The recipients come from fields including para-sports, data science, health technology, cardiovascular engineering and medical devices, neurology and eating disorders.
The grant winners include three academics from the University of Queensland (UQ), two from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and one from Griffith University.
Each recipient will be funded up to $5,000 to attend an international conference in the next financial year. The longer term aim of the program is to position grant recipients as bid champions to bring future iterations of the events they attend to Brisbane.
The winners of the trailblazer grants are Associate Professor Emma Beckman from UQ, whose PhD focusses on para-sports, Dr Rocky Chen, a senior lecturer in data science at UQ, mental health focussed Griffith University Associate Professor Martin Downes whose areas of speciality include health technology assessment, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine, Professor Shaun Gregory from QUT who is an innovator in the cardiovascular engineering and medical devices space, neurologist Dr Alexander Lehn from QUT and Professor Gemma Sharp who heads up the Body Image and Eating Disorders Research Program at UQ.
“I would like to congratulate this year’s six recipients who have been selected to represent Brisbane in this year’s Trailblazer program,” said Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.
“Harnessing their experience and expertise helps put a human face to the city and sell our incredible story to the world.
“From medtech to sustainability, research and tourism, Brisbane is leading in industries that matter, which makes us a natural choice for international business events and conferences.
“Conferences alone inject millions into our economy every year, so it’s critical we do what we can to bring more of them here so that’s why the Trailblazer program is so important.”
