Researchers and Collaborators

Leadership

Professor Elena Ivanova

Professor Elena Ivanova is Distinguished Professor at RMIT's School of Science. She received PhD from the Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Ukraine; ScD from the Pacific Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Russian Federation; JD from the University of Melbourne; GradDip from the Law Institute, Victoria. Professor Ivanova worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Japan; Visiting Researcher at the Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland; Visiting Professor at Hokkaido University, Japan; Cambridge University, UK and Institut Charles, Sadron, CNRS, France; she joined Swinburne University of Technology in 2001 and moved to RMIT University in 2018. Professor Ivanova is recipient of AIST and JSPS Fellowships, Japan; UNESCO Biotechnology Fellowship; Research Excellence Award of the Governor of Primorye; Prominent Young Doctor of Science Award of Russian Federation, Morrison Rogosa Award from American Society for Microbiology, U.S.A, Australian Museum Eureka 2017 for Scientific Research, etc.

She has published two books and edited 3 more , 26 book chapters, 4 patents, in excess of 300 research papers with 12700 citations, her h-factor is 55. The research interests are focusing on design, fabrication and operation of planar micro-devices; immobilization of bio-molecules and micro-organisms in micro/nano/environments, bacterial taxonomy, microbial interactions with macro/micro/nano-structured surfaces, biomaterials, and mechano-bactericidal biomimetic nanostructured surfaces.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5509-8071

Dr. Denver Linklater

Denver Linklater holds a BSc and BComm from Swinburne University of Technology. She completed a PhD in nanotechnology in 2019 from the same university. Her PhD research focused on the development of novel antimicrobial nanostructured surface patterns. Denver currently holds a position as a post-doctoral research fellow at RMIT. She is employed on an industrial linkage project between RMIT university and Japanese company Kaiteki Inc. Her current research interests include the design and synthesis of nanomaterials for novel antimicrobial technologies, stem cell culture, tissue regeneration and medical device design.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1433-3685

Dr Karolinne Martins De Sousa

Karolinne is a Materials Engineer (CEFET/MG- Brazil) who recently enrolled at RMIT as a PhD student in Applied Physics.

In 2015 Karolinne was awarded a Brazilian scholarship “Science Without Borders” to complete part of her undergraduate degree at Monash University (Department of Materials Science and Engineering). She also completed an internship at New Horizons Research Centre, assessing corrosion rates of stent-sized magnesium alloys in simulated body conditions with Prof. Nick Birbilis (Australian National University).

She recently joined Elena Ivanova's research group to work on the design and fabrication of nanostructured antibacterial surfaces, as well as assessing cell adhesion and behaviour on these surfaces.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6983-8309

Email: s3777891@student.rmit.edu.au

Dr Sandy Liao

Sandy graduated from National Taiwan University in 2019 with master’s degree in Chemical Engineering. She is currently a PhD student at Swinburne University of Technology and with ARC Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM). Recently, her project aims to develop multifunctional coatings via thermal spray techniques for long-term antimicrobial purposes. Mixture, or multiple layers of coatings of polymers, nanoparticles, transition metallic materials with antibacterial activities will be used for functionalization of various substrates to achieve multi-defensive lines toward microbes. As considering for long-term orthopaedic implants, a time-controlled drug releasing system represents a promising strategy to optimize the system. Embedding crystallized nano/micro-structured drug into coatings will also be performed in this study.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1878-5080

Email: sliao@swin.edu.au              

Portrait of Palalle G. Tharushi Perera

Dr. Palalle G. Tharushi Perera

Dr. Palalle G. Tharushi Perera is a researcher at RMIT's School of Science. She received her PhD from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia in 2020 where her research was based on investigating Electromagnetic field induced effects on cell membrane permeability in eukaryotic cells and bacteria. She works as a lab demonstrator for Swinburne University from 2016 to date. She is also actively involved in conducting research at the Australian Synchrotron, Far IR/THz beamline. Dr. Tharushi Perera joined RMIT University in 2021. Her research interests include liposomes, cell culture, bioassays, neuronal differentiation, electron microscopy, radiation induced genetic transfer in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells to gain insights as to how radiation in the Microwave and the THz range could be used in the field of cancer and drug delivery.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2787-9938

