Professor Thomas is Professor of Rheumatology at University of Queensland, Translational Research Institute, consultant rheumatologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital, and fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She founded two Uniquest spin-off companies Dendright (2006-2021), and Liperate in the 2022 CUREator round. In the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours, she was awarded member of the Order of Australia.

Her research seeks to understand autoimmune disease and restoration of immune tolerance. Through this work, she developed dendritic cell-based citrullinated antigen-specific immunotherapy in the first proof-of-concept trial in Rheumatoid Arthritis. She developed a liposome immunotherapy that targets dendritic cells to induce antigen-specific tolerance, opening new opportunities for the control and prevention of autoimmune disease. Dendright progressed a liposome-based tolerance strategy for rheumatoid arthritis to a phase I trial, and a trial of a liposome-based tolerance strategy for type 1 diabetes is planned for 2023. She has contributed major insights into immune tolerance mechanisms and interaction between microbiome and the immune system to trigger spondyloarthropathy.