WORKING TOGETHER IS COMPULSORY

Even in its early days, Deakin University’s Institute of Biotechnology has been developing strong working relationships with similar organisations in the Geelong region.

One of the most significant of these is with Barwon Biomedical Research (BBR). Part of Barwon Health - one of the largest and most successful regional health organisations in the world - BBR is led by Professor Geoff Nicholson and Associate Professor Mark Kirkland who sees the links between the organisations as not just advantageous but compulsory.

“We have got to work together because Geelong is not a big enough place to have 10 different research groups,” he said.“We have got to be collaborating, working off each other’s strengths.

“We are very lucky already to have found a strong linkage between the work the material science people are doing and the sort of direction we wanted to take with our own work. This applies both to Professor Nicholson’s work and to my own.”

In 2006, Professor Nicholson was the senior partner investigator in an Australian Research Council grant-winning team that also included Dr Ciu’e Wen and Dr Wenji Yan from Deakin. Professor Nicholson’s biomedical skills complement Dr Wen’s materials knowledge and Dr Yan’s mechanical engineering background as they search for a more effective material from which to make replacement hips.

Their goal is to develop a metal that is more porous and that will have properties close to those of natural bone. Another project involving BioDeakin and Professor Nicholson is a collaboration with Murray-Goulburn Co-operative Co Limited, the largest milk producer in Australia. Professor Nicholson is looking at novel dairy bio-actives that can be used in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Professor Kirkland’s research with stem cells provides another opportunity for BBR and BioDeakin to work together. He is investigating the growth and use of cord blood derived stem cells. Professor Kirkland’s work focuses on developing novel approaches to the production of insulin-producing cells and cardiac cells for the treatment of diabetes and heart disease. Through CyGenics, the biotech company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and for which he is the Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Kirkland is also looking at ways - in conjunction with BioDeakin - to translate stem cell research into commercial applications.
Another project that brings together BBR and BioDeakin involves the development of polymers for use as tissue scaffolds. The researchers include Professor Xungai Wang, Professor Peter Cookson and the two new recruits, Associate Professor Qipeng Guo and Dr Anne Sandstrom, who has recently arrived from the United States.

“One of the strengths that we bring to the relationship is that we can extend the basic laboratory work to human based trials,” said Professor Kirkland.

“In bio-actives especially there is obviously a very strong overlap between the short-term laboratory work and the medium to long term clinical studies. Geelong has a lot of advantages as a place in which to conduct clinical trials because you have a very cohesive clinical environment.

“Once you’re involved in a project in any given area you can involve all the clinicians and have access to the entire patient population. We also have a lot of background information about the basic parameters of the population because of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study.

“The study is a large continuum study essentially around osteoporosis but actually gives us access to a huge data base for comparisons in various other diseases. It is already being used at the moment for asthma studies. We also have a bone bank; can give access to human tissue materials for researchers and can also provide technical support.

“Deakin University has an animal house which is helpful to us when we get to the stage of conducting animal trials. There are so many areas in which we can work together and already there is a strong feeling we are all heading in the same direction.”

A continuum of Deakin’s broader research goals to work the industry, government and the broad community to achieve outcomes that make a difference, that improve the lives of people not just in Geelong or Victoria, but all over the world.

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