ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1062-9219
Current Organisation
Deakin University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.BIOCHI.2017.12.001
Abstract: Current therapy for ovarian cancer typically involves indiscriminate chemotherapies that can have severe off target effects on healthy tissue and are still plagued by aggressive recurrence. Recent shifts towards targeted therapies offer the possibility of circumventing the obstacles experienced by these traditional treatments. While antibodies are the pioneering agents in targeted therapies, clinical experience has demonstrated that their antitumor efficacy is limited due to their high immunogenicity, large molecular size, and costly and laborious production. In contrast, nucleic acid based chemical antibodies, also known as aptamers, are ideal for this application given their small size, lack of immunogenicity and in vitro production. As aptamers have begun to demonstrate their promise through targeting Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM), as well as a number of ovarian cancer biomarkers, in in vivo and in vitro models, their clinical applicability is slowly being realised. This review explores some of the current progress of aptamers targeting cancer biomarkers and their potential role as ovarian cancer therapeutics.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-08-2022
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12911
Abstract: To explore participant experiences of an online co‐design process to develop a web‐based preventative mental health and well‐being intervention targeting primary producers in rural Australia. Rural Victoria, Australia. Participants from a primary producer background, including horticulture, fisheries, animal cultivation and farm consultancy, were eligible for the study if they had participated in both the co‐design and beta testing processes for a primary producer platform. A qualitative study using semi‐structured phone‐based interviews was undertaken. A reflexive inductive approach to data analysis was employed to develop themes. Eleven participants were interviewed, with an average age of 51 years, of which 7 were female. Five main themes were developed. These included: (1) participant ersity, (2) impact of online delivery on co‐design participation, (3) experiences of the co‐design process, (4) maintaining a shared vision and goals and (5) acting on the co‐design recommendations. Use of online methods was a clear enabler to engage participants who were geographically dispersed and offers an alternative to more conventional approaches to co‐design using face‐to‐face methods. Some aspects of participant engagement may need a greater focus when conducted online compared with face‐to‐face. Using an online co‐design method to develop a preventative mental health and well‐being web‐based platform for primary producers was novel. Findings address a gap in the literature around the experience of participants engaging in a co‐design process and identify opportunities to improve participant engagement and experience with the online format.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-10-2022
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12930
Abstract: Investigating how co‐designed knowledge can be translated to co‐produce a public health capacity‐building solution for difficult‐to‐engage population groups drawing on the co‐production experience of a prevention‐focused, capacity‐building mental health solution targeting primary producers. A qualitative study undertaken in rural and regional Victoria involving members of the design working group including project team (7px), digital design team (5px), marketing team (3px), and funding partner representatives. The study design involved reflective practice to collect data to identify the phases of co‐production and assess the design working group members' experiences. The analysis involved inductive coding using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Identifying major points of ergence and/or convergence enablers and/or constraints and ways to better navigate and strengthen the co‐production process. Given members of the design working group, erse skills sets ergence was experienced in all co‐production phases. Divergence was also experienced between the project team and the funding partner given the uniqueness of working conditions and requirements of workers in the primary production industry. The project team applied an iterative development process to project management encouraging iterative cycles to create/test/revise among the teams, and with the funding partner, until each was satisfied with the end result (convergence). When developing a co‐created public health prevention c aign it is critical that the project team focuses on relationship building among the members of the design working group and ensures adequate resourcing, development of shared understanding of project goals and target audience, ongoing communication, and a commitment to working iteratively.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-02-2023
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12968
Abstract: This paper draws on the principles of suicide risk safety planning to co‐design a farming community resource for preventing and managing risks to mental health. This project was undertaken in the Great South Coast Region of Victoria, Australia. A working group ( n = 6–8) from the Victorian farming community contributed to the iterative co‐design and co‐production of Steering Straight: My plan to keep on track. Twenty‐four members of the farming community pilot tested Steering Straight. Co‐design to develop, pilot and refine the resource with working group and target farming community. Steering Straight was viewed positively by the farming community as a tool that prompts prioritising well‐being encourages reflection, planning and concrete steps towards taking action helps set and meet personal goals is simple and practical and identifies pathways to support. Most participants (94%) completed Steering Straight on their own, taking approximately 15–30 min to create their personalised plan. Questions most likely to be filled in related to recognising personal signs of deteriorating well‐being and listing and planning enjoyable activities. A majority of participants (67%) kept a hard copy of their Steering Straight plan on hand to refer back to, while 78% expressed a preference for a digital version. The co‐design and co‐production process resulted in a tailored prevention‐focused resource that was accepted and valued by the farming community.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 25-01-2017
DOI: 10.1021/ACSCHEMNEURO.6B00369