Dr Phuc Hoang Le

Phuc graduated as a BSc in Biotechnology from International University – Vietnam National University. During his bachelor, he achieved the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Scholarship as a research intern at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Recently, Phuc has been awarded a full scholarship from ARC Steel research Hub cooperating with BlueScope Steel Australia to start his PhD journey at RMIT University in Applied Physics. His project  aims to provide a better understanding about fungal attachment and biofilm formation on surfaces in order to  design robust   nanostructured surfaces with long term antifungal properties.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2910-7509

Email: phuc.le@rmit.edu.au

Portrait of Samson Wai Liong Mah

Mr. Samson Wai Liong Mah (MSc)

Samson is passionate about science and commerce since young. He strongly believes and advocate these two must be harmonized to build lasting relationship between consumers and producers. Therefore, he embarked on a journey to hone all the required skills in both industries. He graduated with Bachelor of Biotechnology (Hons) with a major in Microbiology from University of Queensland and had an accumulative 2 years of working experiences in various business industries (including sales and marketing, retail, hospitality, and events management). During his honours year, he worked at Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), UQ with Dr. Frank Sainsbury about In-Planta synthesis of Tomato Black Ring Virus-like Particles and encapsidation of Guest Proteins (Pesticide) to terminate nematodes.

Currently, he is commencing master’s by research in Applied Physics with research scholarship from CSIRO and RMIT University, focusing on innovative antiviral surfaces. The aim of this project is to comprehensively characterise several newly designed bactericidal nanostructured surfaces and further optimise the nanostructure parameters in order to achieve tuneable biocidal activity towards different cell types. The studentship will involve a range of nanofabrication and surface characterisation techniques as well as bio-assays to test antiviral activities.

Orcid:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0125-0987

Email: s3909770@student.rmit.edu.au / samson.mah@csiro.au           

Mr Erim Nihat Kosyer

Erim recently graduated with a BSc in physics from RMIT University in 2020. He was awarded the NHMRC Centre of Excellence summer internship to undertake a research project based on the biological effects of terahertz (THz) radiation and take part in an experimental session at the Australian Synchrotron THz beamline. He is currently undertaking his Honours project which aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of interaction between high frequency electromagnetic fields and eukaryotic cells in the pursuit of developing innovative drug delivery systems.

Email: s3599557@student.rmit.edu.au

Dr. Arturo Aburto-Medina

Dr. Arturo Aburto-Medina is a Research officer at the School of Science at RMIT University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Essex, UK. He has conducted postdoctoral studies in University of California Irvine, Flinders University and has held lecturing positions at UAM and ITESM. His research interests include drug discovery, conservation of the environment, the bioremediation of contaminated sites and the fabrication & optimisation of antimicrobial surfaces.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2871-609X

Dr. Duy Huu Khuong Nguyen

Duy completed his PhD at Swinburne University of Technology in 2019. His research interests include: bacterial interaction on polymeric material and the bio-nano interaction that occur at the bacterial cell-surface interface.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8848-9255

The Hong Phong Nguyen

Dr. The Hong Phong Nguyen

Dr. The Hong Phong Nguyen is a researcher at RMIT's School of Science. He received his PhD from the Swinburne University of Technology, Australia focusing on cell membrane permeability of various prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Dr. Nguyen worked as a researcher and lecturer at Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam in 2018 and moved to RMIT University in 2022. His research interests are focusing on extraction of bioactive compounds from plants, algae, and bacteria; finding new candidates for drugs developments and cancer therapeutics; improving industrial extracting methods to collect valuable biomass and bioactive compounds; developing new transfection methods for targeted drug delivery; studying antimicrobial/antiviral properties of nanoparticles and nanopatterned surfaces.

Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3847-6963

ResearcherID: U-2301-2018

Dr Olha Bazaka
Email: s3729979@student.rmit.edu.au     

aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.

aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.