Dr. Avery is a microbiologist and the lieutenant director of the Imperial Science Division laboratory at Delta Base on Pantano. He's held the position of de facto director since the disappearance of director Dr. Klaus Weiner and chief physicist Dr. Henri LaPlante.
Recent developments
Dr. Avery left the planet's surface and traveled to the Centurion, though it's currently unclear where he went from there.
Plot hooks
Though the Dark Side curse of Darth Lundgren has been lifted (at least for now), the "blood of the eel god", that jet black ichor that infected eels and sentients alike, is still available for study. Dr. Avery has been working tirelessly to understand both its structure and its origin ("uh, uh, the Force" isn't likely to appease) but his samples will dwindle, especially if Delta Base is abandoned in the wake of the Battle of Pantano.
Behind the scenes
Apparently Shonda Rhimes' Grey's Anatomy had a Dr. Avery or two, but that's genuinely coincidental here; I haven't seen it, Scrubs and the Mindy Project are probably more my speed.