QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 8 matching student topics
Displaying 1–8 of 8 results
Race for the surface: helping implants to win the race
The recent COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of how difficult it is to control infectious diseases. Pathogenic microorganisms are known to be extremely 'smart' and are able to quickly develop mechanisms against most of our strategies aimed at eradicating them.Our group is focused on bacterial infections to implants and medical devices. We are in the pursuit to outsmart the bacteria to develop the next generation medical device and implant materials.When a biomaterial is implanted into the body and bacteria get into …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
‘race for the surface’: designing the next generation antimicrobial biomaterials
When a biomaterial is implanted into the body and bacteria get into the implantation site, both the bacteria and tissue cells actively seek to establish their colonization on the biomaterial surface. This process, called ‘the race for the surface’ by Anthony Gristina in 1987, is still a subject of intense investigation. It is generally accepted that a biomaterial’s success in integrating with the body depends on if tissue cells win or the bacteria win the race. However, evidence from the …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Accountancy
Identifying novel pheno-endotypes in children with chronic cough
Chronic wet cough is among the commonest symptoms of chronic lung disease. In Australia, the most common cause of childhood chronic wet cough is protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB), a clinical entity we first described. It has now been shown to be a precursor to bronchiectasis, which causes substantial morbidity and mortality, especially from acute respiratory exacerbations. Lung inflammation in children with persistent chronic wet cough is an important driver of ongoing and progressive tissue damage, leading to bronchiectasis, highlighting the …
- Study level
- PhD
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Public Health and Social Work
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Healthcare Transformation
Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation
Renewal and differentiation in human neural stem cells and their application to understanding neurological disorders
The effective regeneration of brain tissue requires an understanding of the factors mediating the damage as well as the integration of new/replacement cells to form new functional neural networks. The isolation and expansion of human stem cells and limited neural lineage differentiation have provided the foundation for strategies in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. We utilise iPSC-derived NPCs and patient-derived (Alzheimer’s disease; AD) iPSCs and neural lineage differentiation of hMSCs, iPSC NPCs and AD iPSCs in neuronal and glial culture …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
CGPH01 - Human neural stem cell models to understand neurogenesis and neurodegeneration
Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease continue to impact the quality of life of a significant number of Australians, yet they remain untreatable. If we focus on how human neural stem cells behave normally and compare them to similar cells from Alzheimer’s patients, we will likely gain a better understanding of what has gone wrong and potentially how to stop it or fix it.
- Study level
- PhD, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health
Engineering the prostate tumour microenvironment in organ-on-a-chip systems
Prostate cancer remains one of the leading causes of global death. The tumour microenvironment (TME) including blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) possesses disease-specific biophysical and biological factors that are difficult to recapitulate using conventional in vitro cell culture models.The absence of these factors, however, causes cells to display abnormal morphologies, polarisation, proliferation, and drug responses, thereby limiting the ability to translate research findings from traditional cell culture into clinical practice.Recent advances in organ-on-a-chip technology enable …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Mathematical modelling of cell-to-cell communication via extracellular vesicles (EVs)
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane bound packages of information constantly being released by all living cells, including bacteria. There are many types and sizes of EVs. Each EV type contains its own distinctive cargo consisting of characteristic DNA, RNA, and proteins. We are just beginning to understand the many roles of EVs to maintain the health of the cell producing the EVs, and to communicate with other cell types that take up the EVs produced by neighbouring cells. Since EVs …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
Engineering bioartificial extracellular tumour microenvironments for Osteosarcoma personalised precision oncology
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common malignant bone tumour affecting children and adolescents. Importantly, clinical outcomes have not improved for decades, and bone tumours remain to be a leading cause of cancer-related death in adolescents.By identifying ideal treatment approaches for each individual patient, precision oncology has the potential to significantly improve these outcomes. Yet, its widespread application is hindered by a lack of biomaterials that support the reproducible and robust generation of patient-derived osteosarcoma organoids in vitro.Therefore, this project will …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
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