Showcase Program
Monday 13 July
8:00 AM - 8:50 AM
8:00 – 8:50
Registration table open
Opening Session
Session Chair: Jade Clarke
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
9:00 – 9:20
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Jade Clarke, BrisBio Lead
9:20 – 10:00
Prof Jessica Mar, ABACBS President
Single Cells, Big Networks
10:00 – 10:30
Dr Bicheng Yang, MGI Australia Director
Genos and Beyond: From Scalable AI Infrastructure to Multi-Omics Data AnalysisÂ
10:30 – 11:00
Morning Tea
Session 1
Clinical, Translational & Public Health Bioinformatics
Session Chairs: Halimat Chisom Atanda and Dr Oak Hatzimanolis
11:00 AM - 12:45 PM
This session focuses on the application of bioinformatics and AI in healthcare, clinical genomics, public health, and translational medicine.
AI, Clinical Implementation & Public Health
11:00 – 11:15
Prof Ian Scott, Metro South Hospital and Health Service
Exploring the intersection of bioinformatics and AI in healthcare: Opportunities and challenges
11:15 – 11:30
Dr Wishva Herath, Queensland Pathology
Clinical Bioinformatics at Pathology QueenslandÂ
11:30 – 11:45
Dr Mitchell Sullivan, Public and Environmental Health Reference Laboratories Queensland
The role of bioinformatics at the Public and Environmental Health Reference Laboratories in Queensland
Precision Medicine & Translational Bioinformatics
11:45 – 12:00
D/Prof Lyn Griffiths, QUT Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health
Precision health, cohort genomics and translational research
12:00 – 12:15
Dr Aaron Kilgallon, Wesley Research Institute
Deriving Clinical Insights from Spatial Proteomics and Spatial Transcriptomics Data
12:15 – 12:30
Dr Alex Cristino, Griffith University
A systems-based approach to schizophrenia: integrating patient-derived olfactory neural stem cells and multi-omics for personalised therapy
12:30 – 12:45
Dr Alpeshkumar Malde, Griffith University
Beyond Bioinformatics – Revisiting Linear Interaction Energy (LIE) for Virtual Screening in Drug Design
12:45 – 2:00
Lunch and poster session
Session 2
Computational Methods, Functional Genomics & RNA Biology
Session Chairs: Diya Choudhary and Malvika Kharbanda
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
This session explores emerging computational approaches, molecular systems biology, RNA biology, and functional genomics.
Method Development & Bioinformatics Innovation
2:00 – 2:15
Dr Ashar Malik, University of Queensland
Building the Structural Evolutionary Toolkit of Tomorrow
2:15 – 2:30
Prof Mikael Boden, University of Queensland
Data are a pre-requisite but bioinformatics enables scientific discovery
2:30 – 2:45
Dr Samuel Aroney, QUT Centre of Microbiome Research
Meta-tools for metagenomics: integrating tools for next-generation analysis
RNA Biology & Functional Genomics
2:45 – 3:00
Dr Brad Balderson, UQ Institute of Molecular Biology
What You Can’t See Can Hurt You: Uncovering Regulatory Off-Target Effects in CRISPR-Edited Genomes
3:00 – 3:15
Sachini Wijewardena, JCU Computational BioMedicine lab
Uncovering the role of alternative splicing and isoforms in cell fate and disease
3:15 – 3:30
Dr Maina Bitar, QIMRB
Hidden Genes: Bioinformatics, CRISPR and lncRNAs in Cancer
3:30 – 3:45
Hon A/Prof Adam Ewing, Mater Research Institute
Allele-resolved Placenta Epigenomics
3:45 – 4:00
A/Prof Quan Nguyen, QIMRB
Improving Performance, Robustness and Interpretability of H&E-Based Models in Spatial Pathology
4:00 – 4:30
Afternoon Tea
Session 3
Environmental, Agricultural & Ecosystem Bioinformatics
Session Chair: Inali Lutschini
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
This session highlights environmental genomics, microbial systems, scalable workflows, and computational approaches supporting ecological and agricultural research.
