2013 Quarter 1 - Australian Institute for Bioengineering and ...

AIBN
QUARTERLY
Q1 2013
Director’s Message
Professor Peter Gray
AIBN Director
As you will see on the following pages, AIBN has had a flying
start to the year. Towards the end of January the AIBN Board,
Chaired by Euan Murdoch, met for a full day at AIBN to
discuss many of the issues of key importance for the institute,
and engage in more detailed discussions with a number of
our Group Leaders. We were delighted that UQ’s new Vice-
Chancellor, Professor Peter Høj, was able to join the Board for
lunch. The Board meeting was followed by a retreat for our
Group Leaders, Associate Group Leaders, and Section Heads
where two days of presentations and robust discussion helped to
formulate institute strategies for the challenging year ahead.
The following pages summarise some of the many visitors, events
and achievements of our staff and students during the quarter.
Together, the stories describe the rich spectrum of activities
occurring in AIBN. I would however, like to mention one item
of particular personal significance - the departure of Dr Trent
Munro.
Trent has been with us just on seven years, joining AIBN from
Cambridge UK after a video conference interview with Donna
Hannan and myself. His first job on arrival was to get ready to
move into the new, still uncompleted building, and to set up the
mammalian cell culture facilities on Level 3 West. Trent’s highlevel
scientific abilities coupled with his management skills meant
that he and his colleagues rapidly developed the area into labs
which rank amongst the best in the world. He has been offered
an excellent position as head of Cell Line Development at
Amgen’s major Thousand Oaks facility north of Los Angeles, and
while we will certainly miss him, it is a great tribute to him and to
the Institute that he has been offered such a prestigious position.
aibn events
11 April 2013
Industrial Affiliates Program: Thought Leaders’ Dinner
Series, Customs House, Brisbane
18 April 2013
UQ Global Leadership Series event with Professors Mark
Kendall, Ian Frazer and Robert Booy: Improving The Reach
Of Vaccines To The Developing World With Nanopatches,
Customs House, Brisbane
8 September 2013
2 nd International Conference on BioNano Innovation, Beijing,
China
Editorial Contributions
Janice Besch
Erik de Wit
Petrina Gilmore
Peter Gray
Darius Koreis
Design
Darius Koreis
In this issue
1 - Director’s message
2 - AIBN signs Korean cooperation agreement
2 - DSM executives meet at AIBN
2 - AIBN Group Leader a 2013 Australian
Academy of Science Fellow
2 - Research the best hope for spinal injuries
3 - Researchers get their hands dirty in the name
of going green
3 - $375,000 regenerative medicine boost
4 - Accolade for student’s design in vaccine
research
4 - Research aims to diagnose without blood tests
5 - AIBN provides leadership in national research
administrator accreditation project
5 - Leading journal appointment shows AIBN’s
strength
5 - Award win for protein trouble-shooter
5 - AIBN news briefs
6-7 - PhD Focus - Alexandra Depelsenaire
8 - AIBN Seminar Series - 2013 Semester 1
9 - Donate to AIBN
AIBN Quarterly
Photography
Erik de Wit
Joe Vittorio
Have you got news?
Won an award?
Had a paper published?
Contact us
p.gilmore@uq.edu.au
d.koreis@uq.edu.au
For news as it happens visit
us online www.aibn.uq.edu.au
Or follow us on Twitter
@AIBN_DIRECTOR
And add us to Facebook
QUARTERLY
1

News
AIBN signs Korean cooperation
agreement
An agreement between the AIBN and the Center for Intelligent
Nano-Bio Materials at the Ewha Womans University, Republic of
Korea, was signed at the Institute on 4 March 2013.
The international agreement allows for:
• Both institutions to establish a joint mechanism for the exchange
of scholars;
• Sharing and exchange of research materials for research and
educational purposes;
• The promotion of joint research activities and participation in
conferences, symposia, serial lectures and seminars.
Executive Vice President of Ewha Womans University, Professor Jin-
Ho Choy, travelled from Seoul to be the University’s representative
at the signing, and also gave a presentation on the University’s
capabilities.
