Invited speakers

Dr Mat Trau (Keynote)

Professor, University of Queensland, Australia

Professor Matt Trau is currently a Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland (UQ); and is also Deputy Director and co-founder of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.

In the last five years, Professor Trau has initiated and led several large international programs that involve close collaboration between leading nanotechnologists, molecular biologists, geneticists and commercial researchers – with the goal of creating cutting edge diagnostics.

Dr Mary Bebawy

Associate Professor, Pharmacy
University of Technology, Sydney Australia

A/Prof Bebawy has a PhD in Pharmacy (USYD) and Head of the Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Health UTS. She has an active research portfolio focusing on the molecular basis of cancer relapse. She is an internationally recognized cancer researcher and pharmaceutical scientist with a background in commercial R & D. Her team were the first to discover the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the spread of cancer multidrug resistance (MDR) (Bebawy et al., 2009).

Dr Majid Warkiani

Senior Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Engineering, UTS, Sydney, Australia

Dr Warkiani’s current research activities focus on three key areas of (i) Microfluidics involving the design and development of novel microfluidic systems for particle and cell sorting (e.g., circulating tumor cells, fetal cells & stem cells) for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, (ii) Organ-on-a-chips involving the fabrication and characterization of novel 3D lab-on-a-chip systems to model physiological functions of tissues and organs, and (iii) 3D Printing involving the design and development of novel miniaturized systems (e.g., micromixers, micro-cyclones) for basic and applied research.

Dr Antonio Tricoli

Associate Professor, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science

Dr Tricoli’s research focuses on several fields of nanotechnology spacing from renewable energy production to non-invasive medical diagnostics.

His current research interests are the synthesis of novel nanostructures for energy production and storage, non-invasive medical diagnostic and functional coatings, and the engineering of novel dry processes for the synthesis of functional nanocomposites.

Dr Peter Molloy

Senior Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Sydney

Dr Molloy has extensive experience in molecular and cell biology and genetics, with a particular focus on epigenetics and the regulation of gene expression. His work has been focused on the role of epigenetics in cancer and in metabolic health. Over the past ten years his team has worked closely with local SME Clinical Genomics Pty Ltd in the discovery of DNA methylation biomarkers for diagnosis of colorectal cancer. These biomarkers form the basis of a blood-based test that is now on sale in the US for post-surgery monitoring of patients for cancer recurrence.