Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology AIBN

🧔 Sorry but we "moustache" you a question: Have you heard of Movember? Movember is an annual movement that encourages participants to grow moustaches throughout November to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's mental health. Members of the AIBN research community signed up this year for Movember, growing out their fabulous facial hair for a good cause. Part of the team is Dr Nicholas Fletcher whose research is focused on radiopharmaceuticals - a class of drugs that are used to very selectively target and kill cancer cells - he said that for him, Movember was about awareness raising. "Part of my job as a researcher is investigating better treatments for cancer, but I also believe in the importance of raising awareness and encouraging men to take charge of their health." Nick said. "Movember is a reminder that cancer can affect anyone, but awareness and early detection can make all the difference." AIBN researchers undertake a number of research projects that encompass a range of cancers including prostate cancer, so we love to see our researchers raising money and awareness for such a great cause. This year the Movember team was led by Dr Pie Huda, also participating: Dr James Wood, Dr Nicholas Westra van Holthe and Professor David Owen from UQ PEF Huge thanks also to Flint Barber studio in west end, who came to AIBN last week to give our researchers’ mos a trim. The team so far have raised over $2000, and there's still time to donate here https://lnkd.in/gpvTBqcj ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacture of Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals

Massive congrats to the AIBN research teams who secured funding in the latest round of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Scheme!  🦠 AIBN Professor Michael Monteiro will use his $591,594 Discovery grant to engineer an environmentally friendly antiviral nanocoating designed with a new and universal mode of viral inactivation for broad-spectrum and long-lasting viral protection.  With the help of fellow AIBN Professor Megan O'Mara, he will use a combination of synthesis, computational modelling, and cutting-edge visualisation and quantitative analysis techniques to provide new antiviral design principles to guide surface coatings development.  ☀️ ARC Industry Laureate Professor Lianzhou Wang – a joint appointment with the School of Chemical Engineering UQ - was also awarded $657,243 to develop new lead-free perovskite materials for next-generation solar cells. He will be assisted by AIBN colleague Dr Miaoqiang Lyu in this work, and also plans to explore the application of these new lead-free materials in devices that detect, control, and create light.  A number of other AIBN researchers will also be involved in the delivery of Discovery projects led by their colleagues and collaborators.  🧪 This includes Associate Professor Jeffrey Harmer, who is part of a project that aims to evolve the nitrogen-nitrogen three electron bond as a technology enabler. 🖥️ Associate Professor Viktor Vegh will help develop the next generation mathematical framework to interpret and model diffusion-weighted MRI signals, while Dr Lena Oestreich will be developing methodologies and standards for defining reproducible, benchmarked analysis pipelines.  🌾 Dr Li Li is teaming up with Professor Bernard Carroll from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) to design biologically active nanoparticle formulations to deliver RNA into crops for enhanced yield and quality 🐝 Professor O'Mara – as well as working with Professor Monteiro - is also part of a Discovery project that will investigate neurotransmitter receptors in Varroa destructor mites.   Well done everyone!  Read more: https://lnkd.in/gy9MAgAc

Ultimately, Emmanuel Hanon wants to keep people healthy. And with the help of AIBN researchers, the prognosis is looking good. Manu is the CEO of Vicebio, the spinout firm harnessing The University of Queensland’s molecular clamp technology to create next-generation vaccines for critical challenges in the respiratory virus vaccine market. It was fantastic to have Manu on site this week to meet our researchers and touch base with the vaccine development team led by Professor Keith Chappell, who is Vicebio’s lead scientific advisor and one of the co-creators of the molecular clamp. Manu has more than 20 years experience in vaccine research and development He says UQ is shaping up as a major player in Queensland’s burgeoning biotech environment, with the AIBN and the Chappell Group in particular providing the expertise and innovation needed to take ideas from the lab and make them a reality. “(The AIBN) has something about innovation - but actually applied innovation, making (research) useful as quickly as possible for people,” he says. “There is clearly an interest in making sure that things will serve for society.” Thanks for dropping by Manu! Excited to see what ViceBio gets up to next. UniQuest

💻For AIBN PhD student Tanika Duivenvoorden, a day in the lab doesn't actually involve a lab at all. Tanika is working with Professor Debra Bernhardt and studying computational chemistry, a branch of science that uses computers to help understand and predict how molecules behave, interact, and react. Computational researchers rarely if ever work in typical labs - their science all happens, as the name suggests - through computers. By using computational models, researchers can quickly explore and predict how molecules will behave, which can speed up the process of designing new materials and solving tricky chemistry problems. Tanika is contributing to the development of cutting-edge green technology at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2). She is using her computational chemistry knowledge to help develop sustainable energy solutions. Read more about Tanika's journey here: https://lnkd.in/gaechdzk

