NHMRC and DECRA Early Career Fellowships awarded

Congratulations to Maria and Roey for their recent success on the last round of NHMRC and ARC major grant rounds.

Dr Maria Alba-Martin has been awarded a NHMRC fellowship for the next three years on “Topical drug delivery based on porous silicon nanoneedles”. Dr Roey Elnathan has been awarded a DECRA fellowship for the next three years  on “Orchestrating cellular processes by engineering Si nanowire architectures”.

Topical drug delivery based on porous silicon nanoneedles
There are currently a number of new drugs that can only be administered through the skin via hypodermic needles, which is costly, invasive and carries the risk of infection spread. This project proposes to develop an alternative strategy based on skin patches covered in millions of microscopic porous needles. These needles are able to puncture the skin painlessly to provide rapid and minimally-invasive administration of drugs for treatment of skin diseases, such as melanoma or psoriasis.

Orchestrating cellular processes by engineering Si nanowire architectures
This project aims to improve gene transport by creating low-cost, easily implemented, programmable and controllable silicon nanowire-mediated transfection technology, and to demonstrate high-throughput, parallel trafficking of bioactive payloads. Success would enable the design and fabrication of nano–bio interfaces with closely controlled geometry and architecture, to orchestrate specific cellular processes such as cellular reprogramming, adhesion, morphology, and differentiation with unprecedented efficiency and predictability. The advance could lead to breakthroughs in fundamental cellular studies, and better understanding of cell behaviour, function and fate.

You can find out more in: NHMRC website and ARC website