What if we could solve the shortage of donor organs by creating new ones in the lab? Or uncover better ways to diagnose diseases early at the molecular level, without invasive surgery? These are just some of the exciting areas of research being explored by the engineers teaching Introduction to Biomedical Engineering at UTS.
Meet your teachers: Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
Meet your teachers
The course will be taught by three highly regarded researchers:
- Dr Ying Zhu, lecturer, sharing expertise in bioinstrumentations used in clinical diagnostics
- Dr Peter Su, lecturer, sharing expertise in biophysics and cutting-edge molecular imaging technologies
- Dr Jiao Jiao Li, lecturer, sharing expertise in regenerative tissue engineering and nano technologies
I feel incredibly excited to be working in a team with diversity. We all come from different backgrounds and I'm very proud to work with Dr Li and Dr Zhu, both fantastic ambassadors and mentors for women in STEM.
Dr Peter Su,
Lecturer
Dr Ying Zhu –
nanoscale analysis of biomarkers for cancer diagnostics
Dr Zhu will share her enthusiasm for bioinstrumentations, helping students become familiar with biosensing technologies used in medical research, clinical diagnostics and general practice.
"I would also like students to get familiar with the bioassays used in labs," she says. "How do you decide whether the cells are alive or dead? Because I'm doing cancer-diagnostic-based research, I can share a particular focus on the instruments involved in diagnosing cancer in patients."
Dr Zhu's research focusses on the development of new nanomaterials and nanoscale devices for the capture and analysis of biomarkers for cancer diagnostics. The work covers multiple fields including chemistry, materials, nanotechnology, and biomedicine.
"I'm working on developing a new biosensor to analyse blood called a nanoplasmonic sensor, which is a less invasive way of testing for cancer," she explains. "Using these high sensitivity nanotechnologies to analyse the blood helps us detect small quantities of biological hints called biomarkers, and it reduces the need to extract samples from a tumour for analysis through surgery."
Compared to established technology, these biosensors don't use fluorescence tags, which means biosensors can provide rapid label-free detection and real-time monitoring.
"It could also mean earlier detection for diseases such as pancreatic and ovarian cancers," adds Dr Zhu. "If the cancer can be detected at an early stage, then survival rates could dramatically improve."
Dr Peter Su –
biophysicist bridging applied biomedical engineering and fundamental sciences
Dr Su is excited about sharing the cutting-edge technology and research he and his peers are involved in at UTS.
His current research involves advanced microscopy to help answer mechanistic questions at the single-molecule level, which is where the research field is heading to; and throughout his career he's focused on establishing an Imaging Profiling Platform for Cardiovascular Diseases.
"Seeing is believing: we now have the capacity to directly see biomolecules at 20 nanometre resolution," he explains.
There are so many molecules in your body, and these advances will help us see how they are distributed and organised, and how they interact."
Dr Su is also an Emerging Leadership Fellow of the NHMRC and a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Heart Foundation. He is now leading a team to decipher the molecular interaction dynamics, termed the ‘interactome’, for the mechanosensor integrin αIIbβ3 during blood clotting under clinical trial drug treatments for CVDs, including thrombosis and type 2 diabetes.
"I am happy my imaging methods can contribute to our understanding of cardiovascular diseases," he says. "We're applying technologies from the laboratory to medical research and clinical trial – it's a very exciting time."
Dr Jiao Jiao Li –
stem cell-based therapeutics and biomaterials for tissue engineering
As one of Australia’s Superstars of STEM and a Gender Equity Ambassador of UTS Women in Engineering and IT, Dr Li is passionate about encouraging the next generation to become the future leaders of STEM, and engineering in particular.
"I really enjoy promoting interest in STEM, and particularly would love to see more young women in engineering," she says. "My teaching will be centred around the general pillars of tissue engineering, including biomaterials, stem cells, nanotechnology and other areas like 3D printing and bioprinting."
Dr Li is an NHMRC Early Career Fellow and a chief investigator on the ARC Training Centre for Innovative BioEngineering. She has a particular interest in developing regenerative medicine approaches to treat chronic musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis and bone loss, including new stem cell-based therapeutics and biomaterials for tissue engineering.
"My research in tissue engineering looks at building new tissues and organs by drawing on cross-disciplinary knowledge, including cell and molecular biology, materials science, and nanotechnology," she says. "We hope this will lead to being able to replace diseased and damaged organs and tissues with lab-made organs and other body parts, instead of using artificial implants. It could help address the worldwide shortage of donor organs and help people live longer and better lives."