Hummingbirds fellowships
SHIRLEY KEON
HUMMINGBIRDS FELLOWSHIP 2022
awarded to
Dr Jarmon Lees
Dr Jarmon Lees completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2017 where he studied the metabolism of human stem cells and learned how to make neurons in a dish. Jarmon then helped to develop a new stem cell growth formulation in partnership with the Swedish biotech company Vitrolife. In 2018, Jarmon joined the Cardiac Regeneration Group at O’Brien Institute Department of St Vincent’s Institute to study heart disease and is now working on growing a heart in a dish.
Jarmon is the Chair of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research Professional Development and Junior Investigators sub-committee. This involves organising symposia for early career scientists across Australia. Jarmon also co-convenes a monthly online seminar series to give early career scientists the opportunity to come together and share their research.
Research Summary
Jarmon Lee’s research focuses on heart disease caused by diabetes and Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare genetic disease affecting 1 in 50,000 people. In both cases, it’s not just the beating heart muscle cells that are injured, but also the blood vessels and nerves that support the healthy function of the heart. Jarmon’s research is aimed at understanding how vascular cells and neurons are affected in heart disease and if we can target them to prevent or repair damage to our hearts. Awarded
mACKENZIE
HUMMINGBIRDS FELLOWSHIP 2022
awarded to
Kate Firipis
Kate Firipis has recently completed her PhD at RMIT University, under the supervision of Dr. Anita Quigley. Kate’s PhD Project was completed at the BioFab3D Laboratory, Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery. Kate has passed her PhD and will graduate on December 15, 2021. Her PhD research focused on bioink development and characterisation using self-assembling peptide materials. Kate’s research aimed to develop biomaterials for applications in 3D bioprinting and improved cell culture models. This was an interdisciplinary project involving a biologist, engineer, and material science input from academics at the BioFab3D Lab. Kate currently has 5 peer-reviewed publications.
Prior to joining RMIT's PhD program Kate received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering (honours) from RMIT University with research stints at the University Hospital of Ulm, IONAS Hochschule Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne.
Kate is pursuing a career where she can apply her research and analytical skills. She joined the Vascular Biology Group in September 2021 to work on our 3D printing a medium sized branched blood vessel project. The aim of the project is to attach a human capillary network grown in the laboratory to the 3D printed vessel forming a ‘vascular platform’ that has many applications in reconstructive surgery including wound repair.
This is a joint collaboration between A/P Geraldine Mitchell (OBI/SVI) and Dr Cathal O’Connell (RMIT).
AND dr Nadeeka bandara
AWARDED MACKENZIE FELLOWSHIP 2022
Dr Nadeeka Bandara is a Molecular Cell Biologist and a recipient of the Mackenzie Hummingbird Fellowship. His research has been centered to uncover the mechanisms of fat development using stem cell and transgenic mice models. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop therapeutics to treat obesity and its associated disorders.
Research Focus
Dr Nadeeka Bandara is a Molecular Cell Biologist and a recipient of
Hummingbird Fellowship. His research has been centered to uncover the
mechanisms of fat development using stem cell and transgenic mice models.
The ultimate goal of his research is to develop therapeutics to treat obesity and
its associated disorders.
dr Nadeeka bandara
Dr Nadeeka Bandara is a Molecular Cell Biologist and a recipient of the Mackenzie Hummingbird Fellowship. His research has been centered to uncover the mechanisms of fat development using stem cell and transgenic mice models. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop therapeutics to treat obesity and its associated disorders.
Research Focus
Dr Nadeeka Bandara is a Molecular Cell Biologist and a recipient of
Hummingbird Fellowship. His research has been centered to uncover the
mechanisms of fat development using stem cell and transgenic mice models.
The ultimate goal of his research is to develop therapeutics to treat obesity and
its associated disorders.
About Nadeeka Bandara
Dr Nadeeka Bandara is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow of the Regenerative
Medicine Laboratory, O’Brien Institute Department of St. Vincent’s Institute of
Medical Research, Melbourne. Dr Nadeeka received his undergraduate training
in Biology from University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. Following his MSc degree
training in Molecular Microbiology at CBNU, South Korea, he received IPRS
and APA scholarships from Australian government to pursue his PhD degree in
Molecular Cell Biology at School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Stuart
University, Australia. After receiving his PhD, he was awarded a Mackenzie
Hummingbird Fellowship at the O’Brien Institute Department of St. Vincent’s
Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne to continue his research on
understanding the mechanisms of fat development.
Frank Fontaine
Dr Frank Fontaine is a biochemist and cell biologist
with 15 years’ experience in target validation and drug discovery.
He authored seminal work on transcription factors
pharmacomodulation and has specialised in assay development, drug discovery and
preclinical optimization.
