ACES researcher awarded prestigious Fellowship in Japan

ACES Early Career Researcher Dr Binbin Zhang has been awarded a prestigious Fellowship with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

The Fellowship will enable Dr Zhang to work in Japan for two years with Professor Junji Fukuda at Yokohama National University.

Dr Zhang will take her expertise in 3D printing to Professor Fukuda’s lab, which has developed a new way to engineer vascular tissue constructs – a critical factor in fabrication of large tissue constructs including human organs.

Dr Zhang said the Fellowship will allow her to further develop her experience and skills in tissue engineering.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity, not only do I get to work within a world leading research group in the area I’m very passionate about, I will also expand my international networks and form long-term collaborations,” Dr Zhang said.

“I’m also hoping to publish high-impact journal articles and attend international conferences during my fellowship. All these things will help me build a good career track-record and hopefully make me more competitive in future grant applications.”

Dr Zhang got to know Professor Fukuda through her work with ACES, at which she also completed her PhD on a project funded by the HEARing CRC and now works as Research Fellow in the field of 3D BioPrinting.

“The workshops and training programs provided by ACES have helped me with my skills in writing applications, especially those like this Fellowship application that require not only details of the research, but the impact to society.”

Centre Director Professor Gordon Wallace said that ACES is a national institution with international connections.

“As such, it provides a unique training environment that opens up global opportunities for our graduates,” Professor Wallace said.