4:30 – 4:45
Dr Magdalena Antczak, QCIF
Beyond the pipeline: building bioinformatics workflows for non-bioinformaticians
4:45 – 5:00
Prof Phil Hugenholtz, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics
The Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) in 2026
5:00 – 5:15
A/Prof Cheong Xin Chan (CX), Australian Centre for Ecogenomics
Computational genomics of marine biodiversity and ecosystem function
5:15 – 5:30
A/Prof Joanne Macdonald, UniSC Centre for Bioinnovation
Bioinformatics for rapid in-field detection of viruses in animal and environmental samples
5:30 – 5:45
Closing remarks, acknowledgements and awards
Jade Clarke
Networking Reception
5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
5:45 – 7:00
Canapés, informal networking & nonalcoholic beverages
Community Events Program
14 - 16 July
Tuesday
14th July
11:00 – 12:30
MGI STOmics spatial data analysis workshop
Location: QUT Kelvin Grove, X block
REGISTRATIONS CLOSED
1:00 – 2:30
BrisBio Network Series
Location: Hybrid, QUT Kelvin Grove, Q block
2:30 – 4:00
Novogene Workshop & Networking Afternoon Tea
Location: QUT Kelvin Grove, Q block
4:00 – 5:00
BioCAsia Seminar Series
Location: Hybrid, QUT Kelvin Grove, Q block
Wednesday
15th July
1:00 – 5:00
QCIF Workshop Day 1
Introduction to NGS and Bioinformatics Analysis
Location: Virtual
Thursday
16th July
1:00 – 4:00
Intersect – Introduction to the AI-Ready Environment
Location: Griffith University (Nathan Campus) – Level 1 of the Engineering, Technology and Aviation building (N79), room N79_1.05A
1:00 – 5:00
QCIF Workshop Day 2
Introduction to NGS and Bioinformatics Analysis
Location: Virtual
Career & Professional Development Day Program
Friday 17 July
Registration
8:00 AM - 8:50 AM
8:00 – 8:50
Registration table open
Opening Session
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Welcome & Introductions
9:00 – 9:10
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Jade Clarke, BrisBio Lead
Session 1
Career Pathways & Workforce Development
Session Chair: Dr Oak Hatzimanolis
9:10 AM - 10:40 AM
This session explores the diverse pathways into and beyond bioinformatics across academia, healthcare, industry and interdisciplinary STEM fields.
9:10 – 9:25
9:25 – 9:40
Prof Timothy Mercer
My career in bioinformatics.
9:40 – 10:40
Career Pathways Panel
This panel explores career development, workforce trends and professional growth across the bioinformatics ecosystem.
Panel Moderator: Diya Choudhary
10:40 – 11:10
Morning Tea
Session 2
Skills Development & Digital Research Infrastructure
Session Chair: Halimat Chisom Atanda
11:10 AM - 12:40 PM
This session explores future-ready skills, digital research infrastructure, research computing and the evolving role of AI within research, education and professional practice.
11:10 – 11:30
Nicholas Matigian, QCIF
Building Bioinformatics Capability: Support, Training and Mentorship
11:30 – 11:50
Lyall Weir, Intersect Australia
Digital Research & Technology Services by Intersect
11:50 – 12:20
12:20 – 12:40
Session Discussion & Audience Questions
Closing, moderated discussion between presenters and attendees focused on future workforce capability, digital literacy and emerging research technologies.
Session Moderator: Malvika Kharbanda
12:40 – 1:40
Lunch, poster session & networking
Session 3
Future of Queensland Bioinformatics
Session Chair: Nicholas Matigian
1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
This strategic panel explores the future direction of bioinformatics across research, healthcare, infrastructure, workforce development and innovation in Queensland.
1:45 – 2:00
Prof Jessica Mar, ABACBS President and UQ Academic
The Future of Queensland Bioinformatics is People – How to Create A Stronger Community?
2:00 – 2:15
Amanda Miotto, QLD Government Science Lead
The changing landscape of research computing …. and what that means for scientists
2:15 – 3:00
Future of Queensland Bioinformatics Panel
Panel Moderator: Roxane Legaie
3:00 – 3:30
Afternoon Tea
Session 4
Mentoring, Networking & Professional Growth
Session Chair & Moderator: Roxane Legaie
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
This interactive mentoring session is designed to support students and emerging professionals through direct engagement with researchers, industry representatives and STEM leaders.
3:30 – 4:20
Mentor introductions, rotating discussion groups & CV feedback
Meet the mentors
4:20 – 4:30
Closing remarks and acknowledgements
Jade Clarke
Gold
Silver
Bespoke Partners