If you’re reading a paper on polymer science, semiconductors, or energy storage and conversion – there’s a good chance Professor Lianzhou Wang, Professor Tom Davis, or Dr Yusuf Valentino Kaneti will get a nod. That’s because these three brilliant AIBN researchers are among the top 1 per cent in the world for citations in their field, and have helped The University of Queensland score the equal top result for an Australian university in the 2024 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (HCR) list.  The annual HCR list recognises and celebrates researchers who have published a significant number of research papers, celebrating their influence and leadership in their respective areas.  Needless to say, our three nominees had a prodigious output this year. 💡 ARC Industry Laureate Fellow Professor Lianzhou Wang is an AIBN group leader with a joint appointment at UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering UQ. He scored an HCR award for his pioneering work in the clean energy sector, and for his efforts to develop new functional materials for solar energy conversion and storage systems.  Incredibly, it is the sixth straight year Lianzhou has made the top 1 per cent HCR list.  🧪 Professor Thomas Davis makes the HCR list for a third year running in 2024 - and for a time fourth overall – for his world-renowned use of polymer science in nanomedicine applications. His research group at the AIBN is developing pharmaceutical excipients of nanomedicine that can target diseases by identifying intracellular targets.  🔍 Advance QLD Industry research fellow Dr Valentino Kaneti has gone back-to-back with his second HCR award in as many years.   Dr Kaneti specialises in the design and self-assembly of novel porous nanomaterials toward energy storage and conversion and sensing applications. In particular, he is interested in the development of conductive two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks and mesoporous materials.  Well done researchers!  The full 2024 Highly Cited Researcher list is available online here: https://lnkd.in/grnCUJsX

🎧 Listen to episode 4 of VAXXED to hear AIBN's Dr Seth Cheetham talk about the scalability of mRNA for clinical use. As well as leading research at AIBN, Seth is the director of the BASE Facility - the biggest supplier of mRNA in Australia. Working with industry through all stages of the research, Seth and the team at BASE are developing solutions to real problems and quickly translating those into real-world applications. 🧪 Since its launch in 2021, BASE has provided academic and industry partners with more than 300 experimental grade vaccines. Listen https://bit.ly/4fzc32a

Scarlett Mayfield-Smith isn’t even three years old, but the Brisbane toddler has already had more than 50 ambulance rides to hospital. Now an unlikely combo of tarantula venom and synthetic brains has given hope to her and her family, as well as thousands of other patients whose epilepsy is not treatable by medication. 📖 In this excellent feature read, Janelle Miles at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) tells us exactly how a team of The University of Queensland’s brightest minds is harnessing stem cell technology and venom-based drug discovery to find new and more effective treatments: https://lnkd.in/geH2qee7 Janelle’s three-minute piece will tell you all about spider venom peptides, organoids, genetic epilepsy, as well as: 💸 How the AIBN’s Professor Ernst Wolvetang and Professor Glenn King from the UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience will use their $4.1m Medical Research Future Fund grant to push for new solutions 🧠 Why AIBN researcher Dr Selin Pars plans to collect blood samples from patients in order to create 800 tiny synthetic brains 🧪 Why Professor Michael Kassiou sees organoids as an ideal vessel to test the effectiveness of experimental drugs for humans, and 👪 The ways in which this research could improve the lives of people with refractory epilepsy, according to Epilepsy Queensland interim CEO Sandi Rodiger

A new whitepaper released by the Australia's Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) outlines key recommendations into growing a precision fermentation industry in Australia. Humans have been using fermentation in the creation of food - such as bread and beer - for a very long time, precision fermentation builds on that tradition, offering the potential to develop entirely new ingredients, flavours and tastes. The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology AIBN's Professor Esteban M., who contributed to the paper, says precision fermentation is a transformative opportunity to strengthen food systems, foster economic growth, enhance environmental sustainability, and boost food security. “This technology can enhance and diversify our food supply – imagine microbial strains precisely engineered to yield high quality protein. We are on the brink of producing tailored, sustainable food sources.” More than 70 authors from industry, government and academia contributed to the white paper, which explores areas crucial for industry growth, such as regulatory needs, sustainability, economic impacts, and ethical considerations. 👉 Get the paper here: https://lnkd.in/gSiWrW8K

🗜 Ever heard of a molecular clamp? It's exactly what it sounds like - a tiny clamp that can hold things on a molecular level. But what's it used for? Well, the way our immune cells learn to identify viruses is by sensing tiny spike proteins on the surface of the virus - if you isolate those spikes, you can reduce the time it takes to manufacture vaccines. But without the support provided by the virus surface, the protein spikes lose their shape and breakdown, rendering the vaccine ineffective. That's where the molecular clamp comes in. Developed by researchers at UQ, the tiny nanoscale clamp made from amino acids stabilises the spike proteins allowing for a vaccine that's faster to manufacture and effective. This tiny clamp - too small to see with the naked eye - could change the way vaccines are made worldwide, and this is your opportunity to participate in that change. Volunteers are needed for trial of newly developed vaccine candidate to fight respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) using molecular clamp technology - sign up here https://lnkd.in/gjWz5EJa

🧠 🧠🧠 Professor Ernst Wolvetang is renowned for his work with organoids: growing them, studying them, and finding new ways they can be used in science and medicine. But while much of this intricate work happens inside his lab, he always keeps sight of the real-world reasons for this research.   It was fantastic to see Ernst celebrate his connection with the wonderful Tallulah Moon and Genetic Cures for Kids. By designing and growing tiny brains in a dish, Ernst and his team will hopefully find a treatment for rare hereditary disease SPG56 and, in the process, unlock therapies for a range of other neurological disorders. 📖 You can read all about the Wolvetang lab’s groundbreaking SPG56 project here: https://lnkd.in/gyX5j8XW  🗣️ And why not hear from the man himself, and what drives his passion for organoid science:  https://lnkd.in/gSSXebUE