Panel session: Industry placements – how to make the most out of the experience

This session is designed to guide you through the prerequisites and insights into securing an industry placement during your HDR journey. The Graduate School will provide an overview of the requirements for undertaking an industry placement, and current HDRs and alumni, who have successfully navigated this unique aspect of their doctoral experience, will share their valuable perspectives. The session will conclude with dedicated time for questions from the audience, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics involved in balancing academic work and engaging with industry.

Meet the panel

Jodie Brennan

Jodie Brennan is the Team Leader for the HDR Liaison Officers (HLOs) that support Faulty of Medicine HDR students and their advisors. Jodie has supported HDR candidates at UQ for over 6 years, working closely with stakeholders across UQ to enhance the postgraduate research experience.

Aleysha Martin

Aleysha is a final year Mater Research-UQ PhD student. She enrolled in her PhD after wanting to make a meaningful change in her clinical role as an occupational therapist at the Mater Hospital Brisbane. Earlier this year, Aleysha completed an international  industry placement with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in London. While overseas, she presented her research with the staff at the Royal College and at the International Conference on Integrated Care in Belgium. Aleysha has also presented at other national and international conferences and has published 4 first-author papers.

Dr Selwin Samuel 

Selwin earned his PhD studying neurogenic heterotopic ossification under the supervision of Professor Jean-Pierre Levesque and Dr Kylie Alexander at the Mater Research Institute. During his PhD, he honed his skills with an internship at Microba. Selwin also led as Deputy Chair of the UQ Faculty of Medicine HDR Student Committee in 2020. Selwin is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Queensland University of Technology, where he is working in the field of cancer biology. Besides research, he's passionate about communicating science with school kids and the general public.

Ara Cho

Ara Cho is a PhD Student at The University of Queensland. She completed her Masters degree of Public Health in Epidemiology and Health Informatics in 2019. After that she worked at Sunghyunkwan University School of Medicine and Centre for Cohort Studies in Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in South Korea for 3 years, she started her PhD journey at UQ in 2020. Her research entails evaluating the impact of policy & regulatory environment on smoking and vaping patterns.

Dr Samreen Naz Shaikh

Dr Samreen Shaikh is an Early Career researcher who works in Professor Brandon Wainwright's paediatric brain cancer laboratory at the UQ-Frazer Institute. She earned her PhD in neuroimmunology earlier this year from Associate Professor Jana Vukovic's laboratory in the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS). During her PhD, she focused on studying the response and differential roles of microglia, which are the brain's resident immune cells, in various neuroinflammatory conditions.

Currently, Dr Samreen Shaikh is leading a project that is funded by 'The Kids Cancer Project' organisation. In this project, she is investigating the optimal dosage of craniospinal radiation and its combination with novel radiosensitizing agents. The goal of this research is to enhance overall survival in mice that are harbouring patient-derived medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor and to limit long term toxicity associated with high dose radiation on the developing brain.