Development and Evaluation of Well-Defined Polymer-RNA Conjugates as Improved Therapeutics. Gene-based drugs offer an enormous potential to treat a wide range of diseases including, but not limited to, AIDS, hepatitis, and cancer. However, effective delivery of these drugs in body is needed to convert their therapeutic potential to clinically applicable treatments. Our multidisciplinary team will aim to develop novel, polymer-gene hybrid materials for efficient delivery of gene based therapeuti ....Development and Evaluation of Well-Defined Polymer-RNA Conjugates as Improved Therapeutics. Gene-based drugs offer an enormous potential to treat a wide range of diseases including, but not limited to, AIDS, hepatitis, and cancer. However, effective delivery of these drugs in body is needed to convert their therapeutic potential to clinically applicable treatments. Our multidisciplinary team will aim to develop novel, polymer-gene hybrid materials for efficient delivery of gene based therapeutics. Development of such advanced drug delivery systems will significantly enhance Australia`s power in biotechnology. Development and/or formation of new materials and strategies to improve the health quality of Australians, is an important anticipated outcome of this innovative project. Read moreRead less
Tissue Engineering of Human Heart Valve Grown In Vitro. Tissue engineering (TE) of heart valves is a new approach to cultivate a functional heart valve from human autologous cells. This innovative study aims to develop the technology to transplant cells onto a 3D biocompatible valve scaffold that is capable of mimicking native valve. The work proposed is a ground breaking study that will encompass development of a new biomaterial, manufacture of scaffolds using the Fused Deposition Modelling ra ....Tissue Engineering of Human Heart Valve Grown In Vitro. Tissue engineering (TE) of heart valves is a new approach to cultivate a functional heart valve from human autologous cells. This innovative study aims to develop the technology to transplant cells onto a 3D biocompatible valve scaffold that is capable of mimicking native valve. The work proposed is a ground breaking study that will encompass development of a new biomaterial, manufacture of scaffolds using the Fused Deposition Modelling rapid prototyping process, hemodynamic optimisation and in vitro cell culture. This will advance our knowledge in cellular and scaffold technologies and may ultimately lead to the development of a TE heart valve.Read moreRead less
Fluid dynamics and mechanical stress of tissue heart valves. Major problems with thrombo-embolic complications and leaflet failure and calcification still exist with bioprosthetic valves. Valves fabricated from polyether urethanes are efficient and can offer more resistance to calcification. No complete study on the haemodynamics and structure interactions is found in literature. Moreover, todate the effect of aortic wall motion on the blood flow has never been examined. A complete holistic ap ....Fluid dynamics and mechanical stress of tissue heart valves. Major problems with thrombo-embolic complications and leaflet failure and calcification still exist with bioprosthetic valves. Valves fabricated from polyether urethanes are efficient and can offer more resistance to calcification. No complete study on the haemodynamics and structure interactions is found in literature. Moreover, todate the effect of aortic wall motion on the blood flow has never been examined. A complete holistic approach to simulataneuosly simulating the fluid dynamics, the valve motion and the stress in a synthetic Polyether urethane valve is proposed. Cell adhesion study will also be carried out. The findings may yield to new insights into valve research.Read moreRead less
Drug-delivery coating for a new generation of orthopaedic implants. In Australia, the number of people using artificial implants in orthopaedic and dental surgeries is rapidly increasing due to the higher average age of the population and higher expectations for an active and healthy life. The project will enhance the success rate of titanium implants by increasing the strength and stability of tissue at the interface between implant and host, particularly in case of hip joint implants, reducing ....Drug-delivery coating for a new generation of orthopaedic implants. In Australia, the number of people using artificial implants in orthopaedic and dental surgeries is rapidly increasing due to the higher average age of the population and higher expectations for an active and healthy life. The project will enhance the success rate of titanium implants by increasing the strength and stability of tissue at the interface between implant and host, particularly in case of hip joint implants, reducing the need for revision surgery. Read moreRead less
Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types o ....Heparan sulfate complexes with VEGF for control of angiogenesis in tissue engineered constructs. The national/community benefits that will arise from this work include, the generation of knowledge related to the growth of blood vessels in the presence of a synthetic polymer that has been made to look like the natural polymers present in the body. This will lead to an understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved that may have down stream effects relevant to the replacement of many types of tissues being generated for clinical applications, including possible applications in the treatment of heart disease, the largest killer of people in the Western world. Read moreRead less
