2026 International Fellows Award recipients

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2026 International Fellows Award recipients

The inaugural round of the Adelaide University International Fellows Award attracted strong interest from high-calibre international academics and researchers from around the globe.

Thirteen applications were successful in this round, with Fellows from Belgium, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Fellows will visit Adelaide throughout 2026 to engage with students, deliver a public lecture, and work with their academic hosts on key global challenges aligned to the University’s Signature Research Themes.

Meet the 2026 Fellows

Click on a Fellow to learn more about their work and Adelaide University collaboration.

Professor Sarah-Maria Fendt, KU Leuven & VIB Center for Cancer Biology

Professor Sarah-Maria Fendt

KU Leuven & VIB Center for Cancer Biology

Expertise

Professor Fendt is a Principal Investigator at the VIB Center for Cancer Biology and Professor of Oncology at KU Leuven. Professor Fendt’s laboratory investigates how cancer cells adapt their metabolic requirements during disease progression by integrating single-cell and spatial multi-omics with advanced preclinical and patient-derived models. The Laboratory’s goal is to uncover actionable metabolic vulnerabilities that can be translated into innovative therapies to improve outcomes for patients with metastatic cancer. Professor Fendt has been awarded the EMBO Gold Medal, the Francqui-Collen prize, the 51^st Léopold Griffuel award, and the AACR award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research.

Collaborative research project

Professor Fendt will work with Adelaide University researchers to investigate how physiological factors drive metabolic heterogeneity in prostate cancer and metastatic progression. This research aims to inform patient-tailored therapeutic strategies and improve clinical outcomes in metastatic prostate cancer.

Adelaide University host

Professor Lisa Butler, South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, College of Health.

Professor Sarah-Maria Fendt

Professor Yang Li, Peking University

Professor Yang Li

Peking University

Expertise

Professor Li is a geochemist at Peking University and an Honorary Associate Professor at University College London, working at the intersection of critical minerals and lunar science. His research has advanced understanding of the formation of giant ore deposits and provided new insights into the evolution of the moon, with significant scientific and societal impact.

Collaborative research project

Professor Li will work with Adelaide University researchers on improving understanding of how critical minerals form and concentrate in the Earth’s crust, including the timing and processes responsible for the formation of large rare earth element deposits. The collaboration will contribute essential insights into building sustainable and secure mineral supply chains for the global green energy transition.

Adelaide University host

Professor Stijn Glorie, School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, College of Sciences.

Professor Yang Li

Professor Timothy Teo, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Professor Timothy Teo

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Expertise

Professor Teo is a Professor and Associate Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Teo’s research interests are multi-disciplinary and include Educational Psychology (e.g. self-efficacy), Educational Technology (e.g. technology acceptance and AI), and Quantitative Methods (e.g. psychometrics, meta-analysis, and structural equation modelling). A highly published and cited scholar, Professor Teo has edited three books, written many book chapters and conference papers, and published close to 230 journal articles, with over 175 in highly- ranked SSCI journals. In the 2025 Top 2% Scientists report from Stanford University, Professor Teo was ranked #19 out of over 105,000 Education scholars in the world.

Collaborative research project

Professor Teo will work with Adelaide University researchers on understanding the impact of AI on professional activities undertaken by teachers and students across all levels of education. They will investigate the impact of AI on social and emotional wellbeing, examine the factors influencing students’ and teachers’ adoption of AI, and evaluate how AI can be optimised to deepen understanding of the social-emotional factors that shape teacher effectiveness and student achievement in different educational contexts.

Adelaide University host

Professor Edward Palmer, School of Communication, Media and Journalism, College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities.

Professor Timothy Teo

Professor Albert Ping Chuen Chan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Professor Albert Ping Chuen Chan

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Expertise

Professor Chan is a Distinguished Research Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research focuses on the digital transformation of construction, specifically integrating circular economy principles with technologies such as Building Information Modelling, AI, and Digital Twins to enhance project success and sustainability. Professor Chan has published over 1,000 articles and has stood among the top 2% of scientists globally since 2020, according to Stanford University researchers. He received the Medal of Honour from the Government of Hong Kong SAR in 2024 for his vital contributions to construction policy research and his commitment to developing the next generation of professionals in the industry.