The signing of the agreement followed on from a visit by Australian
Governor-General and UQ Alumnus Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO to
Ewha Womans University only six days earlier.
DSM executives meet at AIBN
Two influential DSM executives met at the AIBN on 21 March.
Ms Karen King, President of DSM Biologics, has previously visited
the AIBN, however, Mr Stefan Doboczky, a Managing Board
member overseeing the group of which Ms King is President, visited
Brisbane for the first time and is the highest ranking DSM executive
to have visited Australia.
Mr Doboczky is a member of the five-person Managing Board
of DSM, a blue chip global company active in Life Sciences and
Materials Sciences with a €9 billion annual turnover.
AIBN is delighted that it has been possible to attract a company
of the calibre of DSM Biologics to be the operator of the biologics
scale-up facility currently being completed alongside the TRI
building.
Biologics are the fastest growing class of human therapeutic
medicines, and the Queensland facility is being built as the
‘Biologics Plant of the Future’.
While visiting the AIBN, Mr Doboczky held a meeting with AIBN
Director Professor Peter Gray and toured the facilities.
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QUARTERLY
A large delegation from DSM
visted the AIBN in August 2012
AIBN Group Leader a 2013 Australian
Academy of Science Fellow
Congratulations to The University of Queensland Deputy Vice-
Chancellor (Research) and AIBN Group Leader Professor Max Lu, who
has been selected as 2013 Australian Academy of Science Fellow.
Professor Lu is a world leading
scientist in materials science and
chemical engineering, having made
many significant and sustained
contributions including the new
method for synthesis of highly
reactive single crystal TiO2.
He has provided new insights into the
surface chemistry and modifications
of nanoporous materials, molecular
engineering of membranes and
efficient photocatalyst for clean
energy and water.
> Click here for full story <
Left to right: Dr Eve Tsai, Dr Fiona Filardo,
Dr Bronwin Dargaville and Dr Firas Rasou
Research the best hope for spinal
injuries, symposium told
A quadriplegic has urged scientists to keep up their research, saying
even small steps could help make huge improvements to his life.
Spinal Cord Injury Association Brisbane president David Riley spoke
at a one-day symposium at the AIBN.
“I don’t expect to be able to walk around or run around. It is the
little things,” Mr Riley said.
“If I could move one finger, I could drive a vehicle. If I could regain
bowel control, it would give me a much improved quality of life,” he
said.
“I see research and a multidisciplinary approach as our best chance.
“There is no cure in the short term. But we are hopeful with research
that there will be improvements in the quality of our lives.”
The symposium attracted speakers from all over the world, including
University of Ottawa neurosurgeon and scientist Dr Eve Tsai.
Dr Tsai is collaborating with AIBN’s Dr Firas Rasoul as part of a
State Government’s National and International Research Alliance
Program (NIRAP) grant.
She used her trip to Australia to further their research into ways of
stimulating the body to repair itself, provide stem cell therapies to
regenerate and repair injured areas.
“Stem cells are a very important area. There is huge potential,” she
said.
“Every dollar of funding could be used for work that could
potentially make a huge contribution.
“I go to work and see patients with spinal cord injuries. It seems such
a tragedy. Some are so young. Typically, they had one moment of
misjudging something and their lives are irrevocably changed forever.”
Dr Rasoul said his research involved designing biomaterials which
could target injured spinal areas, stimulate cell regrowth and
encourage repairs.
This complemented Dr Tsai’s work, which looked at how a patient
would respond to the medicines or genes to ensure safe and
effective tissue repair or regrowth.
> Click here for full story

News
Left to right:
Professors John
Dorgan, Joe Greene
and Peter Halley
Researchers get hands dirty in the name of going green
Professor Peter Halley is working to rid Australia of plastic pollution
through both research and elbow-grease.
He is developing degradable plastics for agricultural films and food
packaging, but Professor Halley is also making sure existing plastics
do not pollute Brisbane’s parks and waterways with participation in
Clean Up Australia Day.
Taking part in the day will be two important US collaborators:
Colorado School of Mines biopolymers expert Professor John
Dorgan and California State University biodegradation specialist
Professor Joe Greene.
