At 180 centimetres tall, Abigail Meafou stands out in a crowd - particularly on the netball court where she plays for the Queensland Firebirds.
But during the day, the vibrant 27-year-old works as a research assistant for Mater helping to run vaccine clinical trials for Mater’s Director of Infectious Disease expert, Professor Paul Griffin.
“I really enjoy it. It’s a very different world from netball, and I am learning so much about the processes needed to get vaccines approved, which will help so many people,” said Ms Meafou.
She is also in her final year of studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sociology at The University of Queensland, and somehow manages to be a fulltime Firebirds netballer!
“I love the sport and feel very privileged to have a job that allows me the flexibility to play netball, Mater Research are very supportive of my netball career, it’s a win, win,” said Ms Meafou.
Born in New Zealand and of Samoan heritage, Ms Meafou proudly captained Samoa’s national team in 2023, but she sustained a serious knee injury during the Pacifica Games - which almost destroyed her netball career.
“I had a full knee reconstruction and had to take 2024 off playing netball, but it’s ended up being a good thing, because it forced me to rest and recover, and now I’m even more dedicated to making the most of this second chance to play netball at such a high level,” she said.
Ms Meafou’s surgery was performed at Mater Hospital Brisbane where she also attended rehabilitation, and she said her care was first class.
“My orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sam Shales was great. He took a portion of the hamstring from my left leg and used it to replace the torn ligament in my right knee, and although getting back on the court was nerve wracking, my knee feels really strong now,” she said.
Professor Paul Griffin and Abigail Meafou
Ms Meafou made her comeback with the Firebirds in March where she has been named as a training partner for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, having previously played for the Queensland Firebirds from 2017 to 2019.
Fortunately, her new boss Prof Griffin is a Firebirds fan.
“I really enjoy going to the games and we are very happy having Abigail be part of our research team,” he said.
“Clinical trials are a crucial part of vaccine development, and without them and the volunteers who participate, we don’t get access to new technologies to protect against potentially deadly infections,” he said.