Using natural product libraries, rich in novel
scaffolds, he designed and established multiple automated screening platforms
using technologies in biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, biophysics,
transcription imaging, computational biology, genomics, proteomics and
transcriptomics.
Dr Fontaine has 35 publications with impact factors
ranging from 2.3 up to 11.14, and his a co-inventor on 2 international patents.
In his free time, Frank enjoys mountain biking and hiking in Victoria’s
beautiful countryside.
JARMON LEES
My research uses stem cells to combat heart disease. Heart disease is the leading
cause of death in Australia and worldwide. We can use mice to study heart
disease, but a mouse's heart rate is almost 10 times faster than a human’s.
Instead, I transform human stem cells into cardiomyocytes, the beating heart
cells. I then take that 2D layer of heart cells and make them 3D, creating an organoid, a mini organ in a dish. These
3D organoids are very tiny, but more closely resemble actual human organs and
are ideal for studying heart disease. Using these organoids, we hope to design
and test new heart medications helping us to live longer.
Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant awarded
Dr Shiang (Max) Lim has been awarded a $150,000 Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant for a project that will look at developing a new treatment to protect the heart from damage following a heart attack. The project will bring together a multi-institutional group, including Professor Derek Hausenloy from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, Dr Hsin-hui Shen from Monash University, Dr Jess Holien from RMIT and SVI’s Dr Davis McCarthy. Max, whose focus is on using stem cells and tissue engineering to find solutions for heart disease, says “Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Effective new treatments that protect the heart from injury following heart attack are urgently needed.” One of the processes that leads to the heart damage is a change in the shape of the cell’s ‘powerhouse’, the mitochondria. Mitochondria can either fuse together or divide, and the balance of mitochondrial fusion and division events is important for healthy cell function. Max’s research has found that the balance is shifted toward division in heart cells when they become injured. A specific mitochondrial protein, called Drp1, is needed to help in the process of dividing. Max and his team have shown that treatment with a drug that blocks Drp1, and reduces mitochondrial division, can protect animals from heart damage. However, until recently, there has not been a specific and potent inhibitor of this protein that could be developed into an effective drug for humans. “We have discovered a new drug that can bind specifically to the human Drp1 protein, inhibiting mitochondrial division and protecting animals from heart damage after heart attack. In this project, we aim to deliver this drug using a new nanoparticle-based delivery system that will target it specifically to the injured heart tissue. This will reduce the possibility of unwanted side-effects,” Max says. “Without the Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant, we wouldn’t have been to able continue with this project; I am thrilled we have been given the opportunity to take this study further.” It is hoped that the study will provide a new treatment to improve clinical outcomes in patients after heart attack, reducing deaths and increasing quality of life for patients, with fewer patients being re-hospitalised with subsequent heart failure. These outcomes will also be good for the health system’s bottom line, reducing direct and indirect healthcare costs for Australia in the long-term.
Dr Shiang (Max) Lim has been awarded a $150,000 Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant for a project that will look at developing a new treatment to protect the heart from damage following a heart attack. The project will bring together a multi-institutional group, including Professor Derek Hausenloy from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, Dr Hsin-hui Shen from Monash University, Dr Jess Holien from RMIT and SVI’s Dr Davis McCarthy. Max, whose focus is on using stem cells and tissue engineering to find solutions for heart disease, says “Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Effective new treatments that protect the heart from injury following heart attack are urgently needed.” One of the processes that leads to the heart damage is a change in the shape of the cell’s ‘powerhouse’, the mitochondria. Mitochondria can either fuse together or divide, and the balance of mitochondrial fusion and division events is important for healthy cell function. Max’s research has found that the balance is shifted toward division in heart cells when they become injured. A specific mitochondrial protein, called Drp1, is needed to help in the process of dividing. Max and his team have shown that treatment with a drug that blocks Drp1, and reduces mitochondrial division, can protect animals from heart damage. However, until recently, there has not been a specific and potent inhibitor of this protein that could be developed into an effective drug for humans. “We have discovered a new drug that can bind specifically to the human Drp1 protein, inhibiting mitochondrial division and protecting animals from heart damage after heart attack. In this project, we aim to deliver this drug using a new nanoparticle-based delivery system that will target it specifically to the injured heart tissue. This will reduce the possibility of unwanted side-effects,” Max says. “Without the Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant, we wouldn’t have been to able continue with this project; I am thrilled we have been given the opportunity to take this study further.” It is hoped that the study will provide a new treatment to improve clinical outcomes in patients after heart attack, reducing deaths and increasing quality of life for patients, with fewer patients being re-hospitalised with subsequent heart failure. These outcomes will also be good for the health system’s bottom line, reducing direct and indirect healthcare costs for Australia in the long-term.