Our exciting nanohealth journey formally began in February this year when Professor Paul Weiss - leading nanoscientist, UC Presidential Chair, Editor in Chief of ACS Nano and distinguished professor of chemistry, bioengineering, and materials science at UCLA – was invited to speak at a Sydney Nano public lecture “
Nano Revolution” co-presented with Sydney Ideas. This session was the start of a new conversation, led by Sydney Nano, to establish nanohealth as a priority for the University of Sydney with the aim of pioneering and redefining health outcomes in the nano realm.
Right from the very beginning when we called for expressions of interest to join the NanoScope working group, there was a tremendous response across many disciplines. The Nanoscope working group was tasked with mapping the University of Sydney nanohealth ecosystem and identifying the areas of strength. Drawing on the expertise and capability of the contributing members, six clusters were formed out of the mapping exercise to create an integrated and cohesive force for innovation.
The Nanoscope discussions covered a vast range of topics, from pathways for innovation to funding and hiring opportunities and engaged with the clinical academics across the breadth of the University of Sydney Westmead, Camperdown and North Shore campus. The clusters provided extensive, in-depth feedback, replete with enthusiastic suggestions, ideas and gaps for the working group to address. All the responses were then collated and compiled into a Scoping Study Report, which includes a SWOT analysis conducted by the cluster co-chairs and feedback from our stakeholder community via a survey. The objectives of the Scoping Study Report are to:
- Identify key themes to build upon opportunities in a complementary way across clusters;
- Understand and remedy any gaps in capacity or expertise;
- Assemble an active array of clusters aligned with the Grand Challenge in health; and
- Establish a roadmap of future actions for short, medium and long-term planning.
Here is a
link to the original nanohealth survey. It is not too late to provide your input relative to your area of expertise if you haven't done so already.
The Sydney NanoHealth Network is launched this month as we move into Phase 2. The report will become our guiding document to demonstrate how we can build on the capabilities and expertise of our clusters to deliver translational outcomes. Our first deliverable in Phase 2 is to undertake a more detailed mapping to define the approach and the capability required for working closely with clinicians and industry partners. The plan is to design, develop, manufacture, test and evaluate novel devices and processes to accelerate clinical research and opportunities for commercialisation.
Our cluster co-chairs in Phase 2 are:
Nano Pharma
- Nicholas Hunt, Lecturer, Concord Clinical School
- Pegah Varamini, Lecturer, Sydney Pharmacy School
Nano-Bio-Engineering
- Yogambha Ramaswamy, Lecturer, School of Biomedical Engineering
- Steven Wise, Associate Professor, School of Medical Sciences
Computational Medicine
- Lamiae Azizi, Senior Lecturer, School of Mathematics
- Svetlana Postnova, Senior Lecturer, School of Physics
Sensors and Diagnostics
- David Martinez Martin, Senior Lecturer, School of Biomedical Engineering
- Corinne Caillaud, Associate Professor, Sydney School of Health Sciences
Lab/Organ-on-Chips
- Stuart Fraser, Associate Professor, School of Medical Sciences
- Stefano Palomba, Associate Professor, School of Physics
Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
- Anna Waterhouse, Senior Lecturer, School of Medical Sciences
- Wojciech Chrzanowski, Associate Professor, Sydney Pharmacy School
The journey of the Sydney NanoHealth Network has demonstrated a new way for the University to established new collaborations and partnerships between researchers from different Faculties and with clinical academics. The Network encourages the production and dissemination of ideas to strengthen multi-disciplinary research capabilities to discover, innovate, reform and transform. Through our collaboration, we will contribute to the goal of better treatments for a healthier society.
I want to give a big shout-out to thank the cluster co-chairs and all those who volunteered their time and efforts in this nanohealth initiative. It is your contribution that has made the Sydney NanoHealth Network a success.
The Scoping Study Report can be accessed
here by University of Sydney staff.