Collaborative research project

Professor Chan will work with Adelaide University researchers to develop a comparative integration and success framework that integrates circular economy and Building Information Modelling for the Australian and Hong Kong SAR architecture, engineering, construction and operation industries.

Adelaide University host

Dr Daniel Oteng, School of Civil Engineering and Construction, College of Engineering and Information Technology.

Professor Albert Ping Chuen Chan

Professor Renyou Gan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Professor Renyou Gan

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Expertise

Professor Gan is an Assistant Professor and Presidential Young Scholar in Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Department of Food Science and Nutrition. His research expertise lies in the discovery and characterisation of food-derived bioactives, with a strategic focus on valorisation of functional plants and food by-products. By integrating chemical profiling with translational nutrition, his research develops sustainable, evidence-based solutions that transform low-value food wastes into health-promoting functional products. Since 2020, Professor Gan has been listed in Stanford University “World Top 2% Scientists” in the field of Food Science and Nutrition and Dietetics. He was also listed as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Agricultural Sciences/Food Sciences in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and was listed in the Research.com Best Biology and Biochemistry Scientists in 2024 and 2025.

Collaborative research project

Professor Gan will work with Adelaide University researchers to establish an integrated research platform between Adelaide University and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University to upcycle South Australian wine and food by-products (e.g., grape pomace and spent grains) into functional ingredients.

Adelaide University host

Dr Bo Wang, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, College of Sciences.

Professor Renyou Gan

Associate Professor Mei Kuin Lai, University of Auckland

Associate Professor Mei Kuin Lai

University of Auckland

Expertise

Mei Kuin Lai is an Associate Professor in the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Arts and Education. Her research focuses on integrating research and practice to co-design and evaluate scalable and sustainable interventions, with an emphasis on collaborative analysis of data. Her methodological expertise is in mixed-methods and design-based methodology primarily within research-practice partnerships.

Collaborative research project

Associate Professor Lai will work with Adelaide University researchers to explore complex, work-integrated capability building for school leaders and develop a robust theory of complex capability development which will then be translated into accessible resources for schools and communities.

Adelaide University host

Professor Simon Leonard, School of Education, College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Associate Professor Mei Kuin Lai

Professor Andrew Holle, National University of Singapore

Professor Andrew Holle

National University of Singapore

Expertise

Professor Holle is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Mechanobiology Institute. As a mechanobiologist, his research explores how physical confinement shapes cell behaviour in healthy and diseased tissues. Professor Holle’s lab engineers biomimetic systems that recreate the microscopic spaces cells navigate in the body, enabling new insights into mechanosensitive signalling, nuclear organisation, and potential applications in cancer and cell therapy.

Collaborative research project

Professor Holle will collaborate with Adelaide University researchers to investigate how physical confinement and compression influence cellular signalling and behaviour. The project combines engineered confinement platforms that recreate the microscopic spaces cells navigate in the body with established cancer mechanobiology models. By studying both single cells and multicellular spheroids, the collaboration aims to understand how different mechanical pathways that produce the same final deformation shape mechanosensitive signalling during cancer invasion and tissue remodelling.

Adelaide University host

Professor Michael Samuel, Centre for Cancer Biology, College of Health.

Professor Andrew Holle

Professor Rafael Perera Salazar, University of Oxford

Professor Rafael Perera Salazar

University of Oxford

Expertise

Professor Perera Salazar is a Professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Oxford. His expertise focuses on monitoring chronic diseases, medical data science, and multimorbidity. He also applies advanced statistical methods to clinical trials and systematic reviews to improve primary care and health outcomes. Professor Perera Salazar is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Senior Fellow and a Turing Fellow (2021-2023), and serves on various national and international panels and boards influencing healthcare policy at different levels.

Collaborative research project

Professor Perera Salazar will work with Adelaide University researchers on validating AI-enabled models to support the methodological development of the CARENet clinical trial network through engagement with rural health services. He will also work on refining an international climate and health study on heatwave impacts with researchers in the School of Public Health and trustworthy AI in health with experts from the Australian Institute for Machine Learning.

Adelaide University host

Associate Professor David Gonzalez, School of Medicine, College of Health.

