Maria Kavallaris co-designs award-winning 3D bioprinter

·

UNSW Professor’s Maria Kavallaris and Justin Gooding recently won the prestigious Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Award having co-designed a 3D bioprinter that can print replicas of tumours.

The 3D printer gives biomedical researchers and tissue engineers a fast way to create 3D cell structures, proteins and tumour models, UNSW Science reports.

The prize was awarded to Inventia Rastrum, a biomedical company working in collaboration with Professor Justin Gooding and Professor Maria Kavallaris, co-directors of UNSW Sydney’s Australian Centre for Nanomedicine (ACN).

Professor Kavallaris in her element as she does research for children’s cancer. Source: The Daily Telegraph.

Professor Kavallaris, developed the cell biology behind the printer, analysed the viabilities of cells, how quickly they divide and developed accurate tumour like environments.

“It has been an absolute privilege to have been part of the team at the Children’s Cancer Institute and UNSW Sydney involved in developing the 3D bioprinter that has wide reaching applications in cancer and other diseases as well as tissue engineering,” Professor Kavallaris said.

Read More: TGH Exclusive: Professor Maria Kavallaris’ cancer battle at age 21 has inspired her childhood cancer research

Read More: Cancer researcher Maria Kavallaris AM named NSW Premier’s woman of the year

Scientia Professor Gooding from UNSW’s School of Chemistry said: “The type of ink developed for the printer means cell biologists for the first time have the capability to precisely deposit multiple cell types in a single 3D cell culture. They will also be able to control the proteins that binds cells together. This is critical because it allows cancer researchers to better understand the variables in cancer formation.”

“With the first printers having been sold, we are seeing the promise of this technology being able to revolutionise how cell biology is done, beginning to be realised. Initial biomedical studies are showing that the control the bioprinter brings is being pivotal to researchers acquiring new fundamental understanding in cancer biology,” Professor Gooding continued.

The next generation of talented young scientists being guided by the knowledgeable Professor Kavallaris. Source: The Kids’ Cancer Project.

Professor Kavallaris has dedicated her life to Children’s Cancer Research, being diagnosed with cancer herself at the tender age of 21.

“I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 21 and I had to undergo surgery and high dose chemotherapy that made me very sick,” Professor Kavallaris said to The Greek Herald.

“During the same period, I took up a lab technician role in the new research laboratories at the Children’s Cancer Institute and met many children going through chemotherapy and experiencing toxic side effects from their treatment. I knew then that I needed to make a difference.”

This year the Children’s Cancer Institute received funding through a Cancer Australia grant to study the 3D bioprinting technology towards the development and identification of effective therapies for aggressive childhood cancers.

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

From crisis to compassion: Timos Roussos and his family’s mercy mission in war-torn Cyprus

When Turkish troops landed on Cyprus on 20 July 1974, six-year-old Timos Roussos was sitting on the floor of his family’s home in Lemesos.

A granddaughter returns: Georgia Georgiou retraces her yiayia’s occupied village in Cyprus

When Georgia Georgiou handed over her Cypriot ID at the border checkpoint to cross into occupied northern Cyprus, she felt an ache.

‘You never get over it’: A childhood shattered by the Turkish invasion of Cyprus

On a warm July morning in 1974, 10-year-old Anastasia Di Loreto (née Karatzia) was jolted awake by the sound of bombs falling on Kyrenia.

Cyprus: The paradox of tolerance and impunity for Turkey

The lack of a unified, systematic and practical strategy on the part of Greece has led the Cyprus crisis into national disarray.

Lost homes and lingering hope: Greek-Cypriots reflect on Turkish invasion and its aftermath

From hidden stories to haunting memories, two Greek-Cypriot men share what it means to carry the burden of Cyprus’ past.

You May Also Like

George Petrou unveils new portrait series ‘The Art of Humanity’ at private viewing

Around 200 attendees gathered this weekend for a private viewing of Cypriot-born Australian graphic designer George Petrou’s latest portraits.

Greek PM announces 50-euro increase in minimum wage from May 1

The Greek government will raise the minimum wage from May 1 for a second time this year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.

Greek Australians named as finalists for Walkley Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism 2021

Two Greek Australian journalists have been named finalists in The Walkley Foundation’s Mid-Year Celebration of Journalism for 2021.