Abstract: The treatment of brain disorders is greatly hindered by the presence of the blood-brain barrier, which restricts the overwhelming majority of small molecules from entering the brain. A novel approach by which to overcome this barrier is to target receptor mediated transport mechanisms present on the endothelial cell membranes. Therefore, we fused an aptamer that binds to epithelial cell adhesion molecule-expressing cancer cells to an aptamer targeting the transferrin receptor. This generated a proof of concept bifunctional aptamer that can overcome the blood-brain barrier and potentially specifically target brain disorders. The initial fusion of the two sequences enhanced the binding affinity of both aptamers while maintaining specificity. Additionally, mutations were introduced into both binding loops to determine their effect on aptamer specificity. The ability of the aptamer to transcytose the blood-brain barrier was then confirmed in vivo following a 1 nmol injection. This study has shown that through the fusion of two aptamer sequences, a bifunctional aptamer can be generated that has the potential to be developed for the specific treatment of brain disorders.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 10-10-2013
DOI: 10.3390/S131013624
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-12-2018
DOI: 10.3390/PH12010002
Abstract: Cancer has a high incidence and mortality rate worldwide, which continues to grow as millions of people are diagnosed annually. Metastatic disease caused by cancer is largely responsible for the mortality rates, thus early detection of metastatic tumours can improve prognosis. However, a large number of patients will also present with micrometastasis tumours which are often missed, as conventional medical imaging modalities are unable to detect micrometastases due to the lack of specificity and sensitivity. Recent advances in radiochemistry and the development of nucleic acid based targeting molecules, have led to the development of novel agents for use in cancer diagnostics. Monoclonal antibodies may also be used, however, they have inherent issues, such as toxicity, cost, unspecified binding and their clinical use can be controversial. Aptamers are a class of single-stranded RNA or DNA ligands with high specificity, binding affinity and selectivity for a target, which makes them promising for molecular biomarker imaging. Aptamers are presented as being a superior choice over antibodies because of high binding affinity and pH stability, amongst other factors. A number of aptamers directed to cancer cell markers (breast, lung, colon, glioblastoma, melanoma) have been radiolabelled and characterised to date. Further work is ongoing to develop these for clinical applications.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2018
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 25-01-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 14-04-2021
Abstract: Primary producers face considerable risks for poor mental health. While this population can be difficult to engage in programs to prevent poor mental health, approaches tailored to reflect the context of primary producers’ life and work have been successful. This paper reports on the co-design phase of a project designed to prevent poor mental health for primary producers—specifically, the advantages, challenges and considerations of translating face-to-face co-design methods to an online environment in response to COVID-19 restrictions. The co-design phase drew upon the existing seven-step co-design framework developed by Trischler and colleagues. Online methods were adopted for all steps of the process. This paper models how this co-design approach can work in an online, primary producer context and details key considerations for future initiatives of this type. The development of online co-design methods is an important additional research method for use not only during a pandemic but also when operating with limited resources or geographic constraints. Results demonstrate the following: (i) co-designing online is possible given adequate preparation, training and resource allocation (ii) “hard to reach” populations can be engaged using online methods providing there is adequate early-stage relationship building (iii) co-design quality need not be compromised and may be improved when translating to online and (iv) saved costs and resources associated with online methods can be realigned towards intervention/service creation, promotion and user engagement. Suggestions for extending Trischler and colleagues’ model are incorporated.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-11-2019
DOI: 10.1186/S42833-019-0001-7
Abstract: Ions are present throughout our environment—from biological systems to agriculture and beyond. Many important processes and mechanisms are driven by their presence and their relative concentration. In order to study, understand and/or control these, it is important to know what ions are present and in what concentration—highlighting the importance of ion sensing. Materials that show specific ion interaction with a commensurate change in measurable properties are the key components of ion sensing. One such type are conducting polymers. Conducting polymers are referred to as ‘active’ because they show observable changes in their electrical and optical (and other) properties in response to changing levels of doping with ions. For ex le, p-type conducting polymers such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and polypyrrole, can transition from semi-conducting to metallic in response to increasing levels of anions inserted into their structure. Under certain circumstances, conducting polymers also interact with cations—showing their utility in sensing. Herein, recent advances in conducting polymers will be reviewed in the context of sensing ions. The main scope of this review is to critically evaluate our current understanding of ion interactions with conducting polymers and explore how these novel materials can contribute to improving our ion-sensing capabilities.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-05-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S43939-023-00046-6
Abstract: The conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (known as PEDOT) is routinely fabricated into doped thin films for investigation of its inherent properties as well as for a range of applications. Fabrication of PEDOT is often achieved via oxidative polymerisation, where the conducting polymer is polymerised and doped (oxidised) to yield a conductive polymer thin film. The oxidiser and the polymerisation temperature are two parameters that may influence the properties and performance of the resultant PEDOT thin film. In this study, the role of temperature for the chemical polymerisation of PEDOT using the oxidiser iron tosylate is investigated from a computational and experimental viewpoint. While computations of the doping energetics suggest increasing doping with increasing temperature, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of fabricated PEDOT thin films indicate doping is much more complicated. With the aid of computations of the spatial distribution functions for tosylate in PEDOT, experiments indicate that two different populations of tosylate anions exist in the PEDOT matrix. Their relative populations change as a function of the polymerisation temperature. Therefore, polymerisation temperature plays a critical role in tailoring the properties of PEDOT in pursuit of being fit-for-purpose for the desired application.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 06-07-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.CANLET.2013.11.012
Abstract: Cancer stem cells are a progressive concept to account for the cell biological nature of cancer. Despite the controversies regarding the cancer stem cell model, it has the potential to provide a foundation for new innovative treatment targeting the roots of cancer. The last two years have witnessed exceptional progress in cancer stem cell research, in particular on solid tumours, which holds promise for improved treatment outcomes. Here, we review recent advances in cancer stem cell research, discuss challenges in the field and explore future strategies and opportunities in cancer stem cell studies to overcome resistance to chemotherapy.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 12-2016
Abstract: Aptamers are proving their utility in a number of applications. However, to be easily functionalized, their structure needs to be simplified. Therefore, we sought to truncate a 50-nucleotide aptamer specific to the transferrin receptor to its smallest functional unit using rational engineering of the predicted two-dimensional structure of the longer parent sequence. In addition, mutations were introduced into the binding loop to determine their effect on the selectivity of the aptamers. These base mutations enhanced the binding affinity of the aptamer, while retaining its specificity. The equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) was reduced sixfold following the substitution of all four bases in the binding region. In addition, these aptamers were efficiently internalized into transferrin receptor-positive cells in a similar manner to the transferrin receptor antibody and demonstrated colocalization with this antibody. This study has shown that the smallest functional unit of this aptamer was 14 nucleotides. This small size will be advantageous for future applications, such as drug delivery or functionalization of other therapeutic modalities.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 24-10-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-04-2023
DOI: 10.1111/AJR.12982
Abstract: Farmers face a range of factors that negatively influence their mental health and suicide risk, yet have limited access to appropriate support. Behavioural activation (BA) is an evidence‐based therapy that can be effectively delivered by nonclinical workers. Working with members of farming communities to deliver BA to their peers has the potential to overcome many well‐established barriers to mental health help‐seeking and improve outcomes for this at‐risk group. This paper describes the findings of a co‐design phase informing the development of a peer (farmer)‐led approach for delivering BA for farmers living with depression or low mood. This qualitative study used a co‐design approach involving members of the target community. Focus groups were transcribed and analysed using Thematic Analysis and the Framework approach. Ten online focus groups with 22 participants were held over 3 months. Four overarching, interlinked themes were identified: (i) filling the gap in rural mental health support (ii) alignment with the farming context—tailoring how, where and when we engage about mental health (iii) the ‘messenger’ is as important as the message and (iv) sustainability, governance and support. Findings suggest BA could be a contextually appropriate model of support for the farming community—given its practical and solution‐focused approach—and could help improve access to support. Having peer workers deliver the intervention was viewed as appropriate. Ensuring governance structures are developed to support peers to deliver the intervention will be essential to facilitate effectiveness, safety and sustainability. Insights gained through co‐design have been critical to the success of developing this new model of support for members of farming communities experiencing depression or low mood.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 06-2016
Abstract: Immunohistochemistry has helped to make surgical pathology the "gold" standard for tumor diagnosis. However, given the numerous problems associated with the use of antibodies for the staining of cellular markers in paraffin-embedded tissues, there is a requirement for novel agents that have the advantages of antibodies, but with few of the disadvantages. Aptamers, which are chemical antibodies, are highly specific and sensitive, like their protein counterparts, but display few of the disadvantages. These molecules represent a unique reagent that has the potential to revolutionize the field of histopathological diagnostics. In this study, we present a review of some of the aptamers that have been validated for use in diagnoses and suggest some of the advantages to using these molecules in the future.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2023
Abstract: Smart materials that are energy efficient and take up less space are crucial in the development of new technologies. Electrochromic polymers (ECPs) are one such class of materials that actively change their optical behavior in both visible and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. They show promise in a wide range of applications, from active camouflage to smart displays/windows. The full capabilities of ECPs are still yet to be explored, for while their electrochromic properties are well established, their Infrared (IR) modulation is less reported on. This study addresses the potential of ECPs in active IR modulating devices by optimization of Vapor Phase Polymerized poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films via the substitution of its dopant anion. Dynamic ranges denoting emissivity changes between reduced and oxidized states of PEDOT are found across dopants of tosylate, bromide, sulfate, chloride, perchlorate, and nitrate. Relative to the emissivity of reduced (neutral) PEDOT, a range of ±15% is achieved from the doped PEDOT films, and a maximum dynamic range of 0.11 across a 34% change is recorded for PEDOT doped with perchlorate.
No related grants have been discovered for Joanna Macdonald.