Professor Matt Trau, Director of UQ's Centre
for Nanotechnology and Biomaterials, is leading an international
project that aims to investigate and test a set of unique, Australian-owned
nanotechnologies that will accelerate advances in the early detection
and diagnosis of many diseases.
“ By testing and developing these nanotechnology platforms
we hope to produce tools to give people an early warning that they
have
a serious disease,” Professor Trau said.
“ That early warning could mean the difference of getting medical
intervention at a time when it is easy to administer and highly effective,
or facing the prospect of massive and debilitating intervention when
the disease has taken hold.
_ There are currently few tools available
for early diagnosis at the molecular level.
_ And those that are available are
difficult to use and cover only a small fraction of known diseases. "
Nanotechnology offers the possibility to create devices which can
screen for disease biomarkers at very fast rates.
The tools will be developed by identifying biomarkers for particular
diseases that can then lead to diagnostic tests.
“ Once biomarkers are found, we can assess them for clinical
use,” he said.
“ Potentially hundreds of biomarkers could be found, paving
the way for the development of many new diagnostic tests.”
He said apart from the potential medical benefits, by developing the
technologies in Queensland this research provides a tremendous opportunity
for commercial success.
“ And success in this can also be expected to reduce the
economic and social costs of disease,” Professor Trau
said.
This research draws together the expertise of a team of outstanding
researchers from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
at The University of Queensland, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Centre (USA), the University of Washington (USA) and the Seattle Biomedical
Research Institute (USA).
This project is supported by a contribution of $2 million from the
Queensland State Government through the National and International
Research Alliances Program. In addition to Alliances funding, the project
will receive support from the participating institutes and UQ spin-off
company Nanomics Biosystems Pty Ltd.
UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor David Siddle, said
the awarding of Smart State funding represented recognition of the
importance of establishing international collaborations in this area
to enable continuing excellence in biological research and in biotechnology.
“ This project addresses a critical gap in the process of
early diagnosis, that is, the lack of effective tools for diagnosing
disease
at the molecular level,” Professor Siddle said.
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