5 minute read
Director’s Report
by SCDesign
Collaboration was crucial to a very successful 2019 year for CBNS as members continued to work on cutting-edge science related to the interfaces of nano-engineered materials and biological systems. With over 360 members undertaking innovative research on 10 projects, we showcased excellence with 226 publications; 14 outreach events; and 30 completed postgraduate studies.
We saw the successful implementation of the 2018 – 2020 Strategic Plan and our collaborating and partner universities worked collegially to translate their nano research into better methods, tools and technologies. CBNS continues to be a global leader in bio-nano science discovery research with 35 international lab visits, 46 visitors including the 2019 Visiting Professor Chunying Chen; a Professor at The National Center for Nanoscience and Technology in China. Professor Chen delivered a plenary talk at the 10th International Nanomedicine Conference in June and provided an overview of nanomedicine research in China at the CBNS Annual Research Workshop (ARW) in November. This engagement opened up a number of in-depth discussions and opportunities for future collaboration with CBNS research teams.
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Excellence was evident through CBNS members receiving many awards, grants and prizes. A few particular prestigious awards include Chief Investigator (CI) Professor Maria Kavallaris AM being appointed* a Member of the Order of Australia Medal and receiving a Lemberg Medal from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Deputy Director Professor Frank Caruso gained international recognition with The Leverhulme Medal from The Royal Society. Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Marnie Winter and PhD candidate Ms Aria Ahmed-Cox were also recipients of international awards. Marnie received a considerable grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Aria was selected to be part of a small cohort of women from across the world to develop leadership skills that will benefit the greater good. 2019 saw the development of a new Strategic Project, The Neuro-Nano interface – Using nanotechnology to provide a window into pain. The two-year project aims to bridge the gap between neuroscience and nanotechnology, and provide new insights and new outreach/education opportunities through visualisation of pain states and associated discussion about the potential for nanotechnology to change drug targeting and drug properties for pain. The Strategic Project highlights the research expertise across nodes (Monash, UQ and UNSW), and involves CBNS researchers; Dr Nicholas Veldhuis, Dr Daniel Poole, Dr Paulina Ramírez García, Dr Michael Whittaker, Professor Kris Thurecht, Associate Professor Matthew Kearnes and Associate Professor John McGhee.
Leveraging the success of the Centre’s Education and Training Program, in 2019 CBNS refined the program to create three distinct streams to assist members in their professional development. The Centre delivered workshops that were aligned with Science Training (technical skills related to scientific research); Career Development (soft skills designed to motivate and promote career growth); and Skills Development (promoting key skills such as communication, media engagement and time management). Engaging with the general public, National Science Week, held in August, was a huge success for CBNS with all node cities participating in outreach events. Collectively our reach was over 6500 people.
UNSW Primary School Science Fete
Monash and UoM started the week with Extrasensory in Melbourne where we demonstrated some of the outcomes of our Strategic Project, Journey to the Centre of The Cell (JTCC) with virtual reality (VR) experiences for attendees. UNSW played host to a primary school science fete and our VR experience was again a major hit. South Australian secondary school students were invited to explore the bio-nano world through hands-on lab experiments, VR, games and talks at UniSA. We concluded the CBNS outreach activities with postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers from UQ, participating in a weekend event at the Brisbane Science Festival.
Our achieved objective was to introduce the bio-nano realm to the general public and to further develop members experience with communicating their research. We launched the CBNS Bio-Nano Travel Grant to provide financial support to postdoctoral researchers across our nodes and continued to offer the CBNS Student Travel Award and the CBNS Carer’s Support Fund. Five awards (one for each CBNS node) for both the Bio-Nano Travel Grant and the Student Travel Award were issued, with each recipient invited to the CBNS ARW to present on their opportunity. The Carer’s Support Fund had four successful applicants who used the funds to assist with their extraordinary carer’s costs associated with being a primary carer, enabling them to attend a conference or meeting that would further the development of their research careers. The introduction of the Industry Partners Program (IPP) to strengthen CBNS research connections with industry, was well received by Centre members and stakeholders. The IPP Committee, chaired by Professor Kris Thurecht, met three times during 2019 and organised a successful Industry Workshop in November, where key industry partners and CBNS alumni were invited to talk about their experiences moving from bench research to industry and progressing through to senior leadership and management roles. A key objective for the Committee was to develop and launch a Translation Strategy to support the research undertaken by Centre members and outline the processes required to take their ideas to industry/ market. The Translation Strategy was supplemented with the creation of a CBNS Toolkit, a series of resources available at each of the nodes, to facilitate the development of specific research ideas.
While some of our staff have moved on to other roles and we thank them for their contribution, we have been fortunate to welcome some new outstanding staff to the Centre. This includes our new Senior Centre Administrator, Cassie Statkevitch as well as Senior Events and Communications Coordinator, Samantha Snowden-Finch (maternity leave replacement for Anne Meyer). We look forward to strengthening the CBNS legacy across our research, engagement and collaboration in the final phase of Centre operations.
In 2019, our members were supported and nurtured through several Centre-led initiatives that enabled them to focus on developing their professional networks.
Professor Tom Davis
Centre Director
