Ian Wark Research Institute
ARC Special Research Centre
ARC Special Research Centre
Research Area: Biotechnology, drug delivery and microfluidics
Supervisors:
Dr Benjamin Thierry
and Prof Clive Prestidge
Description: Nanomedicine, the medical application of
nanotechnology, has the potential to offer solutions to some of the most
common medical challenges, including lack of early disease detection,
non-specific systemic distribution and inadequate concentrations of
therapeutic/diagnostic agents, and the inability to monitor therapeutic
responses. The emergence of medical nanomaterials and nanodevices may
also be a cornerstone toward the once elusive concept of personalized
medicine, i.e. treatments tailored individually to patients. Despite
considerable advances in recent years, the practical implementation of
diagnostic and therapeutic nano-sized agents remain however limited by
issues such as the lack of control afforded by traditional “bulk
solution-phase” preparation routes. The limited shelf life of most
diagnostic and therapeutic nanocarriers is also a major challenge.
Microfabricated-based preparation of nanocarriers – or “lab-on-chips”
has recently been advanced as an exciting alternative to standard “bulk
solution-phase” approaches. Microfluidic devices offer indeed excellent
control of the experimental parameters (e.g. diffusion, mixing etc) that
control the properties of nanocarriers such as liposomes, micelles and
microbubbles.
Working as a part of a multi-disciplinary research team, the student
will be responsible to prepare nanocarriers using a prototype
microfluidic “lab-on-chip” and to investigate their properties using
technologies such as dynamic light scattering, scanning electron
microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal microscopy.