Development of Acid Degradable Polymeric Nanoparticles for Intracellular and Tumour Site Selective Delivery of Drugs. There is an enormous need to develop effective anticancer drug delivery systems to reduce the social and economic impact of cancer. One of the most critical problems in tumour treatment is the lack of selective toxicity of anticancer drugs against tumour tissues. Our multidisciplinary team will aim to develop a novel polymer based system for tumour site-selective delivery of anti ....Development of Acid Degradable Polymeric Nanoparticles for Intracellular and Tumour Site Selective Delivery of Drugs. There is an enormous need to develop effective anticancer drug delivery systems to reduce the social and economic impact of cancer. One of the most critical problems in tumour treatment is the lack of selective toxicity of anticancer drugs against tumour tissues. Our multidisciplinary team will aim to develop a novel polymer based system for tumour site-selective delivery of anticancer drugs. Development of such advanced drug delivery systems will significantly enhance Australia`s power in biotechnology. Development and/or formation of strategies to improve the health quality of Australians, is an important anticipated outcome of this innovative project.Read moreRead less
Self-assembly of gelling biopolymer particles. Biopolymers provide a renewable source of structuring agents for a variety of potential uses in food, pharmaceutical and other applications that require bio-compatibility. Swollen biopolymer particles of sub-millimetre size are particularly useful as they combine macroscopic structure formation with an ability to flow and a desirable soft solid texture. Two limitations to the current utilisation of biopolymer particles are that they either cannot be ....Self-assembly of gelling biopolymer particles. Biopolymers provide a renewable source of structuring agents for a variety of potential uses in food, pharmaceutical and other applications that require bio-compatibility. Swollen biopolymer particles of sub-millimetre size are particularly useful as they combine macroscopic structure formation with an ability to flow and a desirable soft solid texture. Two limitations to the current utilisation of biopolymer particles are that they either cannot be predictably produced direct from a dried form, or if they are (e.g. cooked starch granules), there is a lack of scientific understanding that limits use of natural sources without subsequent chemical modification. This project will provide the science & technology to overcome these limitations.Read moreRead less
Pancreatic Differentiation of Cord Blood Stem Cells using Smart Surfaces. Cord blood cells obtained at the time of delivery of a baby are a valuable resource that have the potential to develop into many cell types. This Project entails attaching stem cells derived from cord blood to appropriate 3 dimensional smart surfaces, and examining the ability of such cells to develop into insulin-producing cells. An understanding of how to coax stem cells, seeded on to smart surfaces, to develop into ma ....Pancreatic Differentiation of Cord Blood Stem Cells using Smart Surfaces. Cord blood cells obtained at the time of delivery of a baby are a valuable resource that have the potential to develop into many cell types. This Project entails attaching stem cells derived from cord blood to appropriate 3 dimensional smart surfaces, and examining the ability of such cells to develop into insulin-producing cells. An understanding of how to coax stem cells, seeded on to smart surfaces, to develop into mature cells with different functions will enhance our ability to understand how cells develop. As well, it enhance the potential usefulness of cord blood for research purposes. Read moreRead less
LIPID AND LIPOPROTEIN ADSORPTION AT BIOMATERIALS AND BIO-DIAGNOSTICS INTERFACES. This project aims to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of undesired biological deposits on synthetic materials and thereby help establish the scientific basis for the rational design of materials with improved compatibility with biological fluids and the engineering of a new generation of biomedical implant devices and bio-diagnostic devices. It is well known that proteins accumulate on synt ....LIPID AND LIPOPROTEIN ADSORPTION AT BIOMATERIALS AND BIO-DIAGNOSTICS INTERFACES. This project aims to investigate molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of undesired biological deposits on synthetic materials and thereby help establish the scientific basis for the rational design of materials with improved compatibility with biological fluids and the engineering of a new generation of biomedical implant devices and bio-diagnostic devices. It is well known that proteins accumulate on synthetic solid surfaces. This project proposes to investigate whether lipids and lipoproteins also play key roles in the initiation of biological adsorption processes. Combined with the study of the interfacial forces responsible, this information will guide the design of preventative strategies.Read moreRead less
Theoretical and experimental studies on magnetoelectroelastic bone remodelling process. The project combines biotechnology and material science which will have national economic, social and environment impact. It can benefit industry by providing knowledge that help scientists understand remodeling under coupled fields and is used to develop bone replacement. By better understanding remodeling due to multi-field loading, we can assist scientists in aeronautical industry in developing countermeas ....Theoretical and experimental studies on magnetoelectroelastic bone remodelling process. The project combines biotechnology and material science which will have national economic, social and environment impact. It can benefit industry by providing knowledge that help scientists understand remodeling under coupled fields and is used to develop bone replacement. By better understanding remodeling due to multi-field loading, we can assist scientists in aeronautical industry in developing countermeasures that reduce or eliminate bone loss resulting from long-duration space flight. It can provide knowledge that can be used to explore underlying mechanisms controlling bone remodeling and self-repair in gaining insight into debilitating diseases such as osteoporosis, to develop high-performance prosthetics for medical injury healing.Read moreRead less