The Edge: Conversations Institute for Molecular Bioscience, UQ

Professor David Craik travels to far-flung places including Mt Kilimanjaro, the Himalayas, and Peru looking for tiny proteins. His work has found him in some pretty interesting places and predicaments, including a case of mistaken identity and an appointment to a scientific society whose members have included Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin. 

At school, Professor Kate Schroder had little interest in biology. It took a couple of subjects at uni to ignite her passion for microbiology and how understanding it can change the world. A self-professed sleuth – and accidental graphic designer -, Kate is unlocking the key to curing a myriad of diseases. 

At the age of 18, an injury put an end to Catherine Clark’s dream of playing for Australia’s Hockeyroos. Not one to let anything stop her, Catherine soon figured out there were other ways to make a career out of her love for sport. Now as CEO of Paralympics Australia, Catherine is helping to carve new paths to success for some of Australia’s best athletes ahead of the 2032 Paralympic Games. 

On New Year’s Day in 2019, whilst on holiday in Malaysia, Tony Vollmerhause decided to take a photo which would change his life forever. After developing life-threatening blood clots, a torn patella tendon ended up being the least of his concerns. A few years down the track and on the road to recovery, Tony has some sage advice for all of us. 

A kidney transplant left Robert Quinn with an acute bout of sepsis. Since then he has suffered 18 episodes of this disease, which causes 1 in 5 deaths globally. Rather than take things lying down he started a company that is creating tech that can detect sepsis in its early stage, potentially saving millions of lives.  

Professor Ian Henderson’s esteemed, globe-trotting career is one fuelled by curiosity. Sparked in a Dublin classroom, his love of science, research and the people who work in it spills over into everything he does. Ian has his sights firmly set on guiding the institute into an exciting future.