Congratulations to the 2025 STEMM Professional of the Year finalists.

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Associate Professor Hannah Wardill

University of Adelaide

Associate Professor Wardill is an emerging South Australian leader, dedicated to improving outcomes for people with cancer by better controlling the side effects of their treatment. She has a longstanding history of success and excellence, right from topping her undergraduate majors, through to securing one of Australia's most prestigious fellowships and being named a finalist int he 2025 Australian of the Year Awards.
 

Hannah is motivated by the unmet needs of people affected by cancer and has established a dynamic and collaborative approach to tackling these complex challenges. She uses her skills in fundamental biology and microbiology to better understand what makes people vulnerable to certain side effects, including diarrhea, infection and brain damage, and develop new therapies to combat these debilitating side effects.
 

Hannah has published close to 100 peer-reviewed articles in her relatively short career, secured ~$15 million in competitive grant funding and mentored countless undergraduate, postgraduate and early career researchers, building critical capacity in supportive cancer care. In collaboration with industry, academic and community peers, Hannah and her team have generated new knowledge that has informed new patents and clinical trials, informing how people with cancer across the globe are cared for.
 

Associate Professor Tasha Stanton

University of South Australia 
 

Associate Professor Stanton is a physiotherapist and clinical pain neuroscientist whose research is redefining how we view and treat osteoarthritis.

Her work has discovered unique contributors to osteoarthritis pain that involve changes to the way information about the painful body part is mapped in the brain. This knowledge has fostered new, innovative treatments for osteoarthritis, such as virtual reality, that can reduce pain and make exercise feel easier and more enjoyable, without the side effects of common pain drugs.

She has written the first book about pain science, the brain, and osteoarthritis (Knee Osteoarthritis Handbook, NOIGroup), aimed at people who have osteoarthritis and health professionals. This book provides a new science-informed understanding of osteoarthritis, shifting the narrative from inevitable decline to one of hope: that there IS possibility for improvement and even recovery. This book has sold over 4,000 copies world-wide, is endorsed by Arthritis Australia, and is changing the way clinicians and the public are thinking about osteoarthritis. 

Many Australians with osteoarthritis receive low-value or even harmful care (like opioids), or they receive premature/inappropriate surgery. Associate Professor Stanton’s research harnesses our brain and body’s remarkable capacity to adapt and change to provide new non-surgical, non-drug treatment options for osteoarthritis.

Associate Professor Xiaoguang Duan

The University of Adelaide

Freshwater is crucial to both human well-being and healthy ecosystems. Associate Professor Xiaoguang Duan’s work transforms how we treat and reuse water by targeting the rising risks posed by emerging and persistent contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, pathogens, and microplastics (one cup of tea alone can release over 10 billion microplastics!). By creating specially designed materials that can rapidly capture and break down these harmful substances in a green chemical system, Associate Professor Duan strives to make water treatment cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient.
 

Outside the laboratory, his efforts safeguard local waterways and ensure safer drinking water by removing drugs and bacteria in water. He also trains the next generation of scientists and engineers, with a focus on technological innovation and sustainability. 
Professor Duan’s ultimate goal is a future where communities, particularly in regional or remote areas, have dependable access to clean water while reducing chemical usage and streamlining water treatment processes.
 

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