Professor Rafael Perera Salazar

Professor Abigail Gilmore, University of Manchester

Professor Abigail Gilmore

University of Manchester

Expertise

Professor Gilmore is a Professor of Arts Management and Cultural Policy at the University of Manchester. She has extensive expertise in cultural policy, participation and engagement and place, reflected in her publications and policy engagement activities. Professor Gilmore has recently been seconded to the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport as a UKRI Policy Fellow in Cultural Placemaking and acted as lead for Culture in Place with the Economic and Social Research Council Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub.

Collaborative research project

Professor Gilmore will work with Adelaide University researchers on the conceptualisation of arts and culture as foundational to flourishing lives and economies, and its implications for empirical research and public policy. Outcomes will include knowledge exchange with external partners, such as CreateSA, the community and cultural partners involved in campus animation and the broader culture-led development of South Australia.

Adelaide University host

Professor Justin O’Connor, School of Humanities, College of Creative Arts, Design and Humanities.

Professor Abigail Gilmore

Professor Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin, Imperial College London

Professor Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin

Imperial College London

Expertise

Professor Jarvelin is an epidemiologist and paediatrician with extensive experience in managing one of the largest prospective birth cohort studies from pregnancy until middle age. She has expertise in the analysis of lifestyle, environmental, molecular and disease-related data across the life-course and as a coordinator of multiple EU-funded projects.

Collaborative research project

Professor Jarvelin will work with Adelaide University researchers on the completion of analyses and manuscript for an NHMRC-funded project examining the long-term effects of high-dose vitamin D supplementation in the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort.

Adelaide University host

Professor Elina Hyppönen, School of Public Health, College of Health.

Professor Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin

Professor Mutlu Cukurova, University College London

Professor Mutlu Cukurova

University College London

Expertise

Professor Cukurova is Professor of Learning and Artificial Intelligence at University College London affiliated with the UCL Knowledge Lab at the Institute of Education and UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence at the Faculty of Engineering. His research focuses on human-AI complementarity in education and aims to address the pressing socio-educational challenge of preparing people for a future with AI systems. Professor Cukurova is listed in Stanford University’s Top 2% of Scientists in both Artificial Intelligence and Education, currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Educational Technology, and is an external expert on this topic for UNESCO and the OECD.

Collaborative research project

Professor Cukurova will work with Adelaide University researchers to advance collaborative research on responsible, human-centred AI in education, focusing on AI literacy, teacher–AI complementarity, and the design of hybrid human–AI learning ecosystems.

Adelaide University host

Professor Srecko Joksimovic, School of Education, College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Professor Mutlu Cukurova

Professor Yaser Yacoob, University of Maryland

Professor Yaser Yacoob

University of Maryland

Expertise

Professor Yacoob is an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. His research interests span topics related to computer vision and vision large language models. His current research is focused on generative vision models from heterogeneous data sources while delivering consistency and accuracy of synthesised images and videos of complex urban scenes.

Collaborative research project

Professor Yacoob will work with Adelaide University researchers to improve the performance of generative image and video models to achieve accurate, controllable, and hallucination-free results.

Adelaide University host

Professor Simon Lucey, Director, Australian Institute for Machine Learning.

Professor Yaser Yacoob

Professor Zhongping Chen, University of California, Irvine

Professor Zhongping Chen

University of California, Irvine

Expertise

Professor Chen is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He pioneered functional Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and multimodality imaging technologies, including Doppler OCT, OCT angiography, and optical coherence elastography. His research bridges engineering and medicine, translating these innovations into clinical applications for ophthalmology, cardiovascular disease, neurology, and women's health.

Collaborative research project

Professor Chen will collaborate with Adelaide University researchers to advance several collaborative projects at the intersection of photonics and medicine, including applying functional OCT to study neurovascular coupling in models of pain and neurological conditions; combining advanced beam-shaping methods with OCT systems to enhance deep-tissue imaging in scattering environments; refining clinical OCT protocols for quantitative monitoring of gynaecological health; and designing and developing a next-generation multimodal intravascular catheter that integrates OCT and ultrasound for comprehensive characterisation of vulnerable plaques.

Adelaide University host

Associate Professor Jiawen Li, School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Information Technology.

Professor Zhongping Chen