Professor Dileep Sharma is a distinguished dental educator and researcher who currently serves as Professor and Discipline Head of Oral Health at the University of Newcastle, Australia. With over two decades of experience spanning clinical practice, research leadership, and academic mentorship, Professor Sharma has established himself as a leading authority in oral health education and interdisciplinary research.

Raluca Ghebosu graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science with majors in Japanese and Biomedical Science (2018-2021). She then completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in 2022, before pursuing a PhD with A/Prof. Joy Wolfram at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute leading a multidisciplinary team, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research centres around induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate respiratory diseases, spanning acute respiratory infections to chronic lung diseases. Using stem cells, Dr Werder’s team creates models of human lung tissue. With these models, Dr Werder is investigating how human-specific pathogens infect different regions of the lung, the ensuing immune responses, and how the lung repairs itself after infections, especially in people with preexisting lung diseases.