Adjunct Associate Professor Michael Doran

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PhD (University of New South Wales)

Please see my laboratory's webpage: www.mikedoranlab.com   Training:
  • Bachelor of Science (Genetics) - The University of Alberta (Canada)
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) - The University of Alberta (Canada)
  • PhD (Biomedical Engineering) - The University of New South Wales (Australia)
Affiliations:
  • NHMRC Research Fellow 
  • Group Leader - Translational Research Institute
  • Associate Professor - School of Biomedical Sciences - Queensland University of Technology
  • Consultant Scientist - National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
  • Honorary Research Fellow - Mater Research Institute - University of Queensland
  • Honorary Associate Professor - Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science - Australian National University
Research interests:
  • Bioreactor development for large-scale stem or stromal cell expansion.
  • Development of novel umbilical cord blood transplantation techniques.
  • Development of tissue engineering/stem cell strategies for cartilage defect repair.
  • Development of tissue engineering strategies for diabetic foot ulcer repair.
  • Design/development of micro-bioreactors for bone marrow stem cell niche recapitulation.
  • Development of platforms to study prostate and breast cancer bone metastasis.
  • General, including: (1) macroeconomics, (2) the use of multimedia in scientific communication, and (3) the evolution of academia as a business and the associated management challenges.

Additional information

Experience

VIDEOS (produced by Michael Kuhn (QUT)) GRANT COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRAINING AND INTEGRITY   RESEARCH IMMERSION PROGRAMS: Our laboratory is heavily involved in research emersion and public teaching.  In 2015 A/Prof Mike Doran, Dr. Kathryn Futrega, and Dr. Peter Darben hosted 25 high school students from around Australian in a 1 week intensive research immersion course at the TRI (http://www.di.uq.edu.au/msc-project).  Students learned general cell culture techniques, how specifically to grow bone marrow stem/stromal cells, how to differentiate these cells into either bone or fat cells, and how to seed the bone cells onto scaffolds.  Our team has since run two related World Science Festival Bioengineering Apprentice Programs. Below are comments from high school students that completed our SPARQ-ED course:
  • “Interactions with other students with the same interests -> self-explanatory. Learning to operate scientific equipment. Listening to experts talk because I found what they said extremely interesting” – Male Student
  • “I really enjoyed the physical lab work. It gave me great insight into research and helped me decide that I would like to go into research in the future” – Female Student
  • “The exposure to the labs and experience of what scientists do” – Female Student
  • “Understanding the concepts as a whole, and seeing all the elements some together when the 3D scaffold was seeded with cells” – Male Student
  • “All the practical activities were very rewarding because I did not know the procedures beforehand” – Male Student.
  • “I found the lab work rewarding as it was useful to my future and learnt many new techniques. I found the lectures useful as they will help me with school work” – Female Student
  • “The best parts of the program was the lab activities because I find it easier to understand the concepts” – Male Student
  • “I enjoyed the experience itself, however the most rewarding experience I had was developing new friendships” – Male Student
  • “I enjoyed the migration / wound healing experiment because we got to decide which drinks to use and it was therefore more like we were doing the experiment rather than just following instructions (which was fine) – it would be nice to have more experiments like that” – Female Student
  • “The people I met and the immersion into very hands-on work, We met many scientists that helped us understand what a career in research Science will look like” – Female Student
  • “Experience in professional lab. Advanced scientific topics not generally covered in school. Talking to working scientists” – Female Student
  • “The overall lab work and seminars were very rewarding as they showed the process real researchers undertake” – Male Student
  • “Preparing solutions by following procedures outlined in manual – procedures were clear and this gave a sense of independency. Seeing successful cell growth was rewarding J” – Female Student
  • “The migration and expansion assay were particularly rewarding. I understood these concepts the most and found the results very interesting. The application of this kind of research also was very interesting and could be related to on a practical level. It puts the work that is being done into perspective and is really very relevant. I also think the presentation will prove to be very rewarding, as it will be relevant and will therefore help students when writing EEI reports in class. Seeing the facilities was very rewarding and a great opportunity. This week has been great” – Female Student
  • “The lectures before each part of the project were very useful as they allowed me to understand and explain what I was doing” – Male Student
  • “Being able to see results, do real lab work” – Male Student
  • “I made a lot of friends and learnt many relevant scientific and cellular concepts” – Male Student
  • “The hands-on research experiments because I have never experiences research in an actual research facility. It gave me an insight on the work researchers do and the equipment they have available to them” – Female Student
  • “Laboratory work -> hands on approach, realistic experience of what to expect in a biomedical science career. Ability to view, engage with and use high-tech equipment. Friday lunch. Being able to discuss with the tutors assisting and getting their insight on their careers, etc. being in the beautiful building J” – Female Student
  • “The 3D printing was interesting and showed a technology I hadn’t seen much of before. Plus insights into possible future applications. Also getting to apply techniques and use the equipment and machines available in the TRI and would never be seen in a school course” – Female Student
  • “I found the 3D printing particularly interesting, however the thing I found most rewarding as a whole was just being allowed to use the equipment, and gather an understanding of what happens in scientific research facilities” – Female Student
  • “Learning how to use the equipment in the lab and being able to see the upstairs working spaces. Also talking to all of the scientists about what they do and the university courses they completed to get where they are today” – Female Student
  • “Presenting at the end of the program -> needed us to coherently sum up and condense a lot of information and data, which improved understanding of concepts. As well as, of course, the lab work and talks about the topics and conducting routine lab work” – Female Student
  • “The socialising parts – where you had open conversations” – Male Student

Publications

Research Projects

Title
Bridging the fields of cartilage, bone marrow and cancer research
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1130013
Start year
2017
Keywords
Stem Cell Biology; Osteoarthritis; Prostate Cancer; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Biomedical Engineering
Title
The Microniche: A Novel In-vitro and In-vivo Prostate Cancer Model System
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1108043
Start year
2016
Keywords
Prostate Cancer; Metastatic Cancer; Bone Marrow; Stem Cell Biology; Hormone-refractory Prostate Cancer
Title
Coupling an injectable gel and MSC microtissues to enhance cartilage repair
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1083857
Start year
2015
Keywords
cartilage; regenerative medicine; stem cell therapy; biomedical engineering; biomaterials
Title
Engineering an Osteochondral Tissue for Cartilage Defect Repair
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1060340
Start year
2014
Keywords
Biomedical Engineering; Stem Cells; Cartilage; Osteoarthritis; Tissue Engineering
Title
Mimicking the HSC Niche and Enabling HSC Self-renewal In Vitro
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
CA-APP1060928
Start year
2014
Keywords
Regenerative Medicine; Stem Cells; Stem Cell Therapy; Haematopoietic Stem Cells; Haematopoiesis; Bone Marrow Stroma; Bone Marrow
Title
Engineering a High-Throughput Prostate Cancer Stem Cell Niche Mimic
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
NCG 3212
Start year
2013
Keywords
Bioengineering; Cancer; Stem Cells; Therapy
Title
Innovations in Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) Wound Care
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
1048385
Start year
2013
Keywords
biotechnology; stem cell therapy; ulceration; biomaterials; wound healing
Title
Taking the Limp out of Cartilage Repair
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
631629
Start year
2010
Keywords
Biomedical Engineering; Catilage; Stem Cells; Regenerative Medicine