Biotechnology and Biomedical Science

Advancing lung cancer diagnostics with phase-contrast X-ray imaging – Lucy Costello

2026 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, Research /

Lung cancer in Australia Lung cancer is one of Australia’s biggest killers. It is the fourth-most commonly diagnosed cancer and has the highest mortality rate of any cancer. Early detection is crucial, but current diagnostic methods face significant limitations. Current imaging techniques The first step in lung cancer diagnostics is a chest X-ray, a two-dimensional […]

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A targeted approach to treating glioblastoma – Meaghan Ashton

2026 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, Research /

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of brain cancer. Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, prognosis remains poor, highlighting the urgent need for more precise and effective treatment strategies. Targeted radionuclide therapies (TRTs) offer a promising new approach by delivering highly potent radiation directly to cancer cells while minimising

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Building the safety blueprint for future Moon missions

2025 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA, Research /

By Georgia Barrington-Smith Have you ever wondered what the main risks of space travel are? Hollywood films like The Martian and Apollo 13 often portray the dramatic risks of space travel, such as mechanical failures, life support issues, and unpredictable space weather. However, as astronauts journey far from home, venturing into the cold, unforgiving vacuum

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Beyond Conventional X-rays: Recovering Multimodal Signals with an Intrinsic Speckle-Tracking Approach

2025 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA /

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan For decades, conventional X-rays have been invaluable in clinical settings, enabling doctors and radiographers to gain critical insights into patients’ health. While traditional X-rays are still widely used, they are limited in the depth of information they can provide. New, advanced multimodal techniques, like phase-shift and dark-field imaging,

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The battle between plant immunity and fungal infections: A microscopic arms race.

2025 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA, Research /

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan The agricultural industry is constantly under threat from fungal pathogens that infect important plant crops like tomatoes, bananas, and cotton. In response, plants have developed new defence mechanisms, fuelling an ongoing arms race against these invaders as they, in turn, develop new ways to circumvent these defences. How

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Fight against the fungus: Understanding the relationship between fungal pathogens and plant infection.

2025 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA, Research /

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan Ensuring our ongoing food availability in the face of a rising global population is a critical challenge. Infectious plant diseases pose a significant threat to our agricultural food production, costing the global economy around $220 billion USD each year. One particularly destructive disease is ‘blast disease’, which targets

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Tiny solutions to a big problem: Targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs using pH-responsive nanoparticles

2024 Research Spotlight, Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA, Research, Research Spotlight /

By Georgia Barrington-Smith & Dr Rebecca Duncan Cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming the lives of millions of people each year. One of the first-line treatments of cancer is chemotherapy: powerful drugs that attack cancer cells and prevent their spread. Historically, the main drawback of chemotherapy drugs has

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Student Research Spotlight: Mitchell Klenner

Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, Outreach, PGRA, Research /

Rhenium is the key to new radiotracers for disease imaging Former AINSE Postgraduate Research Award (PGRA) Scholar Dr. Mitch Klenner, alongside a team of international collaborators including researchers from ANSTO, Curtin University and Monash University, has found a new way to synthesise large quantities of nuclear medicine to assist in the diagnosis of cancer and

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Student Research Spotlight: Calina Betlazar

Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, PGRA, Research /

How do low doses of radiation affect the brain? In medicine, ionizing radiation is used both diagnostically and therapeutically – that is, to both detect and treat diseases, such as cancer, in the brain. Calina Betlazar collaborated with ANSTO Human Health and Biosciences to understand the effects of both high and low doses of radiation

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