“I think it is important for us to get our hands dirty and remember
why we are doing our research,” Professor Halley said.
“It is about creating sustainable products and processes which
minimise our effects on the planet.”
With funding from industry and government, Professor Halley’s
research group is developing environmentally-responsible plastics.
Professor Dorgan brings experience in bioplastics research and
development and Professor Greene will provide biopolymer
processing and biodegradation testing expertise from industry and
university.
They have also developed green technologies for industry, such as
Apple’s iTunes cards and specialised laboratory facilities enabling
the study of biodegradation on land and in marine parks.
“I have been interested in recycling and reducing plastic waste since
my PhD,” Professor Halley said.
“Global population growth coupled to rapid economic development
are increasing water, food and energy needs and putting enormous
pressure on our environment.”
Researcher’s $375,000 regenerative
medicine boost
Tissue engineer Dr Jess Frith will
determine the role of specific
molecules in cell development in
world-first research, with plans to
use the knowledge to repair bones
and cartilage.
Dr Frith will combine cells with
biomaterials to reconstruct body
tissues in the lab, on the path
to one day potentially treating
osteoporosis, osteoarthritis or
intervertebral disc degeneration.
Her work at the Australian
Institute for Bioengineering and
Nanotechnology, based at The
University of Queensland, has
received a boost with the awarding
of $375,000 in Australian Research
Council Early Career Researcher
Award funding for three years.
“I think regenerative medicine has
the potential to transform medicine
in the future but a major hurdle in
achieving this is our ability to make
cells behave as we want,” she said.
“The cells need to turn into the
correct tissue type. Controlling
this is difficult. We know that stem
cells are very sensitive to the
environment around them.”
This is where Dr Frith’s research
comes in, with plans to investigate
whether molecules called
microRNAs play an important role
in how the response of cells to
their environment determines cell
development.
“I will be using biomaterials to see
if I can influence microRNAs and
see if I can push stem cells to form
specific tissues.”
She also has a more personal
reason for wanting to see advances
in the field.
“My mum has had a spinal fusion
because of intervertebral disc
problems. It was a major procedure
and it still hasn’t really fully solved
the problem.
“I would like to think that my
research will one day lead to an
effective alternative, where we can
tissue engineer replacement tissues
that are fully functional.”
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News
Accolade for student’s design in vaccine
research
PhD student Stefano Meliga is using mathematical modelling to help develop
a delivery system which is expected to one day vaccinate against a host of
diseases without needle and syringe.
The modelling simulates the application to skin of microscopic needles on a
silicon wafer which can be coated with vaccines against key diseases including
influenza, human papillomavirus, herpes simplex, West Nile and Chikungunya
viruses.
Design of the wafer, called the Nanopatch, has to be honed for use on human
skin, ahead of clinical trials and possible roll-out around the world as a newgeneration
vaccine delivery system.
The work has been published this month in the prestigious Journal of Controlled
Release, with Mr Meliga listed as first author.
It adds to Engineers Australia’s National Committee on Applied Mechanics
recognition of the work, with the Postgraduate Student Best Paper Award at the
Australasian Congress of Applied Mechanics at the University of Adelaide.
The $500 prize money will be used to travel to Singapore, where Mr Meliga
plans to build collaborations with Dr Keng-Hwee Chiam at the Institute of high
Performance Computing and Professor Victor Shim at the National University of
Singapore – and secure validation of his research.
Mr Meliga’s work also involves processing 3D fluorescence-microscopy images to
investigate the transport of vaccine, delivered with the Nanopatch, in the skin.
“I am keen to gain important insights into the penetration of the
microprojections and the diffusion of the vaccine across the skin layers,” Mr
Meliga said.
“It is exciting to be involved in this work. The Nanopatch has the potential to
save lives.
“The mathematical skills I am using are fundamentally important for the
development of new biomedical applications such as the Nanopatch.
“Development of next-generation devices can’t be solely driven by engineering
intuition. Mathematical modelling such as simulations can effectively drive
experimental testing.
“The satisfaction of finding out what experiments cannot show keeps me glued
to my chair.”
