFRGS, a bachelor of biological sciences in 2015 and a bachelor of nutrition in 2010 at the University of Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil. Currently, a postdoctoral fellow (PNPD-CAPES; 2019–present) of Graduate Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Department of Genetics in UFRGS, Joel is developing research activities at the Laboratory of Immunobiology and Immunogenetics.

Research interests: immunogenetics; ecology of infectious diseases

Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/joel-ellwanger
Lattes ID: 2144085580878208

Dr Peter Eze is a research fellow in artificial intelligence (AI) for decision support at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research focuses on harnessing AI techniques in conjunction with computational decision science techniques to provide evidence for optimum decision making. Currently, his work focuses on providing evidence to support public health and disease control, especially for COVID-19, malaria and dengue.

Peter is passionate about providing understandable evidence to aid human-in-the-loop decision makers as well as creating an explainable AI technique that allows transparent autonomous systems. Peter’s PhD focused on the impact of steganographic security techniques in medical image diagnosis. He has also worked as a software engineer building health and educational information systems in both Nigeria and the UK.

Website: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/799985-peter-eze
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0244-3668