Speakers, 2026 Dust and Respiratory Health Forum - Sustainable Minerals Institute - University of Queensland

Full Speaker List

Featured Speakers
Short oral presentations
Full Program

Featured Speakers

	KEYNOTE SPEAKER James Sumner, Director, Safe Work Australia James is currently acting Branch Manager of the Hazards and Industry Policy Branch at Safe Work Australia. In this role he leads national policy across a range of key work health and safety issues. Prior to joining SWA, James spent many years working in workplace relations and work health and safety policy at the local, national and international level.
	Dianah A-Izzeddin, Resources Safety and Health Queensland Dianah A-Izzeddin is a manager within the Health Surveillance Unit at RSHQ, leading the teams that deliver ResHealth and occupational lung disease case reporting. Prior to joining RSHQ she worked within the occupational health industry after having worked in mineral mining operations.
	Noel Pinkerton, Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency Noel Pinkerton is a senior occupational health and safety leader and Director at ASSEA. He leads national awareness, engagement and specialist advice, builds strong partnerships and guides teams and projects. A Certified Occupational Hygienist, Noel turns evidence into practical action to manage silica risks.
	Kate Cole OAM, University of Sydney Kate Cole is a certified occupational hygienist, AIOH Fellow and Past President, specialising in silicosis prevention and workplace health. A leading advocate for safer construction and tunnelling environments, she has advised national and NSW bodies on silica and dust disease prevention. Kate is an independent consultant and PhD researcher.
	Dr Simon Apte, Queensland Lung Transplant Service /Prince Charles Hospital/UQ Simon H. Apte is Chief Scientist at the Queensland Lung Transplant Service Research Laboratory, The Prince Charles Hospital. His research focuses on translational lung disease, including silicosis, pulmonary fibrosis and transplantation, with particular interests in human lung biology, biomarkers, telomere biology and therapeutic discovery.
	Dr Paris Papagianis, Monash University Dr Paris Papagianis is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Respiratory Pharmacology Lab within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University. Paris’ research focus is on lung health and disease spanning early life to adulthood. Paris was awarded a joint PhD from Monash University and the University of Western Australia (2019), exploring anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic therapeutics for ventilator-induced lung injury in preterm birth care. .
	Dr Nikky LaBranche, The Univeristy of Queensland Research Fellow at the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre at UQ's Sustainable Minerals Institute. Dr LaBranche specialises in occupational health and safety research for the mining industry. She is currently working on characterisation of dust exposures in the mining and engineered stone work industries and its relation to occupational lung dieseases.
	Scott Anderson, Meandu Mine Scott Anderson a diesel fitter and Site Safety and Health Representative at a mine in Queensland. In 2025, he and Dr Nikky LaBranche won the Queensland Mining Industry Health & Safety Conference Health Award.

Short oral presentations

	Joseph Pak, The University of Queensland Joseph is an environmental researcher specialising in air quality monitoring, aerosol characterisation, and air flow modelling. His international research experience includes computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, bioinformatics, real-time air sampling, and atmospheric chemistry.
	Daniel Vu, The University of Queensland Hoai-Duc (Daniel) Vu is a Senior Research Assistant in the Dust and Respiratory Program at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on mineral dust characterisation using advanced microscopy and microanalysis techniques, including SEM–EDX, to better understand occupational exposure risks. He completed a PhD on electrospray-generated aerosols and has expertise in aerosol science and particle characterisation.
	Siqi (Sheila) Sun, USNW Siqi (Sheila) Sun graduated from UNSW Sydney with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering (Honours Class 1) and is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW. Her research centres on environmental health and occupational safety, with a focus on the toxicological effects of dust generated during the fabrication of engineered stone benchtops and in coal mining on respiratory health.
	Ellen Donohoe, ADDRI Dr Ellen Donohoe is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at ADDRI, researching the prevention, early detection, and treatment of silica-related disease. With a PhD in Regenerative Medicine from the University of Galway, her work combines human-relevant lung models and molecular toxicology to improve respiratory hazard assessment and occupational lung disease prevention.
	Kiara Knuckey, Queensland Lung Transplant Service / The University of Queensland Kiara Knuckey is a research assistant in the Queensland Lung Transplant Service Research Laboratory. Her work centres around evaluating a new non-invasive sampling method as a platform for biomarker discovery in lung disease and investigating underlying disease mechanisms to find new therapeutic approaches for treating lung diseases.
	Catherine Field, icare NSW Dr Catherine Field is Medical Lead for Dust Diseases Care Health Screening at icare and an Occupational and Environmental Physician with more than 20 years of experience. She has led occupational health monitoring programs across diverse industries, including workers exposed to silica and asbestos, and is widely respected for her contributions to occupational medicine, education and advocacy.
	Amy Henderson, The University of Queensland Amy is an Organisational Psychologist with extensive experience supporting organisations within the mining industry. She is currently completing her PhD with the University of Queensland, focussing on the return to work experiences of people with occupational lung disease, with a specific focus on silicosis caused by engineered stone manufacturing and installation.