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News Archive$19.6 million NHMRC grant awardedThe National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has awarded its largest grant for 2009 to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. This NHMRC grant for $19.6 million will be used to investigate colorectal cancer on a molecular basis and targeted therapeutics. This grant reflects growing collaborations in cancer research and the increasing use of nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery. Prof. Frank Caruso is one of the Chief Investigators on the project.
CNST's nanoscale drug delivery featured in NanoThe CNST's advanced and progressive research work into focused, therapeutic drug delivery, particularly the use of polymer capsules to target colorectal cancer cells, has been highlighted in Nano (Issue 5, January 2008), the magazine of the Institute of Nanotechnology. In the article, Prof. Frank Caruso and members of his research team elaborate on DNA capsules that are effectively programmable in function to protect the body from potentially harmful side-effects of the cargo drug and shield the capsule’s contents from degradation by the body.
Frank Caruso’s editorial in Chemistry of MaterialsProf. Frank Caruso provided the editorial for the first issue of Chemistry of Materials for 2008, now having reached its 20th year milestone. In his editorial, he comments on the journal’s progress since its launch in 1989, particularly its dramatic expansion in the number of issues and papers published, as well as its rising impact factor and number of citations.
Flash memory advancement reported in Chemistry WorldJoint research between Prof. Frank Caruso at the University of Melbourne and colleagues from Kookmin University in Seoul, Korea, has been highlighted in Chemistry World (3 December 2007), a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The article elaborates on their collaborative research presented in Nature. They have been able to utilise stacked layers of gold nanoparticles to significantly increase the information storage of flash memory to the point where memory density is increased by about 3.6 times when compared to single layer devices. This advancement was also reported in Platinum Today.
Frank Caruso now on the ISI’s highly cited listProf. Frank Caruso has been selected to appear on ISIHighlyCited.com due to the exceptionally high citation count of his contributions to the field of materials science. Thomson Scientific has compiled this list of the world’s most cited scientific authors, thereby generating a network of prominent and active researchers across disciplines.
Caruso group scores cover of first issue of new journal, ACS Nano
A second paper by the Caruso group has also been published in ACS Nano, involving the targetting of polymer microcapsules to colorectal cancer cells. This is achieved by coating the microcapsules with an antibody that binds specifically to the cancer cells. The group conducted experiments to measure how the size of the microcapsules affected how well they attached to the cancer cells. It is hoped that such capsules could be used to carry anti-cancer drugs directly to cells, increasing the efficiency of the treatment. The work was carried out in conjunction with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.
Alexandra Angelatos wins Royal Society of Victoria awardAlexandra Angelatos, a postgraduate student in the Caruso group, has been awarded the $500 Royal Society of Victoria's Postgraduate Prize for 2007, in the Physical Science section. Alexandra was one of six finalists chosen to present their work to the selection panel, from 32 applicants across Victoria.
Swiss Post-Doc to join Caruso groupDr Brigitte Städler will be joining Prof. Frank Caruso's research group in August, as part of a 12 month fellowship funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Her project, "Polyelectrolyte Capsules with Controlled Release for Lab-on-a-Chip Applications", will build on the Caruso group's existing research. Dr Städler will be joining The University of Melbourne from the Centre for Biosensors and Bioelectronics at ETH Zurich, a Swiss-based research institution. Her stay is also part of a collaboration between Prof. Frank Caruso and Prof. Janos Vörös.
Chem. Soc. Rev. paper is in top 10 most accessed for May 2007A review article in Chemical Society Reviews by John F. Quinn, Angus P. R. Johnston, Georgina K. Such, Alexander N. Zelikin and Frank Caruso, "Next generation, sequentially assembled ultrathin films: beyond electrostatics", has been ranked in the top 10 most accessed during May 2007. According the the The Royal Society of Chemistry, the publishers of the journal, the review article was downloaded 461 times during the month.
Frank Caruso wins second Federation FellowshipProf. Frank Caruso has been awarded a second Federation Fellowship, along with another 19 of Australia's top researchers. The award was presented by the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, The Hon. Julie Bishop MP, at Parliament House in Canberra. The Federation Fellowship scheme was introduced in 2002 to help attract and retain Australia's top scientists and researchers. Each fellowship consists of Australian Research Council funding for five years, with the 2007 round of fellowships worth a combined $35 million. According to the Minister, "It is important that Australia continues to attract and retain the best researchers to ensure our ongoing leadership in a range of disciplines". Eight of the 20 fellowships offered in the latest round were offered for the second time.
Podcast: Precision drug delivery with nanotechnologyProf. Frank Caruso has recorded a podcast discussing the targeted delivery of therapeutic drugs as part of a the Melbourne University Up Close series (Episode 11: Precision Drug Delivery with Nanotechnology). A transcript of the interview is also available.