Research aims to diagnose without
blood tests
Dr Simon Corrie has started research on a way of detecting
diseases without the need for blood tests or lab analysis, using
$375,000 in Australian Research Council funding.
Dr Corrie received an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher
Award to help in research that combines materials chemistry with
molecular biology to determine if technology used for vaccine
delivery device the Nanopatch can also be tailored for disease
detection.
He aims to prove that thousands of microscopic needles on a small
polymer wafer can be used to quickly detect biomarkers which
point to the presence of infectious diseases such as dengue fever
and malaria.
The device will be designed to sit on the skin, draw in fluids to react
with antibodies and reporter probes and turn a particular colour,
similar to a litmus test, if biomarkers are present.
“Diagnostic tests are crucially important in many areas of medicine.
While billions of dollars are spent per year developing drugs for
treatment, only a fraction is spent on diagnostics,” Dr Corrie said.
“However, early and accurate diagnosis of disease has proven time
and again to drastically improve outcomes and survival.”
The benefit of using the microscopic needles in diagnostics is that
it could alleviate the need for hospital labs and long waits for
patients.
“Currently diagnostics for infectious diseases are designed to be
performed in hospital labs, over the period of hours or days.
“We expect the device to rapidly detect proteins or antibodies,
without the need for highly trained health workers or access to
scientific laboratories.
“If the results could be made available immediately at the bedside,
at a GP clinic or at home, this would greatly benefit patients,
health care workers and probably reduce burdens on health care
budgets.”
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AIBN provides leadership
in national research
administrator accreditation
project
AIBN’s Deputy Director Operations, Janice Besch, has
accepted the role of facilitating the development
of a training and accreditation module on the
National Research & Innovation System in Australia,
as part of a larger project to set in place the formal
accreditation of Australian and New Zealand
Research Administrators.
The project is broad-reaching, with only one other
professional accreditation system in existence
internationally – the Research Administrators
Certification Council (RACC) in the United States.
The objective is to ensure that all of those people
who decide on a career in support of the research
enterprise are well briefed and maintain an up to
date body of knowledge in the field.
The lead agency for the project is the Australasian
Research Management Society, and the Society has
entered into an agreement to collaborate on this front
with its American sister agency.
The UK and Europe have already indicated support
and potential involvement as collaborators in the
system, adapted for their circumstances.
Ten modules of the Accreditation Scheme are in
development, with five considered fundamental to the
research administrator’s body of knowledge.
The module providing a broad understanding the
National Research Innovation System in Australia will
cover government policy and RISsupport for research,
the role of funding agencies and other supporters of the
system, and the research and innovation value chain.
The advisory group brings together high-level
representation from Federal and Queensland
Government agencies responsible for research and
innovation; the National Health & Medical Research
Council; the Australian Research Council; the Australian
Renewable Energy Agency; Universities and training
providers.
News
Chancellor’s Award for Team
Excellence
Congratulations to the Protein
Expression Facility team for winning
The University of Queensland’s
2013 Chancellor’s Award for Team
Excellence.
The team, comprised of Cindy Chang,
Bradley Ryan, Christopher Munro
and Emilyn Tan, were honoured at
a ceremony by UQ Chancellor John
Story and Vice-Chancellor Professor
Peter Høj.
The award was for the team’s
long-standing commitment and
outstanding contributions to advance
the University’s standing as a worldclass
higher education and research
institution.
> Click here for full story <
Leading journal role shows
AIBN’s strength
AIBN Group Leader Professor Anton Middelberg
has been appointed Associate Editor of the journal
Vaccine.
Vaccine is the pre-eminent journal for those
interested in vaccines and vaccination.
“This appointment provides recognition that
AIBN, which is well known for its efforts in
commercialising vaccine technology, has also
achieved international recognition for its scholarly
activities in the field of vaccine development,”
Professor Middelberg said.
“As an Editor of the leading Vaccine journal,
responsible for manufacturing-related papers, I
have direct dialogue with all new developments
in this field, and help get this knowledge out from
labs and into the worldwide research community,”
he said.
