March 2010 - Swinburne University of Technology

swinburne March 2010
medical devices
14
An Australian
tissue engineer in Paris
story by Dr Gio Braidotti
She had never before travelled outside
Australia, did not speak French and when it
came to the ‘desk’ aspects of her research
work, she preferred to work from home.
So it came as something of a surprise to
Melissa Sgarioto when she was nominated
by Swinburne University of Technology to
take up the daredevil challenge of being the
university’s first student to participate in the
Cotutelle Program – in which a student’s PhD
research is supervised jointly by academics
from an Australian and an overseas university,
typically in France. It leads to a jointlyawarded
PhD degree from the two institutions.
The program is active through the European
Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU),
a network of research universities focused
on collaboration in innovative teaching and
learning, enhancement of university–society
interaction and internationalisation of the
student and staff experience.
Ms Sgarioto’s Australian PhD supervisor,
Associate Professor John Patterson, who
is Academic Leader of the Biomedical
Group, says that Swinburne is the only
Australian university in the ECIU. And while
Ms Sgarioto may not have known it at the
time, she was perfectly suited to the task
of being Swinburne’s pioneering Cotutelle
ambassador via the ECIU.
In her case, that meant enrolling at both
Swinburne and the Université de Technologie
de Compiègne (UTC), about 40 minutes
north of Paris, where she spent the first year
of her PhD in 2007. Ultimately, she will
submit dissertations to both universities, may
participate in the grand old European tradition
of orally defending her thesis, and end up
with two certificates of completion for her
doctorate degree … in addition to a suitcase
full of French clothes and the ability to speak
both normal and ‘techno-geek’ French.
“I knew she would cope with France very
well,” Associate Professor Patterson says.
“She didn’t know it then, but a lot of students
– before they start their PhD – are intimidated
by it. But during the course of her Honours
work in tissue engineering, I realised she could
handle France without any problems at all.”
He describes Ms Sgarioto, a recipient
of a Swinburne postgraduate research
scholarship, as meticulous, responsible and
highly conscious of safety and accuracy …
qualities that are de rigueur in high-powered
French laboratories.
In addition, she tends to be easygoing
with a sunny disposition. The Cotutelle
experience is proving a remarkable journey
of discovery, both in the personal and
scientific sense.
“It was my first trip abroad and I was on
my own,” Ms Sgarioto says. “I tried not to
think about it before I left so that I had no
expectations. I didn’t speak French and when I
first got there I thought ‘what was I thinking?’
… But slowly I learnt the language. I got
comfortable. Now I consider France my second
home. It was such a wonderful experience.”
As to the research she is undertaking within
the Cotutelle Program, she is part of a massive
project. She is testing biodegradable polymers
invented in Australia by CSIRO Molecular
and Health Technologies and developed by
PolyNovo Biomaterials that could be used to
Key points
Photo: Paul Jones
Melissa Sgarioto (above)
is the first Swinburne
student to participate in the
Cotutelle Program, which
sees research undertaken
across two universities, one
typically in France
In her research she is
testing biodegradable
polymers, invented in
Australia, which could
be used to form the next
generation of stents used to
treat cardiovascular disease
The techniques she learnt
in France are helping
her to estimate how the
body could respond to the
synthetic material
form the next generation of stents used to treat
cardiovascular disease (CVD) arising from
blocked arteries (stenosis).
Since medical science vanquished many
infectious diseases in the early 1900s, CVD
has become the number-one killer in many
parts of the world. Global death rates peaked
at 56 per cent of deaths in 1968. Since
then, CVD mortality has steadily declined
and those who do die tend to be older. The
decline has persisted despite an increase in
obesity and diabetes.
Australia was the first country to see a
decline in CVD deaths, but figures released
by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in
2007 indicate that CVD is still responsible
for 34 per cent of all deaths, making it the
leading cause of death among Australians.
While scientists are not sure what
is driving reductions in CVD deaths,
improvements in medical care are considered
a contributing factor to lower fatality rates,
lengthened survival times and shorter
hospital stays. Stents are part of the package
of new treatment options.
Ms Sgarioto explains, however, that with
the original stent devices – wire mesh tubes
that were locked into place in the artery by
inflating a balloon catheter – the procedure
was not foolproof. Some 5 to 35 per cent of
patients experienced ‘restenosis’, where the
block reoccurs. That has stimulated a push in
medical-device research and development to
lower that rate.
Biodegradable stents are one option made
possible by the development of NovoSorb ,
a family of biodegradable polymers
developed by PolyNovo Biomaterials.
“What I am doing is using techniques I
learnt in France to estimate how the body is
likely to respond to the synthetic material,”
Ms Sgarioto says. “This involves degrading
the polymer for nine months and running
tests to assess whether the polymer and its
degradation products are toxic and whether it
elicits any immune response … basically I’m
looking at issues of biocompatibility.”
Ultimately the goal is to develop
biocompatible materials that retain their
mechanical strength for the time required
to remodel the vessel and can still keep the
artery open as the polymer degrades. “The
Cotutelle Program meant that I could acquire
expertise from the French division and
then create new channels for collaborating
on bigger projects such as PolyNovo’s
biodegradable polymer technology.” ••
Contact. .
Swinburne University of Technology
1300 275 788
magazine@swinburne.edu.au
www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine