63rd ASMR National Scientific Conference: invited speakers

We are excited to hear from some of Australia’s leaders in medical research at the combined National Scientific Conference and South Australian Scientific Meeting in 2024. 

They include:  

• SA Plenary Speaker: Professor Sarah Robertson, Professor of Reproductive Immunology, University of Adelaide 

• Firkin Orator: Professor Frank Lin, Professor of Otolaryngology, Medicine, Mental Health, and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Medicine 

• AWT Edwards Orator: Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea, STEM Executive 

• Keynote speakers: Dr Paul Joyce, Head of the Translational Nanomedicine and Biotherapeutics Group, University of South Australia; and Dr Yee Lian Chew, ‘The worm lady’, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow 

Professor Sarah Robertson AO
Professor of Reproductive Immunology, University of Adelaide 

Professor Sarah Robertson is a graduate of the University of Adelaide (BSc 1983; PhD 1993). She returned to Adelaide after periods at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) and University of Gothenburg (Sweden). She was funded as an National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Fellow for 18 years and was an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow until appointment to Director of the Robinson Research Institute (RRI) in October 2013. She stepped down as RRI Director to take up an NHMRC Investigator Award as Professorial Research Fellow in April 2021. 

Her research focus is mammalian reproduction and development, particularly immune regulation of fertility and pregnancy. She strives to advance understanding of the fundamental biology of conception, embryo implantation and early development, and to develop biologically rational approaches for managing ‘unexplained’ infertility and common pregnancy disorders.  

She partnered with Origio A/S to develop EmbryoGen, a novel immune-based intervention for repeated IVF failure and recurrent miscarriage now sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. Professor Robertson is funded by Ferring Pharmaceuticals and other industry partners to investigate novel strategies to tackle miscarriage, preeclampsia and preterm delivery.  

She is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (2016) and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2015), and a Fellow of the Society for Reproductive Biology (2011). Her work is funded by the NHMRC, the Australian Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation. Her research output includes more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific journal papers and reviews in high impact journals. 

Professor Frank Lin 
Professor of Otolaryngology, Medicine, Mental Health, and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Medicine 

Frank R Lin, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor and the Director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. As an otologic surgeon and epidemiologist, Dr Lin has translated his clinical experiences caring for patients with hearing loss into foundational public health research and federal policy in the US.  

His epidemiological research from 2010–2014 established the association between hearing loss, cognitive decline and dementia, and his research served as the direct basis for the Lancet Commission on Dementia conclusion that hearing loss is the leading modifiable risk factor for dementia.  

Based on this early research, he initiated the ACHIEVE study in 2014. The results of this landmark randomised trial were released in 2023, establishing that treating hearing loss reduces loss of thinking and memory abilities by 48% among older adults at increased risk for cognitive decline. In parallel, Dr Lin has collaborated with the National Academies, White House and Congress to develop policies to ensure hearing loss can be effectively and sustainably addressed in society. These efforts directly resulted in bipartisan passage of the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017. Dr Lin testified on this before Congress and the final enactment of federal regulations for OTC hearing aids in the US in October 2022.  

Dr Lin has subsequently collaborated with the Consumer Technology Association to develop the standard for a consumer-facing hearing metric based on the four-frequency pure-tone average (PTA4 hearing number) to empower consumers to track, monitor and act on their own hearing.  

As the director of a public health research center, Dr Lin’s academic efforts are focused on reshaping the rules and assumptions underlying the global hearing care market, in order to ensure the market is optimised to advance public health. 

Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea 
STEM Executive 

With a finger on the pulse of Australia’s STEM ecosystem, Dr Marguerite Evans-Galea AM is an influential leader change-making at the interface of industry, academia and government. She is Director of Australia’s Cell and Gene Catalyst, a joint venture of the industry peak bodies, AusBiotech and Medicines Australia.   

Dr Evans-Galea has led international research in cell and gene therapy for inherited diseases in the United States and Australia, and established and led high-impact STEM policy and workforce initiatives with the Australian Learned Academies. Playing a pivotal role in elevating diversity and inclusion in Australian STEM to the national agenda, Dr Evans-Galea cofounded Women in STEMM Australia. She also represented Australia as the inaugural keynote speaker for the APEC Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship meetings and served on the Victorian Ministerial Council for Women’s Equality and the SAGE Expert Advisory Group.  

Dr Evans-Galea has received awards for her research and leadership and is an inductee of the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and a Member of the Order of Australia.  

Dr Paul Joyce 
Head of the Translational Nanomedicine and Biotherapeutics Group, University of South Australia 

Dr Paul Joyce’s research focuses on harnessing drug delivery approaches for transforming therapeutic outcomes across cancer, mental health, and antimicrobial resistance.  

Working at the interface of materials science and drug development, Dr Joyce engages closely with stakeholders who enable clinical and commercial translation of his research, including the pharmaceutical industry, clinicians and health consumers. Dr Joyce’s leadership within this field is evidenced through his publication of more than 70 peer-reviewed papers in leading international journals, three book chapters, and three granted international patents for novel nanomedicine inventions. 

Further, Dr Joyce is a Director of the Australian Controlled Release Society, the leading society for delivery science, and has been awarded more than $9 million in funding to undertake his research, including serving as a current Hospital Research Foundation Fellow and Cancer Council SA Fellow. 

Dr Yee Lian Chew 
‘The worm lady’, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow 

Dr Yee Lian Chew uses the ‘worm’  Caenorhabditis elegans – one millimetre long with only 300 neurons, yet 80% genetically identical to humans – to identify brain pathways that can be targeted for treatment of neurological conditions such as chronic pain.  

An early career academic, Dr Chew earned her BSc (2010) and PhD (2015) from the University of Sydney. In 2015, she moved to Cambridge UK to study worms in colder weather, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. She returned to Australia in 2019 as a teaching-research academic at the University of Wollongong and is currently a Mary Overton Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University.  

Outside the joy of experiments, Dr Chew is a budding science communicator. She has given public lectures at National Science Week, contributed to a children’s outreach program at the Cambridge Science Festival, recorded a podcast, and filmed an elevator pitch for ABC Science. She was part of the 2021-2022 cohort of Superstars of STEM, a program run by Science and Technology Australia to promote the profile of women STEM professionals.  

The former (2021) Chair of the EMCR Forum Executive supported by the Australian Academy of Science, Dr Chew also aims to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in academia by removing barriers to retention for minoritised groups. In 2021, she was awarded a SA Young Tall Poppy award in recognition of her science communication and research profile. She served as an early- and mid-career researcher representative on the NHMRC Research Committee for the 2021–2024 triennium.