B.MedImaSci, M.Pharm
Summary
I am inspired by the developing nature of the healthcare industry. I am excited by medical imaging technologies and pharmacology. I enjoy interacting with people and making lasting relationships. I love to learn.
I am a motivated and high achieving individual with over 15 years in the health industry. I am both a registered radiographer and pharmacist, with a proven track record of academic and professional achievements. I am currently furthering my education by combining both my pharmacy and medical imaging skill sets studying a PhD in medical engineering at QUT in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
I have experience working within both private and public healthcare settings. I am keen to further explore where healthcare research meets industry.
PhD project
Tissue engineering a humanized rat model for osteosarcoma research
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most frequent malignant bone tumour; commonly affecting young people. The survival rate of metastatic OS is less than 25%. OS is treated with a combination of surgical resection and systemic chemotherapy with doxorubicin (DOX). However, these treatments cause serious long-term adverse effects. To overcome this limitation, we have developed an advanced rat OS model that converges tissue engineering and regenerative medicine principles to improve treatment outcomes.
This model will investigate the efficacy of scaffold-mediated local DOX delivery following surgical resection of the primary OS tumour. The tumour will be removed from the femur by dissecting a 6 mm segmental defect, then stabilised with an intramedullary nail and a DOX-loaded defect-bridging scaffold. The ability of local DOX delivery to prevent OS reoccurrence will be compared to standard systemic chemotherapy treatment. The defect zone will then be replaced with a scaffold to regenerate the bone.
This model recapitulates the hallmarks of human disease within an immunocompromised rat, which will allow the study of complex surgical interventions and regenerative medicine techniques never possible. The outcomes of this study could improve the chemotherapeutic and limb sparing surgery options for young people with OS.