Overview
Background
Dr Kevin M. Koo is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Fellow and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) Future Leader Fellow at The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR). Dr Koo was awarded his PhD (Dean’s Award for Outstanding Thesis) from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN), UQ in 2018. His PhD research was on the molecular analysis of nucleic acid biomarkers in prostate cancer liquid biopsies (with a particular interest in fusion genes), and the development of associated nanotechnology-based biosensors to facilitate precision cancer treatment.
Post-PhD, he begun a productive postdoctoral career with dual industry/academia appointments: as the Head of Assay Development/Lab Director in XING Technologies Pty Ltd (a Brisbane-based biotech start-up) to undertake product development projects for commercialization of disease in vitro diagnostics, and as an Honorary Fellow/Principal Research Scientist at UQCCR to continue his academic research in precision cancer nanodiagnostics. His research skills and experiences are honed through dedicated career time spent in both academic research and regulated industry environments.
Dr Koo's research encompasses multi-disciplinary fields of molecular biomarker and nanobiosensor development, translation, and commercialization for precision disease management applications. Presently, he is working on the design and development of integrated multi-bioanalyte sensing technologies to resolve the various challenges around holistic disease pathway understanding and clinical biomarker profiling.
Dr Koo's research endeavours have been recognized by a Metrohm Australia-New Zealand Young Chemist Award (2018), Springer Thesis Award (2019) and Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2023).
Availability
- Dr Kevin M. Koo is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Biophysics, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Biochemistry, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Molecular Diagnostics/In Vitro Diagnostics
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Nanobiosensors
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Liquid Biopsy
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Photonics
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Electrochemistry
Research impacts
To date, Dr Koo's research has contributed Knowledge Impact by:
- Developing point-of-need nanobiosensors for prostate cancer-specific urinary biomarkers (Koo KM et al., Nature Reviews Urology, 2019)
- Progressing nanobiosensor clinical translation for precision cancer management (Koo KM et al., ACS Nano, 2018)
- Addressing key assay challenges around circulating biomarker detection in cancer liquid biopsies (Koo KM & Trau M, ACS Sensors, 2020)
Dr Koo's specialist knowledge in his fields of research expertise has led to global invitations for scientific evaluation. He is an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Nanotechnology (2022-present) and regular Peer Reviewer (30+ reviews/yr) for 20+ leading journals of worldwide publishers American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, and Elsevier. He is an international Assessor for external quality assessment (EQA) organizations European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN) and Genomics Quality Assessment (GenQA) (2022-Present), evaluating 20+ clinical sequencing labs/yr worldwide participating in EQA schemes for technical and regulatory compliance.
Dr Koo is passionate about science communication and outreach activities to impact the broader community, especially by leveraging his unique academic/industry track record to champion diverse STEM career pathways. He volunteers as an Industry Mentoring Networking in STEM (IMNIS) Mentor to motivated early- and mid-career researchers (3 to date) for career and professional development mentoring.
Works
Search Professor Kevin M. Koo’s works on UQ eSpace
2017
Journal Article
DNA-directed assembly of copper nanoblocks with inbuilt fluorescent and electrochemical properties: Application in simultaneous amplification-free analysis of multiple RNA species
Koo, Kevin M. , Carrascosa, Laura G. and Trau, Matt (2017). DNA-directed assembly of copper nanoblocks with inbuilt fluorescent and electrochemical properties: Application in simultaneous amplification-free analysis of multiple RNA species. Nano Research, 11 (2), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s12274-017-1706-0
2017
Journal Article
High-speed biosensing strategy for non-invasive profiling of multiple cancer fusion genes in urine
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H. and Trau, Matt (2017). High-speed biosensing strategy for non-invasive profiling of multiple cancer fusion genes in urine. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 89 (2), 715-720. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.11.024
2017
Journal Article
A nanoplasmonic label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering strategy for non-invasive cancer genetic subtyping in patient samples
Wang, Jing, Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2017). A nanoplasmonic label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering strategy for non-invasive cancer genetic subtyping in patient samples. Nanoscale, 9 (10), 3496-3503. doi: 10.1039/c6nr09928a
2016
Journal Article
Cancer Therapy: Toward Precision Medicine: A Cancer Molecular Subtyping Nano‐Strategy for RNA Biomarkers in Tumor and Urine (Small 45/2016)
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Mainwaring, Paul N., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2016). Cancer Therapy: Toward Precision Medicine: A Cancer Molecular Subtyping Nano‐Strategy for RNA Biomarkers in Tumor and Urine (Small 45/2016). Small, 12 (45), 6302-6302. doi: 10.1002/smll.201670237
2016
Journal Article
Rapid and sensitive fusion gene detection in prostate cancer urinary specimens by label-free surface-enhanced raman scattering
Koo, Kevin M., McNamara, Benjamin, Wee, Eugene J. H., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2016). Rapid and sensitive fusion gene detection in prostate cancer urinary specimens by label-free surface-enhanced raman scattering. Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, 12 (9), 1798-1805. doi: 10.1166/jbn.2016.2294
2016
Journal Article
A simple, rapid, low-cost technique for naked-eye detection of urine-isolated TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion RNA