Capsules paper tops 2006 Biomacromolecules rankingsCNST polymer drug delivery capsule research has been well received in 2006, with a Biomacromolecules paper ranked as the most cited and 10th most accessed for the year. Another paper was featured as an "Upcoming Hot Paper" in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The highly ranked Biomacromolecules paper, entitled "Disulfide Cross-Linked Polymer Capsules: En Route to Biodeconstructible Systems", was authored by Dr Alexander Zelikin, Dr John F. Quinn , and Prof. Frank Caruso. Zelikin et al. were able to construct hollow capsules from polymers containing disulfide bonds, rendering them stable under general physiological conditions. However, once the polymer capsules were exposed to conditions (and substances) similar to that within cells inside the body, they ruptured. Such capsules could one day be used to carry therapeutics through the body and release their cargo once inside target cells, which may be useful in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Another paper by the group on the use of polymer microcapsules to carry and release DNA has been featured in Angewandte Chemie International Edition (previously an "Upcoming Hot Paper"). Dr Alexander Zelikin, Ms Qi Li, and Prof. Frank Caruso showed that polymer microcapsules could be loaded with DNA and then degraded under reducing conditions (similar to those found in the body), to release the encapsulated DNA. This technology could one day be used in gene therapy. The paper is entitled "Degradable Polyelectrolyte Capsules Filled with Oligonucleotide Sequences". A third paper by Assistant Prof. Kiyofumi Katagiri and Prof. Frank Caruso, published in Macromolecules, has explored using ultraviolet radiation to degrade polyelectrolyte microcapsules. The paper is entitled "Effect of UV-Irradiation on Polyelectrolyte Multilayered Films and Hollow Capsules Prepared by Layer-by-Layer Assembly".
Chemistry of Materials paper is 2nd most cited for 2005Research by Dr Yajun Wang and Prof. Frank Caruso has been named the second most cited paper published in Chemistry of Materials during 2005. The paper, "Mesoporous Silica Spheres as Supports for Enzyme Immobilization and Encapsulation", has also been listed as the 8th most accessed for 2005.
CNST to strengthen Italian research connectionsThe CNST's Italian connections have received a boost with the awarding of an ARC Linkage International grant (LX0775866) to Dr Francesca Cavalieri, from the University of Rome "Tor Vergata". Dr Cavalieri will join Prof. Frank Caruso's group in 2007, working on a project entitled "Biodegradable polymeric microparticles for tarteted delivery".
$1.2 million awarded for CNST facilitesCNST researchers have secured two ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grants for 2007, worth a combined $1.2 million. Prof. Frank Caruso, Prof. Paul Mulvaney and Prof. Steven Prawer, have led a successful $500,000 grant appllication (LE0775562) to build a nanofabrication facility. The facility will complete "Australia's newest high resolution microscopy centre", according to the winning proposal. Prof. Caruso, in conjunction with collaborators from the University of Melbourne, Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology, has also been awarded a $700,000 grant (LE0775612) to build a nanomaterials optical characterisation facility.
Alexander Zelikin wins ARC grant for drug delivery researchDr Alexander Zelikin has been awarded an ARC Discovery Grant for his project, "Disulfide Cross-linked Hollow Polymer Capsules for Drug Delivery" (DP0771430). The funding will be $280,000 for three years, beginning in 2007. The funding will allow Dr Zelikin to continue his research, recently featured as an "Upcoming Hot Paper" in the prestigious European journal, Angewandte Chemie Internation Edition. Frank Caruso speaks out in nanotechnology podcastProf. Frank Caruso has been interviewed as part of a podcast on nanotechnology in Australia. The 31-minute presentation also includes interviews with other Australian nanotechnology experts. Liquid crystal sensor research featured in NatureJoint research between the groups of Prof. Frank Caruso and Prof. Nicholas Abbott (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) has been featured in the prestigious journal, Nature (Vol. 443, 28 September 2006, p. 375). They have been able to show how liquid crystals coated with a layers of polymer react to the presence of other chemicals. Under certain circumstances, liquid crystals are able to change their orientation, and this change can be detected under polarised light. By changing the composition of the polymer coating, it may be possible to tune the liquid crystals to specific molecules or compounds, allowing them to be used as sensors for those substances. The Nature research highlight was based on a paper recently published in Nano Letters, entitled "Tailoring the Interfaces between Nematic Liquid Crystal Emulsions and Aqueous Phases via Layer-by-Layer Assembly". Funding awarded for international liquid crystal collaborationProf. Frank Caruso has
CNST postgrad wins NanoVic prizePostgraduate student, Christina Cortez has been awarded a $4,000 prize by Nanotechnology Victoria (NanoVic) for her work “in using core shell particles and capsules with ligands to target specific cancer cells”. Ms Cortez was one of three winners in the Postgraduate section. It marks the second year in a row a member of Prof. Frank Caruso’s group has won the award, after Alexandra Angelatos won in 2005.
