Citation for Dr Stuart Johnston

Stuart studied mathematics at the Queensland University of Technology, receiving a Bachelor of Mathematics, a Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours, and then his PhD in 2017. After a postdoc, a DECRA Fellowship, and three years as an academic at The University of Melbourne, he founded a quantitative nanomedicine start-up called Pneumatica Bio.

Stuart’s research focusses on developing multiscale mathematical models of biological processes in nanoscience, cell biology and ecology. A defining feature of his research is the connection of mathematical models with data to extract biological insight. His models allow disentanglement of the complex chemical, biological, and physical processes that dictate nanoparticle behaviour, providing an understanding of each process in isolation as a crucial step toward the rational design of nanoparticle-based therapeutics. Together with his extensive network of experimental and theoretical collaborators, he has developed a method to isolate nanoparticle-cell interaction rates, a key metric for nanoparticle performance that is obscured by other complex processes. This breakthrough has enabled comparison of nanoparticles across different types of experiments, revealing previously unknown nanoparticle behaviour in tumour spheroids and organ-on-a-chip experiments.

Stuart has held a DECRA, and two ARC Discovery Projects, one as the sole CI, an extremely rare achievement for an early-career mathematician. He has also received various university and state government grants.

Stuart’s publication metrics are impressive for an ECR and include 21 first author publications and 8 senior-author papers. These publications have been cited over 900 times. He has supervised 12 students in total, 5 of whom were or are PhD students.

He has delivered invited seminars at the University of Oxford and Politecnico di Torino, and has been an invited speaker at a Newton Institute workshop. He has given public lectures as part of National Science Week and has appeared on ABC television and radio multiple times. In Victoria, his contributions have been recognised with a Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award for excellence in research and scientific communication.

Stuart is the current chair of ANZIAM’s Mathematical Biology Special Interest Group, and is on the Executive of VicANZIAM. He has previously served as the Early Career Representative for the ANZIAM Executive.

The committee regards Dr Stuart Johnston as an outstanding early career researcher and a worthy recipient of the 2026 JH Michell Medal.