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Matt (2016). A simple, rapid, low-cost technique for naked-eye detection of urine-isolated TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion RNA. Scientific reports, 6 (1) 30722, 30722. doi: 10.1038/srep30722
2016
Journal Article
Amplification-free detection of gene fusions in prostate cancer urinary samples using mRNA-gold affinity interactions
Koo, Kevin M., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2016). Amplification-free detection of gene fusions in prostate cancer urinary samples using mRNA-gold affinity interactions. Analytical Chemistry, 88 (13), 6781-6788. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01182
2016
Journal Article
Colorimetric TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion detection in prostate cancer urinary samples via recombinase polymerase amplification
Koo, Kevin, Wee, Eugene and Trau, Matt (2016). Colorimetric TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion detection in prostate cancer urinary samples via recombinase polymerase amplification. Theranostics, 6 (9), 1415-1424. doi: 10.7150/thno.15250
2016
Journal Article
Poly(A) extensions of miRNAs for amplification-free electrochemical detection on screen-printed gold electrodes
Koo, Kevin M., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2016). Poly(A) extensions of miRNAs for amplification-free electrochemical detection on screen-printed gold electrodes. Analytical Chemistry, 88 (4), 2000-2005. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b04795
2016
Conference Publication
Towards precision medicine: A cancer molecular subtyping nano-strategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine
Koo, K., Wee, E., Mainwaring, P., Wang, Y. and Trau, M. (2016). Towards precision medicine: A cancer molecular subtyping nano-strategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine. 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Munich Germany, November 29 - December 2 2016. United Kingdom: Pergamon. doi: 10.1016/S0959-8049(16)32680-6
2016
Journal Article
Toward precision medicine: a cancer molecular subtyping nano-trategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Mainwaring, Paul N., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2016). Toward precision medicine: a cancer molecular subtyping nano-trategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine. Small, 12 (45), 6233-6242. doi: 10.1002/smll.201602161
2015
Journal Article
DNA-bare gold affinity interactions: mechanism and applications in biosensing
Koo, Kevin M., Sina, Abu A. I., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2015). DNA-bare gold affinity interactions: mechanism and applications in biosensing. Analytical Methods, 7 (17), 1-13. doi: 10.1039/c5ay01479d
2015
Conference Publication
Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology
Wee, Eugene J.H., Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Mattias (2015). Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology. 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL United States, 29 May - 2 June 2015. Alexandria, VA United States: American Society of Clinical Oncology. doi: 10.1200/jco.2015.33.15_suppl.11063
2015
Conference Publication
Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology
Wee, Eugene J. H., Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Mattias (2015). Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Chicago, IL United States, 29 May-02 June 2015. Alexandria, VA United States: American Society of Clinical Oncology.
2014
Journal Article
eMethylsorb: rapid quantification of DNA methylation in cancer cells on screen-printed gold electrodes
Koo, Kevin M., Sina, Abu Ali Ibn, Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2014). eMethylsorb: rapid quantification of DNA methylation in cancer cells on screen-printed gold electrodes. Analyst, 139 (23), 6178-6184. doi: 10.1039/c4an01641f
2014
Journal Article
Microdevices for detecting locus-specific DNA methylation at CpG resolution
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene, Rauf, Sakandar, Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2014). Microdevices for detecting locus-specific DNA methylation at CpG resolution. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 56, 278-285. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2014.01.029
2013
Journal Article
mu-eLCR: a microfabricated device for electrochemical detection of DNA base changes in breast cancer cell lines
Wee, Eugene J. H., Rauf, Sakandar, Koo, Kevin, Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2013). mu-eLCR: a microfabricated device for electrochemical detection of DNA base changes in breast cancer cell lines. Lab on a Chip, 13 (22), 4385-4391-4385-4391. doi: 10.1039/C3LC50528F
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Kevin M. Koo is:
- Available for supervision
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Available projects
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Development of a Novel Molecular Manipulation Technique for Multi-Bioanalyte Cancer Profiling
At present, DNA/RNA and protein detection require different assay workflows to be performed. This demands multiple assay workflows to be performed for multi-bioanalyte analysis, leading to prolonged analysis time for results and high assay running costs. In particular, the typical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for protein detection generally requires at least a two-day workflow and has limited detection sensitivity.
The core concept of this PhD research project is to develop an innovative molecular manipulation method to rapidly transform a single immunological interaction into an amplified molecular signal, as equivalent to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for DNA/RNA detection. Successful project outcomes will enable a single workflow for multi-bioanalyte prostate cancer analysis.
The Advisory Team aims to provide a supportive high-level research environment for the prospective PhD candidate to flourish. This PhD project will provide opportunities to achieve significant research outputs and skills for a scientific career in academia/industry upon graduating.
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Kevin M. Koo directly for media enquiries about:
- Cancer Detection
- Cancer Monitoring
- Nanobiotechnology
- Precision Diagnostics
- Prostate Cancer
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