Medical & Health Sciences
Professor Brian Schaefer – Cellular Polka and Immune Cell Signalling
Immunology remains an important branch of medical and biological sciences, providing us with protection against infection and disease. Professor Brian Schaefer of the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, has dedicated his research to elucidating the molecular...
Professor Sandra Schmid – The Dynamics of Dynamin and Cancer Evolution
All cells need to transport vital biomolecules across membranes by packaging them into small membrane-bound containers called vesicles. Integral to this process is the large protein dynamin. In her insightful and pioneering research, Professor Sandra Schmid has begun...
Dr Samantha Meenach – A Three-Dimensional Model of Lung Cancer
New and successful drug development for the treatment of lung cancer requires imaginative and creative thinking by scientists and doctors alike. Dr Samantha Meenach and her colleagues at the University of Rhode Island have developed an innovative approach for testing...
Professor Terry Powley – The Brain and the Gut – a Meeting of Two Minds
Until now, the brain and the neural network of the gastrointestinal tract have been considered largely independent organs. Recent experiments conducted by Professor Terry Powley of Purdue University and his colleagues have fundamentally challenged this belief. Their...
National Research Council Canada – Medical Devices Research Centre
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) celebrated 100 years of existence in 2016. It has a rich history of contributions in medical device innovation, from the development of one of the first cardiac pacemakers in the early 1950s, to the first mass-produced...
Dr Madhu Bhaskaran – Stretchable Sensors: Electronics on the Move
Stretchable electronic devices have numerous applications in many fields, such as healthcare monitoring, communications and detecting dangerous substances. Dr Madhu Bhaskaran and her group at the RMIT University have developed an innovative new method for producing...
Dr Fiona Stanley – Empowering Indigenous Communities: Modern Solutions to Colonial Problems
Dr Fiona Stanley and her team of multi-disciplinary researchers at the Centre for Research Excellence in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing use novel strategies to empower Indigenous Australians and promote public health. An Institutional Legacy of Failure Worldwide, the...
Dr Olga Volpert – Assailing Vessel: Angiogenesis in Health and Disease
Angiogenesis – the formation of new blood vessels – is a major component of the progression of several diseases – especially cancer. Dr Olga Volpert at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center works on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of abnormal...
The Stroke Foundation, Australia
The Stroke Foundation, Australia has for the last two decades worked to support stroke survivors and their families. As ‘the voice of stroke’ in Australia, the national charity is working to increase community awareness and understanding of how stroke can be...
Dr. Erik Sontheimer – Innovation Is in Our RNA
DNA, as the molecular blueprint for life on earth, has long held a special place in scientific discourse and popular culture. DNA also has a lesser-known sister molecule, called RNA, which transfers specific instructions from DNA to produce proteins. RNA is now...
Dr. Peter Palese – Influenza – New Strategies for Defeating an Old Enemy
Influenza continues to be one of the most common respiratory diseases in humans and represents a significant public health burden, due to its associated morbidity and mortality. Dr. Peter Palese and his colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
The National Science Teachers Association
Founded in 1944, the Virginia-based National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is the largest organisation in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. In this exclusive interview, we talk to Executive Director of...
Dr Fei Hu – Virtual Reality and Robot-Based Rehabilitation for Post-Stroke Recovery
Stroke survivors often lose some of their motor functions, and recovery can be a long and expensive process. By integrating virtual reality, robot, and motion capture technology, a low-cost solution can be developed that is more effective and accessible than current...
Dr Annarita Di Lorenzo – Sphingolipids: Fats that Protect the Heart
Despite current therapies, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, suggesting that alternative drug targets are urgently needed to preserve cardiovascular health. Sphingolipids – a class of biologically active molecules and components of cell...
Professor Wenxuan Zhong – New Statistics for Smelling Out Disease
Cutting-edge scientific techniques are generating a wealth of details about biological systems. This information could enable the rapid detection of disease and toxic substances, and provide insights into the mechanisms behind complex diseases. However, teasing out...
