Research Advisory Committee

Dr Weigel is Director of the Division of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology at Masonic Cancer Centre, University of Minnesota. A professor at U of M’s Cancer Centre and Department of Paediatrics, she holds the Lehman/Children’s Cancer Research Fund Endowed Chair in Paediatric Cancer. She also chairs Developmental Therapeutics for the Children’s Oncology Group.

Professor Izant has extensive global experience in biomedical research, business, and non-profit leadership. He has worked at Yale School of Medicine, Garvan Institute, QUT, Johnson & Johnson, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has helped establish biotech and bioinformatics companies and has served on multiple government and private research funding committees.

Associate Professor Moore is a Senior Staff Specialist in Paediatric Oncology at Queensland Children’s Hospital, where he directs Clinical and Biomedical Research. He specialises in childhood leukaemia, particularly acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). He holds an academic title with The University of Queensland’s Faculty of Medicine and leads the Queensland Children's Tumour Bank.

Dr McLoone is a senior research fellow in the Behavioural Sciences Unit, Australia's largest paediatric psycho-oncology research group. She holds positions at UNSW Sydney and the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital. Her research explores the psychosocial impact of childhood cancer, and she is actively involved in international initiatives and telehealth innovation.

Associate Professor Ziegler is a senior Staff Specialist at the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. A paediatric oncologist with expertise in neuro-oncology and early phase clinical trials, he also leads a research group at the Children’s Cancer Institute and is a conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney.

Dr Nic Waddell is the Group Leader in Medical Genomics at QIMR Berghofer and a leader in computational cancer genomics. She completed her PhD in 2003 at the University of Leicester (UK), going on to undertake two post-doctorate positions at QIRM Berghofer – with KumKum Khanna and Georgia Chenecix-Trench as well as working at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland.

Dr DuBois leads a clinical and translational research program focused on patients with neuroblastoma and Ewing sarcoma. He conducts clinical trials of targeted agents relevant to these diseases, including national phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials. He also studies new biomarkers that improve our understanding of these tumors and their response to novel therapies.

A/Prof Faridi leads a translational research program focused on antigen discovery and the development of T cell–based immunotherapies for hard-to-treat cancers, including diffuse midline glioma (DMG), Ewing sarcoma, and osteosarcoma. His lab integrates immunopeptidomics, multi-omics, and functional immunology to identify tumour-specific antigens and rapidly translate them into preclinical therapeutic pipelines, including vaccines and T-cell therapies.