Summer 2022 Lecture
Webinar
Chair: A/Prof Alice Motion
Westpac Research Fellow & Deputy Director (Outreach and Training) Sydney Nano Institute, University of Sydney
Date held: Monday Mar 28, 2022
Lecture Title: 3 “Ds” of Nanomedicine – diagnostics, Delivery and Devices
Please Note: Unfortunately the presentation that Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski gave during this live webinar lecture could not be included in this video due to copyright limitations. We hope that it may be possible to add his presentation at a later date.
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From building nanobots capable of detecting disease to developing ways to regulate cells to repair damaged tissues, hear exciting talks that take you behind the novel applications of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Our material and chemical world functions in the nanoscale at just one billionth of a metre – so when we can get science and technology to work at this ultra-small, near molecular, level it opens up opportunities to revolutionise a huge range of areas including health and medicine, communications, security, energy and the environment.
In this first BHTF Topical Lecture series, you’ll hear from researchers at the University of Sydney Nano Institute (Sydney Nano), who are working at the cutting-edge. They share their projects, process and progress in coming up with nano solutions for grand challenges.
• Dr Shelley Wickham, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Physics, is working on a project building autonomous, programmable robots that can detect disease early for treatment and prevention.
• Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski, Head of Nanomedicine and Nano-Bio-Characterisation Laboratory, will talk about how nanotechnologies can regulate cells to promote tissue repair.
• Professor Zdenka Kuncic, Professor of Physics, shares how the nanoscience research team is harnessing the functionality of nanoparticles for next-generation theranostics.
- Associate Professor Alice Motion, chemist and science communicator from the University of Sydney, will host this event.
About our Speakers
Dr Shelley Wickham:
is an ARC DECRA Fellow, Westpac Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Schools of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Sydney. She earned her BSc at the University of Sydney, working on photonic structures found in biology. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford working on building synthetic molecular motors out of DNA. She then moved to a postdoc position at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where she worked on designing 3-dimensional DNA origami nanostructures and using them to study biological systems. Dr Wickham has research interests in self-assembling nanotechnology and molecular robotics. In particular in the design and assembly of programmable nanostructures out of DNA, with applications in cell biology, materials science and nanomedicine. She is co-lead of the Sydney Nano Institute Grand Challenge project in Molecular Nanorobotics for Health, and faculty mentor of the University of Sydney BIOMOD team.
Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski:
is the Head of Nanomedicine and Nano-Bio-Characterisation Laboratory in the Sydney Pharmacy School, Faculty of Medicine and Health. He is a biomedical engineer who translates the science of nanoparticles and bio-characterisation at nanoscale to human applications. His work addresses a desperate need for effective nanotechnologies that regulate cells to promote desired tissue repair. Wojciech’s laboratory pioneers the use of nanoscale characterisation techniques to understand interactions of nanoparticles with biological systems. To this end he develops solutions to determine the safety of nanomaterials by measuring their effects in different environments. From these he learns to design less harmful nanomaterials to keep people and environment safe. Wojciech’s contribution to the field is exemplified by over 160 peer-reviewed publications, six patents and over 70 invited talks and seminars. He is a recipient of numerous prizes and awards for his work including 2019 Barry Inglis Medal from the National Measurement Institute, 2018 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Education and 2018 Outstanding Paper Award from Royal Society of Chemistry. The translational potential of his work is demonstrated by funding of several grants he has received to move his research discoveries into the realms of mainstream medicine.
Prof Zdenka Kuncic:
was awarded a BSc(Hons I) in Physics from the University of Sydney and a PhD in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, UK. She now leads a distinctively interdisciplinary research program at the interface between physics, medicine, biology, neuroscience and engineering. Her research focuses on developing and applying physics and physics-based approaches to challenging problems that can only be addressed with highly multi-disciplinary perspectives and strategies. Professor Kuncic has had a long-standing involvement in the training of Medical Physicists at the University of Sydney at undergraduate, post-graduate and as higher degree research students. A key focus of her research in Medical Physics is to harness the functionality of nanoparticles for next-generation theranostic technologies.
A/Prof Alice Motion:
is a chemist and science communicator based at The University of Sydney. Her research focuses on open science and Science Communication, Outreach, Participation and Education (SCOPE). Finding ways to connect people with science and to make research more accessible is the overarching theme of Alice’s interdisciplinary research.
The aim of this series of lectures is to provide the members with a “bigger picture” of what is happening in innovative science and technology to widen their horizons. The four topical lectures per year are intended to have broad appeal that may, in particular, help foster cross-disciplinary collaborations. The BHTF intends to offer pilot research grants from charitable income that will be available to multidisciplinary teams, thereby further encouraging broadening of college member involvement to a wider scope.
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Convenor: Professor Dale Bailey, Royal North Shore Hospital and The University of Sydney
The Aim of the Topic Series
The Better Healthcare Technology Foundation (BHTF) is the fundraising and research support arm of the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM). One of its primary remits is to help support its members, who are predominately medical physicists and biomedical engineers, in R&D activities.
The aim of this lecture series is to provide the members with a “bigger picture” of what is happening in innovative science and technology to widen their horizons. The four topical lectures per year are intended to have broad appeal that may, in particular, help foster cross-disciplinary collaborations. The BHTF intends to offer pilot research grants from charitable income that will be available to multidisciplinary teams, thereby further encouraging broadening of college member involvement to a wider scope.
All meetings will be held by Zoom at 1pm (AUS East Coast time – NSW/VIC/TAS) on the last Monday of the month indicated and will be of 1 hr duration including Q&A. All welcome – no pre-booking or registration required. All lectures will be recorded for subsequent on-demand review.
