Dr Nicola Acevedo is a Neuroscientist and Research Fellow with extensive expertise in developing novel therapeutics for neurological and psychiatric disorders, contributing to more than ten clinical trials. She specialises in brain stimulation and psychedelic treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions, with a strong commitment to advancing personalised, evidence-based neurobiological therapies for severe psychiatric illness. Her approach integrates biopsychosocial and person-centred principles to improve treatment access and mental health outcomes.

Professor Wolvetang was among the first to bring the first human embryonic stem cells to Queensland, with his Wolvetang Group at the AIBN now renowned for its work with organoids: growing them, studying them, and using them to try and understand diseases and human development.

Using cutting edge technology, Professor Wolvetang designs and grows organoids both for their own work and for labs across the country, coaxing pluripotent stem cells or tissue samples into 3D structures that mimic the function and architecture of real brains, livers, kidneys, spinal cords, and intestines.

DR JAMES PANG, RESEARCH FELLOW
TURNER INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN AND MENTAL HEALTH, MONASH UNIVERSITY
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA