Engineering cartilage homeostasis in health and disease. Arthritis is a common, painful and often debilitating disease affecting 16% of the Australian population and costing this community $11 billion every year. It is not well understood why cartilage degenerates into joint disease, nor how it may be reversed - partly due to the large number of mechanisms involved. This project aims to overcome this complexity by developing a computational model of cartilage that can integrate the various mech ....Engineering cartilage homeostasis in health and disease. Arthritis is a common, painful and often debilitating disease affecting 16% of the Australian population and costing this community $11 billion every year. It is not well understood why cartilage degenerates into joint disease, nor how it may be reversed - partly due to the large number of mechanisms involved. This project aims to overcome this complexity by developing a computational model of cartilage that can integrate the various mechanisms of cartilage degradation. New experiments will be used to validate the model and test predictions. The model developed will provide fundamental insights into what is required for the maintenance of healthy cartilage, and what happens in injury-induced degradation of cartilage.Read moreRead less
Multi-scale modeling of transport through deformable porous materials. Understanding solute transport through porous materials is essential because it provides a technical basis for answering many important questions in society today-how can humans avoid 'brittle bones', how to design durable infrastructure, how to safely store wastes (e.g. hazardous and municipal). Solution of each of these problems requires innovation in model development, new method of analysis, and insightful interpretation ....Multi-scale modeling of transport through deformable porous materials. Understanding solute transport through porous materials is essential because it provides a technical basis for answering many important questions in society today-how can humans avoid 'brittle bones', how to design durable infrastructure, how to safely store wastes (e.g. hazardous and municipal). Solution of each of these problems requires innovation in model development, new method of analysis, and insightful interpretation of results. While theoretical developments of this project are general, in the sense that they are not restricted to particular engineering disciplines, the four chosen applications closely align with two major research priorities namely An Environmental Sustainable Australia and Promoting and Maintaining Good Health.Read moreRead less
X-Ray Activation of Photocatalytic Titania-Coated Biomedical Implants in Situ. The main causes of biomedical implant failure are loosening and infection, which may require revision surgery. The project has the potential to solve these widespread and expensive problems by formation of a coating of strongly (chemically) bonded and photocatalytically active titania on the titanium implant surface and short-term low-dose X-irradiation. This work has the potential to provide the biomedical industry w ....X-Ray Activation of Photocatalytic Titania-Coated Biomedical Implants in Situ. The main causes of biomedical implant failure are loosening and infection, which may require revision surgery. The project has the potential to solve these widespread and expensive problems by formation of a coating of strongly (chemically) bonded and photocatalytically active titania on the titanium implant surface and short-term low-dose X-irradiation. This work has the potential to provide the biomedical industry with a revolutionary development in both implant coating design and quality with self-disinfection capacity after implantation.Read moreRead less
Bone regulation - cell interactions to disease. Many bone disorders such as osteoporosis, Paget's disease and chancer related bone diseases are directly related to disruption of communication pathways between bone cells leading to imbalances in bone remodeling. Although these disorders are common and cause considerable suffering, in most cases little is known about the mechanisms responsible for dysfunctional remodeling. Understanding the communication network between bone cells and their inter ....Bone regulation - cell interactions to disease. Many bone disorders such as osteoporosis, Paget's disease and chancer related bone diseases are directly related to disruption of communication pathways between bone cells leading to imbalances in bone remodeling. Although these disorders are common and cause considerable suffering, in most cases little is known about the mechanisms responsible for dysfunctional remodeling. Understanding the communication network between bone cells and their interaction with drugs is essential in order to develop new therapies and to effectively design novel biological compatible bone implants. This research proposal closely aligns with national research priority two, i.e., promoting and maintaining good health (ageing well, ageing productively).Read moreRead less
Coherent optical tissue biopsy and analysis targeting muscle pathology. This international, interdisciplinary collaborative research should change the way structures in tissues are characterised with broad impact on health, biotechnology, and the meat industry. Specific benefits include: a large reduction in the time/effort required for the ubiquitous process of histology of muscle and other tissue sections and samples; a large reduction in the number of animals required in experimentation and ....Coherent optical tissue biopsy and analysis targeting muscle pathology. This international, interdisciplinary collaborative research should change the way structures in tissues are characterised with broad impact on health, biotechnology, and the meat industry. Specific benefits include: a large reduction in the time/effort required for the ubiquitous process of histology of muscle and other tissue sections and samples; a large reduction in the number of animals required in experimentation and the possibility of time sequential studies of the same animal; and in muscular dystrophy in humans, a new capability in the direct assessment of muscle tissue and the disease treatment and progression. This suite of advances should generate intellectual property of major commercial importance.Read moreRead less
In vivo mechano-microscopy: a discovery platform for cell mechanics. This project aims to develop a platform for quantitative 3-D imaging of cell elasticity in tissue which may make possible new discoveries in cell mechanics. Mechanical properties, in concert with chemical properties, act to determine the function and behaviour of cells, and play a vital role in diseases such as cancer. Measurement of the mechanical properties of the cell in its native tissue environment, currently not possible, ....In vivo mechano-microscopy: a discovery platform for cell mechanics. This project aims to develop a platform for quantitative 3-D imaging of cell elasticity in tissue which may make possible new discoveries in cell mechanics. Mechanical properties, in concert with chemical properties, act to determine the function and behaviour of cells, and play a vital role in diseases such as cancer. Measurement of the mechanical properties of the cell in its native tissue environment, currently not possible, could accelerate the understanding of cell mechanics. This project plans to develop in vivo mechano-microscopy by combining innovations in optical microscopy, micro-mechanical loading, and computational methods. It then plans to demonstrate its capability by producing the first 3-D elasticity maps of skeletal muscle cells in living animals.Read moreRead less
A nanoengineered solution to drug delivery in bone. This project presents an exciting new approach of applying nanotechnology to bone research. By combining our expertise in nanoengineering of new materials, mathematical modelling and bone biology, this project will result in a well-characterised model for drug delivery into bone and lead to a new therapeutic approach for treating bone diseases.