🧐 Favourite quote?
"Have you ever seen Los Angeles at 4am?" 🏙️

🤪 Any fun fact you would like to share with us?
I’m a big fan of mainstream Japanese manga like Dragon Ball 🐉 and Slam Dunk 🏀 My current favourite is Kingdom—highly recommend it.

😋 What is your favourite food?
Chipotle's chicken burrito bowl with pinto beans 🥘

🤓 What is your research about?
I study how taste👅 & smell👃 shape dietary behaviour 🍔🥦 and, in turn, influence disease🫀🚑 I investigate sensory dysfunctions, such as smell loss from COVID-19 🦠😷 or taste impairment after cancer treatment. My research combines statistical genetics & big data approaches🧬

Introducing 2025 EMCRA Committee Member - Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang!

@danielldhwang.bsky.social

😀 What is your role in EMCRA?
EMCRA IT/Social Media Coordinator 📱💬

The discussion was engaging and full of practical advice for anyone considering career transitions. Stay tuned for our next Career Series event!

Key takeaways:
✅ Leaving research isn't failure
✅ Academic skills are highly transferable
✅ Interview prep is crucial - explain how your background fits their needs
✅ Build your personal brand around core strengths

Special thanks to our inspiring speakers: Dr Donna Easton and Dr Madhavi Maddugoda (PhD, GAICD)

Beyond the Bench: University Administration Career Insights ✨

Thank you to everyone who joined our #EMCRA #Career Series event today! We had an incredible roundtable discussion on transitioning from research to university administration 📚🔄🏛️

📢🚨 Excited to share our latest paper, "Phenome-wide investigation of dietary and health outcomes associated with bitter taste receptor gene #TAS2R38", online today in European Journal of Nutrition:
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@sentanuka.bsky.social !

🤪 Any fun fact you would like to share with us?
I love exploring new restaurants🍽️ & cafes ☕️ and secretly rating them as a professional food critic💯 :P

😋 What is your favourite food?
Chicken Biryani 🥘

🧐 Favourite quote?
"Set your heart upon your work but never its reward" ❤️💼

🤓 What is your research about?
Understanding the mechanism of action of novel antimicrobial compounds and developing fluorescent antimicrobial probes that can be used for tracking microbial infections and emerging resistance 🔬🧪👩‍🔬

Introducing 2025 EMCRA Committee Member - Dr. Tanuka Sen!

😀 What is your role in EMCRA?
EMCRA Retreat Coordinator 🧘‍♀️

🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to Stephan Brouwer for winning 3rd best poster at last week's #Lancefield International Symposium on #Streptococci and #Streptococcal Diseases in Brisbane.

🧐 Favourite quote?
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted 🌱🤗

🤪 Any fun fact you would like to share with us?
I love catching up with friends for coffee and enjoy listening to music and dancing ☕️🎶💃🕺

😋 What is your favourite food?
Turkish food in general, but I also love fries as an unhealthy option 🇹🇷🍽️🍟

🤓 What is your research about?
I am a Research Fellow in the Physiology of Circadian Rhythms Group 🕰 at the Centre for Cell Biology of Chronic Disease. My research focuses on how circadian, endocrine, and metabolic pathways interact to regulate liver homeostasis and contribute to (patho-)physiology🧘‍♂️

Introducing 2025 EMCRA Committee Member - Meltem Weger!
@melweger.bsky.social

😀 What is your role in EMCRA?
UQ ECR Committee Representative 🎓🤝💪

Very excited to share our latest #preprint on post-vaccination changes in #smell & #taste among those whose senses were affected by COVID-19:

We analyzed a global dataset of 1,352 individuals as part of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR).

In addition, Dr. Sugarniya delivered a talk during the pre-congress workshop, “Embracing New Technologies and Collaborative Partnerships to Enhance Laboratory-Based Endometriosis Research,” with her presentation titled “Assembloids and Their Incarnations.”

She is currently working with hashtag#3D models and advanced hashtag#genomic techniques on patient-derived tissue samples to investigate changes in cellular functions that contribute to hashtag#endometriosis and related disorders.

Her project, titled “Creation of Multicellular Endometrial Avatars for Endometriosis,” explores innovative approaches to understanding the disease.

Dr. Sugarniya’s work was selected as one of the Top 24 3MT Poster Presentations at the 16th World Congress on Endometriosis (hashtag#WCE) 2025, held in Sydney from May 21–24, 2025.

🤪 Any fun fact you would like to share with us?
Big fun of Sherlock Holmes and The Three-body Problem. A good scientist must be a good detective! 🕵️‍♂️🌒💡

😋 What is your favourite food?
Yakitori - grilled to perfection! 🍢🔥🥳

🧐 Favourite quote?
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. 🔍🌍🌌

Introducing 2025 EMCRA Committee Member - Xichun (Shirley) Li!
@xichunli.bsky.social

😀 What is your role in EMCRA?
Pizza & chat workshop coordinator 🍕👩‍🏫👨‍🏫💬

🤓 What is your research about?
Using microscopy to decipher immune cell behaviours and functions in the first-line immune defence 🔬🦠🛡️

The ASI Postdoctoral Travel award supported Yomani to attend and present her work at the International Symposium on Epstein-Barr Virus (#EBV) and Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (#KSHV) & Related Agents and Diseases – 3rd Joint Meeting, held in Boston, MA, USA.

Congratulations to Yomani Sarathkumara - 2024 ASI Postdoctoral Travel Awardee!

Read more 👉 www.immunology.org.au/blogs/Latest...

This event will focus on the theme: Advances in #Liver #Fibrosis Research. Join us for a morning of exciting research presentations, engaging discussion, and networking - highlighting hashtag#translational approaches to understanding and treating liver fibrosis.

Featured Speakers:
• Dr. Richard Skoien – MASLD: Trials and Tribulations
• Dr. Benjamin Weger @benweger.bsky.social – The Circadian Rhythm and Liver Fibrosis
• Dr. Sasan Rezaeieh – Portable Electromagnetic Torso Scanner

The next Early–Mid Career #Hepatology Research Forum is taking place on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 7:15 A.M. in the Level 3 Auditorium, QIMR Berghofer.