Our People

Naomi Berrell is a Research Assistant at the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre. She graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science First Class Honours from the Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland. Naomi has extensive experience applying spatial biology approaches across a number of solid malignancies to identify predictive tissue-based signatures for the development of predictive biomarkers. She has presented her findings at national and spatial user group meetings across Australia.

Prof John Fraser is the Queensland Spatial Biology (QSBC) Clinical Director, Founder and Director of the Critical Care Research Group, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of De Motu Cordis Pty Ltd and Immediate Past President of the Asia Pacific ELSO Chapter. John has five professorships across major Australian universities, has published over 580 peer-reviewed publications; and has received more than $41 million in competitive grants. In 2018, John was awarded the Australian Society of Medical Research Clinical Research Award.

Sarah is a Registered Nurse who works as a Clinical Trials Coordinator at Wesley Research Institute and on the Paediatric and Adolescent Ward at The Wesley Hospital. Sarah also volunteers as a peer support worker for bereaved parents at Children’s Health Queensland. She has a Bachelor of Nursing from ACU. Sarah then completed a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing (Child and Adolescent Health) and was awarded The Australian College of Children & Young People’s Nurses Award. Her current research interests include paediatrics, rare diseases, dermatology, food allergies, and immunology.

Venita is a registered nurse who works as a Clinical Trials Coordinator at the Wesley Research Institute. She has a Bachelor or Nursing from QUT. She has worked in clinical trials over the last 10 years in various therapeutic areas including rare diseases, immunology and coeliac disease. She enjoys being part of a team that endeavours to promote a positive experience to study participants engaged in clinical trials.

Bronwen Field is a registered nurse with 20 years’ experience, working in both rural and metropolitan hospitals across 4 different states. She has been working as a clinical trial coordinator since 2019, primarily in cardiac and respiratory trials. Bronwen currently focuses on pulmonary artery hypertension trials and is passionate about bringing better treatment options to improve the quality of life and health outcomes for our patients. 

Shayma is a Research Fellow in the Health Services Research Team at Wesley Research Institute. Shayma has a research background in health economics and implementation science. Having recently submitted her PhD thesis for examination, Shayma’s doctoral research explored how digital health systems could help mitigate patient non-attendance at scheduled outpatient healthcare appointments.

Shayma brings a diverse skill set to her role, including project management, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, and the preparation of ethics and governance applications for health services research. Her work is driven by a passion for contributing to research that fosters effective, efficient, and equitable healthcare. In addition to her research background, Shayma has extensive experience in graphic design. She is passionate about helping translate complex research findings into accessible graphics, making important information easily understandable for a wider audience.