Negareh Ghasemi

My research works in the field of energy conversion systems, particularly in pulsed power and ultrasound systems provided a great benefit to health, the environment, and society. My academic background and experience in electrical engineering enabled me to lead and contribute to multiple collaborative projects through which I could train, support, and supervise several new research staff and many students in the field and have been helping them to build their future careers. Since 2019, I secured over $1M research grants and funding support including NHMRC-IDeas grant, ACARP grant and Childeren's Hospital Foundation grant.

Here is a summary of the beneficial outcomes of my research:

A benefit to health- Producing microbiologically-safe donor breastmilk using pulsed power technology

• The NHMRC human milk project aims to improve health outcomes and advance the care of vulnerable preterm and low birth weight infants. Globally, about 15 million babies are born preterm every year (>1 in 10 babies); this number is rising. Poor nutrition in preterm infants during the early weeks of life has major effects on later-life health outcomes. Breastmilk contains an array of important immunoprotective and nutritional biomolecules that are destroyed during the thermal processing of donor breastmilk. Thus, creating next-generation feeding options of microbiologically safe and biologically active donor breastmilk to improve early infant care is hugely important. We secured a Children's Hospital Foundation grant and an NHMRC-Ideas grant for developing static and dynamic systems for the treatment of human breastmilk.

Social and environmental sustainability- Wastewater treatment using ultrasound and pulsed power technologies

• Toxic organic pollutants found in industrial wastewater are one of the major threats to human and ecosystem health. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic organic compounds that can harm human and ecosystem health due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. We developed an advanced system for the treatment of wastewater using an ultrasound system which was effective for the removal of a wide range of PAHs pollutants and produced no secondary pollutants. the outcome of this research work has been published in the Water and Environment Journal.

A benefit to society- Sustainable food production

• Mushrooms are a source of proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, and minerals.We designed and developed a pulsed power system to increase the growth rate and total yield and alter the nutritional composition of Pleurotus Ostreatus white oyster mushrooms. The experimental results showed an increase in the mean crude fat and protein content as well as a 34% increase in the total yield of the stimulated samples. The outcome of this project has been published in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. Also, we secured a reserresearch, Industry Kickstarter grant from the UQ Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.