Dr Mckenna is an experienced research scientist who holds a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Melbourne. He is a full-time research scientist with more than 23 years’ experience in academic science, commercial drug development and intellectual property generation. Most recently, Dr Mckenna held a leadership position at an ASX listed biotechnology company where he managed and was involved in teams to advance pre-clinical and clinical research and development (R&D) programs for the purpose of achieving FDA registration. Dr Mckenna’s role at Algorae includes drug candidate development and arrangement of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials.

Dr Bubb holds a PhD in Physiology and leads the Translational Vascular Therapeutics Group, co-located in the Department of Physiology, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Victorian Heart Institute research labs in the Victorian Heart Hospital. She completed training at both Monash University and in at the William Harvey Research Institute in London, supported by a British Pharmacological Society International Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology. Dr Bubb was recruited to co-lead the Oxidative Signalling Group at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, before returning to Monash to develop a research program to identify novel therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases.

A/Professor Fatemeh Vafaee leads the Artificial intelligence (AI) Biomedical Laboratory at the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. She is the Deputy Director of the UNSW Data Science Hub (uDASH) and the Program Lead of the Med-Tech.AI Next-Generation Graduate Program. Her R&D activities focus on developing computational models and advanced AI methods to diagnose and treat complex diseases. She has published extensively in leading journals and has over a decade of translational research experience in data-driven biomedicine, working closely with industry and leading institutes in Australia and internationally. Dr Vafaee received the 2023 Asia-Pacific “AI in Health” award for developing AI solutions to address challenges in digital medicine and cancer diagnostics and was the runner-up for the “APAC Women in AI Innovator of the Year” award. Fatemeh attained her PhD in AI from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2011.

Professor Arumugam is a professor of physiology at La Trobe University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in medical science with honours in 1998 at the University of Sydney and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology from the University of Queensland. His post-doctoral training was completed at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and the National Institute of Health, USA. With a substantial academic background, Professor Arumugam has authored over 185 articles in various high-impact journals. His primary research focus lies in investigating neuronal cell death mechanisms, particularly in the context of stroke and dementia.

Dr Barsha is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Victorian Heart Institute, Monash University. She completed her PhD in Physiology, studying modulation of the renin-angiotensin system in postmenopausal hypertension and aging, in the Cardiovascular Disease Program at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University. More recently, Giannie took on multiple roles within Department of Cardiology at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, exploring novel oxidative stress pathways as a therapeutic target for coronary artery disease and heart failure.

Dr. Heydari earned his PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), specializing in multimodal deep learning and medical data processing. With nearly a decade of experience, including five years as a research scientist in the Med-tech AI industry, he has demonstrated expertise in the field. Dr. Heydari has successfully secured research grants for AI in medical technology and co-founded NARVON PTY., dedicated to modernizing medical devices and automating pharmaceutical & medical devices factory operations. Currently, he serves as a research associate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), contributing to the development of the AlgoraeOS AI-enabled drug discovery and development platform.