It’s electrifying: ACES researchers nominated for Frontiers Research Award

Congratulations to ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) researchers A/Prof Jeremy Crook, Dr Eva Tomaskovic-Crook and Prof Gordon Wallace, who are finalists in the 2019 Research Australia Health and Medical Research Awards.

The team from the ACES University of Wollongong node has been nominated for the Frontiers Research Award for their work in using electricity to produce advanced living three-dimensional (3D) human neural tissues in the laboratory. Based on the human body being naturally bioelectric, the team is working towards using electrical stimulation to influence cell behaviour to treat traumatic brain injuries and neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.

A/Prof Jeremy Crook, who is Chief Investigator for the ACES Synthetic Biosystems theme, said the team was delighted to be acknowledged for their innovative work and for pushing the boundaries within health and medical research.

“To have our work recognised by Research Australia in the company of other such talented researchers is an honour,” Jeremy said.

“We can see such potential for our research to treat neurological disorders, as well as provide donor tissues for vital replacement therapies following trauma and disease. To date, research and development of cell culture has largely relied upon elementary 2D methods of cell culture, which are not representative of actual cell environments within tissues and organs of the human body.

“Our new platform integrates biologically relevant human cell lines with advanced techniques for 3D tissue engineering and 3D electrical stimulation that mimics cell culture that better represents human cell growth and tissue outside the human body.”

Research Australia is the national peak body that promotes and champions health and medical research, and represents organisations across the entire health and medical research pipeline. The Research Australia Health and Medical Research Awards have been held annually since 2003 to celebrate the people who make a difference in the lives of the Australian community through their contribution to health and medical research. The Frontiers Research Award recognises transformative research projects that extend existing knowledge and understandings within health and medical research that will enable Australia’s health system to position itself as a global leader.

The 17th Research Australia Health and Medical Research Awards will be held on Thursday 14 November at Metropolis Events in Melbourne.

Good luck Team ACES!