Professor Middelberg is the only Australian-based
Editor of the journal.
Other Associate Editors of the publication include
Dr Robert Chen who is head of Vaccine Safety
at the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control
(CDC), and Dr Albert Osterhaus from the Erasmus
Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Dr Osterhaus is one of the world’s leading
virologists and his group was the first to identify
human infection with the avian influenza strain
H5N1.
The appointment adds to Professor Middelberg’s
other journal positions as Editor-in-Chief of
Chemical Engineering Science, an Advisory Editorial
Board Member of Trends in Biotechnology, and
Associate Editor of Biochemical Engineering Journal.
Award win for protein
trouble-shooter
He may have only finished his studies 12 months ago,
but Chris Munro is already making a mark in a field
essential for developing new-generation vaccines and
targeted medicine delivery.
The 23-year-old from Chermside produces protein at
the Protein Expression Facility (PEF), housed at the AIBN.
He has become so adept at overcoming challenges in
the work that he has won an award at the Cambridge
Healthtech Institute conference PepTalk at Palm
Springs, California in late January.
“To attend a conference in Palm Springs and present
our work was a fantastic opportunity,” Mr Munro said.
“Being able to meet leading researchers from around
the world, many of whom were interested in the work
our facility does, was amazing.”
Together with PEF colleagues, Mr Munro tailors
protein from cells to suit the specific requirements of
researchers so it can be used in vaccine development,
drug discovery or stem cell research.
The extracted protein is then subjected to different
temperatures and nutrients to tailor it for the specific
requirements.
Protein is a building block used in many research
fields, so Mr Munro’s work could be linked to future
advances in regenerative medicine, vaccination,
therapeutics and medicine delivery.
“Finding solutions to the challenges involved in protein
purification is very rewarding. It could be the first step
in overcoming hurdles in disease research,” he said.
“Overcoming them can enable more efficient,
cheaper means of producing therapeutics.”
PEF has a team of eight highly-skilled professionals
producing protein for cutting-edge research, freeing
up those in individual laboratories from a task that is
otherwise too costly and labour-intensive.
Home grown video
Ever wondered what synthetic
biology is but couldn’t cut through all
the jargon?
AIBN’s Dr Claudia Vickers, along
with collaborators from the Royal
Institute of Australia, created a short
educational video that spells it out in
easy to digest language.
You can find out what synthetic
biology is currently used for, and
why it is so important. Some of the
answers might just surprise you...
> Click here to view the video <
Young Scientists of Australia
experience AIBN
20 high school students from across
Queensland visited AIBN on 23
January 2013 as part of Young
Scientists of Australia’s The Science
Experience.
The students gave up a week of their
holidays to come to The University
of Queensland and experience what
the University offers in science and
engineering.
The students toured the AIBN
facilities and were given lab
demonstrations and the opportunity
to make ice cream making using
liquid nitrogen.
$50,000 Pepfactants grant
AIBN spin-out company Pepfactants
has been awarded a $50,000
Commercialisation Australia Skills &
Knowledge grant.
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PhD Focus
PhDFocus
Alexandra Depelsenaire
29-year-old Alexandra Depelsenaire is in the final year of
her PhD at the AIBN. The German-born student is working
in Professor Mark Kendall’s lab, and discovering the impact
that Nanopatch technology has on enhancing immune
responses to vaccines delivered into the skin.
After starting her research at the AIBN in 2009, the end of
her studies is now in sight, and she speaks to us about her
research and future direction.
What is the title of your project?
How does the localized and controlled cell death – invoked by
Nanopatch application to skin – lead to the impaired immune
responses of vaccines?
In a nutshell, what does that mean?
I investigate cellular damage and cell death following microneedle
(Nanopatch) application. My results to date emphasise the
immunological impact of damaged cells following vaccine delivery
into the skin. This research is important because it shows for the
first time the effect of cell damage generated by different dermal
vaccine delivery devices, in particular microneedles, in conjunction
with the resulting immune response.
How do you go about your work?