CNST paper 7th "most accessed" in Soft Matter for April 2006A CSNT paper published in the British journal, Soft Matter, has been the seventh most accessed during April 2006. The paper,"Bioinspired colloidal systems via layer-by-layer assembly", was by Prof. Frank Caruso, post-graduate student Alexandra Angelatos, and former visiting researcher Dr Kiyofumi Katagiri. It highlights the work by their group in using the "layer-by-layer" technique to make particles with possible uses in gene and drug delivery, and cell membrane modelling. The "layer-by-layer" technique is a way to build up a coating on a particle or surface from many smaller layers, held together by attractive forces between the layers (e.g., electrostatic forces, hydrogen bonding). Typically, a coating is formed by dipping the particle or surface into a solution of the coating material. Subsequent layers can be formed by dipping into other solutions, until the desired number or composition of layers has been reached.
CNST Biomacromolecules paper 2nd "most accessed" in January - March 2006A recent paper by Dr Alexander Zelikin, Dr John Quinn and Prof. Frank Caruso published in Biomacromolecules has been named the second most accessed for the first quarter of 2006. The paper, "Disulfide Cross-Linked Polymer Capsules: En Route to Biodeconstructible Systems", describes a new way to deconstruct tiny polymer capsules that could be used to carry drugs or pharmaceutical products inside the body. By causing the capsules to disassemble, their contents could be released into the body, to provide treatment for illnesses such as cancer. CNST research featured by NanowerkResearch into bioinspired colloidal systems by Prof. Frank Caruso and Ph.D. student, Alexandra Angelatos, has been featured by Nanowerk. The research highlighted in the article has potential applications in cancer therapy, gene and drug delivery.
Frank Caruso wins achievement awardProf. Frank Caruso has been awarded the Royal Australian Chemical Institute's Polymer Science and Technology Achievement Award. The award recognises outstanding achievement in the field by researchers under 40 years old.
CNST young achievers clean up in nanotechThe 2005 Young Achievement Australia Program Nanotechnology Company of the Year has been awarded to a team including three CNST PhD students - Heng Pho Yap, Elvira Tjipto and Christina Cortez. Their company, Qyantek, has produced a series of labels to help improve laboratory safety. The labels warn of the potential respiratory hazards associated with nanoparticles. The group was also awarded runner up for the Best Annual Report in 2005.
$1.3m joint research funding won by CNSTResearchers from the CNST and others at the University of Melbourne, in conjuction with researchers from Monash University, have secured $1.3 million for a new "Biomedical Engineering Imaging and Sensing Facility". The funding has been awarded as part of a Linkage, Infrastracture, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC). According to the project summary, it will be the only facility of its kind in Australia, enabling research into live and model biological systems to develop ways to prevent and cure diseases in plants, animals and humans.
CNST, nanotechnology and The AgeIn a recent feature article on nanotechnology, "The next small thing", The Age spoke to the CNST's Prof. Frank Caruso.
CNST molecular beacons: a shining lightWork by Dr Angus Johnston and Prof. Frank Caruso, developing a "molecular beacon" approach to drug delivery, has been featured in the prestigious US journal, Science (15 July 2005, Vol. 309, p. 359) . They have found a way to measure how fast DNA passes through a thin film, which is an important step in developing gene therapy techniques. The research was originally published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (2005, Vol. 127, No. 28, pp. 10014-10015). The September 2005 editions of Chemical Engineering Progress (Vol. 101, No. 9, p. 8) and The Chemical Engineer (Issue 771, p. 19) have also featured their molecular beacon work.
State Premier opens $100 million Bio21 InstituteThe Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute was officially opened by Victorian Premier Steve Bracks. Bio21 represents a combined investment of about $100 million so far, and is a key member of the CNST. The institute will house "Australia's leading" nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility, a "state-of-the-art" cleanroom and electron microscope facility, and 12 mass spectrometers, as reported in UniNews.
Paul Mulvaney awarded ARC Federation FellowshipThe CNST's Prof. Paul Mulvaney has been awarded a Federation Fellowship by the Australian Research Council (ARC). The Federation Fellowship program has been introduced to help keep Australia's best researchers at home. Read more...
CNST PhD student wins NanoVic prizeAlexandra Angelatos, a postgraduate student in Prof. Frank Caruso's group, has been awarded a $3000 prize from Nanotechnology Victoria (NanoVic). The prize "recognizes Alexandra’s outstanding work in the preparation and characterization of light-responsive polyelectric/gold nanoparticle microcapsules for drug delivery". Alexandra's work is "recognised internationally as contributing to some of the most exciting potential applications of nanotechnology", and is "a key step in the development of new targeted medical treatments", according to NanoVic. Read more...
CNST researchers receive $1.3 million for ARC Discovery ProjectThe Australian Research Council has awarded a Discovery Project to CNST members, Prof. Frank Caruso and Dr John Quinn, worth $1.3 million over the next five years. The project, "Controlled macromolecular architectures for functional nanomaterials design", will involve making polymers that can adapt to their surroundings, for use in the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. Research will be in conjunction with the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design, at the University of New South Wales.
CNST secures ARC infrastucture grant for 2005CNST members from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Melbourne have been awarded an ARC LIEF (Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities) grant worth $932,870, to build a materials and surface characterisation facility.
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