Dr Sharon Brennan-Olsen – The Social Gradient in Musculoskeletal Health
Disease is as much a social and economic phenomenon as a biological one. Dr Sharon Brennan-Olsen and her team at the University of Melbourne, and the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS), are investigating musculoskeletal disorders as a...
Count Down To The Future
At the NASA Ames Research Center in California, the next generation of space biologists are working to understand the effects of long duration space flight on model organisms, and are developing ways to protect the health of future astronauts. The human body has...
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences
As one of the 27 Centers, Institutes and Offices within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) supports basic research that increases our understanding of biological processes, laying the foundation for...
Professor Roy Robins-Browne – Disarming Bacterial Virulence
With antibiotic resistance rapidly emerging among many important bacterial pathogens, it is imperative that new classes of antimicrobials are developed. Professor Roy Robins-Browne and his team at The University of Melbourne are taking a novel approach to...
Dr Arun Srivastava – The AAV Club: Applying AAV Vectors to Gene Therapy
The sci-fi vision of gene therapy for curing genetic diseases is fast becoming a reality as more therapies are entering clinical and commercial development. Dr Arun Srivastava and his team at the University of Florida are investigating the use of the next generation...
Dr Ashley Cowart – Small Scale Roots of Metabolic Disease
Although metabolic diseases plague Western countries, we still don’t fully understand the molecular mechanisms that trigger these diseases. Therefore, biochemists such as Dr Ashley Cowart at the Medical University of South Carolina strive to uncover the cellular...
Outcomes of the 2017 Global Research Council meeting co-hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Comprising the heads of research funding agencies worldwide, the Global Research Council (GRC) is an organisation dedicated to fostering multilateral research and collaboration across continents to benefit both developing and developed nations. The GRC holds annual...
Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center
The STEM Education Coalition
The STEM Education Coalition was founded more than 15 years ago with a mission to raise awareness in the U.S. Congress, the administration, and on the state level about the critical role that STEM education plays in enabling the U.S. to remain the economic and...
Smartnanotox
Professor Mary Galea – Playing for Recovery
Improving recovery after nervous system injury has been Professor Mary Galea’s lifelong goal. Harnessing the power of video games, Professor Galea and her team at the University of Melbourne have developed the ‘Hand Hub’ to significantly enhance upper limb...
Health Measures
Travis M Whitfill | Azim Munivar – Harnessing Skin Bacteria to Fight Skin Disease
The brainchild of Azim Munivar and Travis M Whitfill, Azitra Inc. is a microbiome start-up with big ambition. Beginning with eczema and Netherton’s Syndrome, the Azitra team are set to change the landscape of skin disease treatment. Azitra Inc. is a company with one...
Taher Saif | Dr Andrew Holle – Mechanobiology – Exploring the Mechanics of Cell Behaviour
Understanding how cells interact with the physical world around them is at the core of mechanobiology, a growing subfield connecting the arenas of cell biology and bioengineering. Two leading researchers, Professor Taher Saif and Dr Andrew Holle, with the support of...
Professor Ian A. Blair – Of Metabolites and Men: Applications of Metabolomics to Medicine
Diseases are often characterised with a distinctive chemical spectral ‘fingerprint’ that reflects the profound metabolic changes brought on by disease pathogenesis. Professor Ian Blair and his team at the University of Pennsylvania use the emerging science of...
Professor Dale Tang – Unravelling the Mystery of Chronic Asthma
Understanding the underlying processes that contribute to the progression of asthma is essential to improve our limited knowledge of the disease, and to assist in the generation of novel therapies. Professor Dale Tang and his team in the Department of Molecular and...
Dr Gábor Csányi – Macropinocytosis: The Macrophage Drinking Problem Behind Atherosclerosis
Dr Gábor Csányi and his team at the Vascular Biology Center of Augusta University explore the molecular mechanisms involved in an alternative pathway of macrophage LDL cholesterol uptake, with hopes of finding new targets for the treatment of atherosclerosis. HDL, LDL...