Following application of the Nanopatch to skin, I dissect and stain
the tissue for live and dead cells. This tissue sample is then visualised
under our Multiphoton and Laser Scanning Confocal microscope
to capture images of the various cells types. I then quantify
the live-dead ratio and examine the proximity between them.
Alternatively, I process the skin tissue to extract proteins and analyse
for particular proteins that are up-regulated in dead cells in
comparison to untreated cells. In animal studies, mice are vaccinated
by the Nanopatch or by a standard syringe intradermally and I
cross-compare the resulting immune responses and levels of cell
death between the different cutaneous vaccine delivery devices to
identify a correlation between cell death and immunogenicity.
How important are the results of your work for seeing the
Nanopatch come to market?
My work will assist in studying and - hopefully - advancing our
knowledge base of the mechanism (or mode of action) of the
Nanopatch, which is crucial for the human trials. This is key for the
Nanopatch to advance as a clinical medical device product.
At what stage are you in your project now?
I’m in my final year, and hopefully submitting my thesis in the second
half of this year.
What problems have you encountered in your research?
Doing a PhD includes studying and researching something that has
never been done before. In particular, my work spans different
disciplines, including Engineering and Biology, with a main emphasis
on Cell Biology. Some of the imaging techniques have not previously
been performed, hence quite a lot of optimisation was required
prior to obtaining any valuable data. Also, I used different stains
to differentiate between live and dead cells; these stains however
have not been fully investigated in skin tissue and this also required
quite some tweaking. However, the hard work has paid off and my
PhD project is bearing fruit now.
If you could change one thing from the time you’ve been doing
your PhD, what would it be?
Preferably, I would have worked in this field or my current group
The next step...
Once you complete your PhD, what is your next step?
Upon completion, I would like to stay in academia for a while to
continue with my research. However, I am also keen on gaining industry
experience. Covering these two fields would eventually enable me to
become a patent attorney – or patent examiner – like my uncle and
my parents are. Having experience in academia and industry is highly
regarded by potential employers.
UQ offers a commercialisation course, which I would like to undertake
to gain a first insight into the Australian commercialisation strategy
and approach for patenting. A law course is not mandatory but would
certainly be beneficial further downstream.
So you’ve got commercialisation in your blood?
Yes, I’d say so. My dad was a patent examiner and a patent attorney
6
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PhD Focus
Multiphoton and Confocal imaging of murine skin
Nanopatches are applied to mouse ears and tissue collected at set
time points after application. The tissue is prepared for viability
staining to visualise live (green) and dead cells (magenta). This
viability analysis is essential to investigate the impact of live and
dead cells in immune responses following vaccine delivery. Here, we
show that the cell death is tightly localised around the Nanopatch
projections penetrating the skin, co-localising with the vaccine
diffusing off the projections.
prior to starting my PhD as this would have saved me valuable time
in optimising and learning new techniques.
What was your background before starting at AIBN?
I received my Bachelor of Science from Murdoch University (Perth,
WA) as well as a Diploma in Biology by my German University,
while my Honours included research in Nanotechnology (fabrication
of alumina membranes for drug delivery).
How do you feel about being involved in a project like the
Nanopatch?
It is a fantastic experience being part of such a multidisciplinary
team like ours. When I started, all I wanted is to combine
Nanotechnology and Biology; I didn’t have an idea how big the
impact would be. Due to the large media coverage following our
publications and various prizes that have been awarded because
of the results or the promising ‘needle-free vaccine candidate’, the
Nanopatch is known far beyond UQ and Brisbane. When asked, for
instance, nurses, doctors, dentists and even hairdressers have heard
of the Nanopatch and express great interest in its development.
This feedback amongst conference or reviewed papers is the best
reward for me; these comments make it worth staying back late in
the lab... Now, three and a half years down the track, I indeed feel
very fortunate working in such a multidisciplinary team alongside
engineers, mathematical modellers, (bio-)chemists, biologists,
vaccinologists, immunologists and virologists.
How did you hear about AIBN and get started on your PhD?
Bluntly, I just Googled ‘Bio and Nanotechnology Australia’. One
of the top websites that came up was the AIBN. I looked through
many groups and emailed several of the Group Leaders. Mark
Kendall’s project on the Nanopatch sounded the most appealing to
me. Following a visit to Brisbane and the research group, I applied
for competitive international living and tuition scholarships. Once
my scholarship application was approved, I moved from Perth to
Brisbane.
When you one day retire and have a chance to look back at your
life, what would you like to say that you’ve accomplished?
That my research has contributed to save or improve the life of at
least one person; and that I was able to teach some useful things
to the ‘students of today who will become the scientists of tomorrow’.
who was director of the chemical engineering department at the European
Patent Office (EPO) for approximately a decade prior to working as a
consulting European Patent Attorney for Peugeot Citroen. My mum also
worked over 10 years for the EPO as a patent examiner (chemistry) while
my uncle worked for around 20 years for the EPO as patent examiner
(electrical engineer) and is now a European Patent Attorney.
In addition, I did some part time work after school for the EPO which
involved indexing, scanning and recognising the various parts of
international patent files.
Has your work on the Nanopatch given an insight to the road to
commercialisation that could be useful as a Patent Attorney?
Yes. Working on the Nanopatch has given me the opportunity to see how
important intellectual property protection can be. Without this in place,
commercialisation could have been significantly impaired.
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7

News
Seminar Series
Semester I, 2013
2013 AIBN Seminar Series Coordinator: Petrina Gilmore
Enquiries: p.gilmore@uq.edu.au
Parnell Building 7 - Room 222; 12:00-1:00pm, Thursdays
MARCH
THuRsdAy 7 MARCH
AIBN GENERAL MEETING
THuRsdAy 14 MARCH
Professor Mark Kendall
Group Leader, AIBN, The
University of Queensland;
Director, Vaxxas
Improving the reach of vaccines
to the developing world with
Nanopatches
THuRsdAy 21 MARCH
Professor John Dorgan
Site Director, Colorado Center
for Biorefining and Biofuels,
Colorado School of Mines, USA
Supramolecular
EcoBioNanocomposites
incorporating
stereocomplexation
THuRsdAy 28 MARCH
Professor Jeff Gorman
Group Leader, Protein Discovery
Centre, Queensland Institute of
Medical Research (QIMR)
Proteomic dissection of the
battle between respiratory
syncytial virus and epithelial
cells during infection
APRIL
THuRsdAy 11 APRIL
Professor Peter Halley
Group Leader, AIBN, The
University of Queensland
Translational Polymer Research
for Sustainable Polymers
THuRsdAy 18 APRIL
Professor Robert Booy
Head of Clinical Research,
National Centre for
Immunisation Research and
Surveillance (NCIRS), The
University of Sydney
Vaccine Scares and Successes
THuRsdAy 25 APRIL
ANZAC DAy PUBLIC HoLIDAy
MAy
THuRsdAy 2 MAy
AIBN GENERAL MEETING
THuRsdAy 9 MAy
Professor Hiroaki Kitano
Sir Louis Matheson
Distinguished Professor,
Australian Regenerative
Medicine Institute, Monash
University
Systems biology in the context
of systems and precision
engineering
THuRsdAy 16 MAy
Professor Gordon Southam
Vale-UQ Geomicrobiology
Laboratory, The University of
Queensland
Biological and geological
sciences
THuRsdAy 23 MAy
Dr Chris Elvin
Senior Principal Research
Scientist, CSIRo
Molecular Biomimicry: Nature’s
4 billion years of R&D
THuRsdAy 30 MAy
Emeritus Professor Jack
Pettigrew
Queensland Brain Institute, The
University of Queensland
The Mystery of Bradshaw Rock
Art
JuNE
THuRsdAy 6 JuNE
AIBN GENERAL MEETING
THuRsdAy 20 JuNE
Professor Magnus Nydén
Director, The Ian Wark Research
Institute, University of South
Australia
New methods for predicting
diffusion in porous materials
and new technologies for
preventing biological growth at
solid liquid interfaces
THuRsdAy 27 JuNE
SEMESTER FINISHED
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Invitation
Did you know... In 2011 AIBN researchers
published 275 peer-reviewed papers?
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