
Overview
Background
Professor Matt Trau is currently a Professor of Chemistry at The University of Queensland (UQ); and is also Senior Group Leader and co-founder of the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. Since graduating from the University of Sydney (BSc Hons I, University Medal) and the University of Melbourne (PhD in Physical Chemistry, 1993), he has held positions in industry and academia across the globe. These include a Fulbright Research Fellowship at Princeton University, USA; and a research scientist at Dow Chemical and ICI Pty Ltd. Professor Trau has been a Visiting Professor at two of the largest Cancer Research Centres in the world: The Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston (2000); and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle (2008). Professor Trau is internationally recognised for his innovative and cross-disciplinary research at the interface between chemistry, nanotechnology, biology and medicine. He has co-authored more than 290 refereed publications, many of which appear in the highest impact journals in his field, e.g., fifteen Science and Nature family publications. His major awards and honours include an ARC Laureate Fellowship, an ARC Federation Fellowship (amoungst the most prestigious scientific fellowships in Australia), a Fulbright Research Fellowship to the USA; a Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award; a UQ Foundation/Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award; a Paul Harris Fellowship; and a Pink Circle Award for breast cancer research excellence.
Availability
- Professor Matt Trau is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), University of Sydney
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Melbourne
Research impacts
Research
Nanoscience, Nanotechnology, Molecular diagnostics.
Leadership of major multi-disciplinary international programs
Professor Trau has raised more than $22 million in competitive national and international grant funding in the past 10 years. In the last five years, Professor Trau has initiated and led several large international programs that involve close collaboration between leading nanotechnologists, molecular biologists, geneticists and commercial researchers - with the goal of creating cutting edge diagnostics. These include a $4 million National and International Research Alliances Program (NIRAP) grant from the Queensland government ("International Partnership for preventative and Personalised Medicine)"; and two consecutive $5 million multidisciplinary collaborative grants from the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF): "Novel strategies for Prediction and Control of Advanced Breast Cancer via Nanoscaled Epigenetic-Based Biosensors", 2008-2013; and "Enabling Clinical Epigenetic Diagnostics: The Next Generation of Personalized Breast Cancer Care", 2013-2018. These grants involve research collaborations with some of the highest calibre scientists in the world, e.g., Dr Lee Hartwell (2001 Nobel Laureate) from Seattle was a co-chief investigator on the NIRAP grant, and each of the NBCF grants include leading geneticists, pathologists and oncologists from across Australia and around the world. In the past five years, he has been a consultant for a range of national and international companies such as Merck, Digene, Beckman Coulter, Panbio and A.I. Scientific, as well as being the founder and Director of Nanomics BioSystems Pty Ltd (a spinoff company from his laboratory).
Major plenary lectures and international conferences
Since 2003, Professor Trau has presented more than 60 invited plenary/keynote lectures at major international conferences spanning the disciplines of Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Cancer and Diagnostics. Recent examples include: the 4th International NanoBio Conference, (Seattle) 2012; the 14th International Colloid & Surface Science Conference, (Japan) 2012; "Cancer Nanotechnology" Gordon Research Conference, (USA) 2011; the WA Cancer Conference 2011; Sydney Cancer Conference, 2010. In the past 10 years, Professor Trau has played the role of conference convenor, chair, co-chair and symposium chair for 10 major international conferences. Recent examples include: immediate past chair of the 1st International Conference on BioNano Innovation, (Brisbane) 2012; co-chair of the 5th International NanoBio Conference scheduled for Brisbane in 2014.
Works
Search Professor Matt Trau’s works on UQ eSpace
2011
Journal Article
Quantitative sizing of nano/microparticles with a tunable elastomeric pore sensor
Vogel, Robert, Willmott, Geoff, Kozak, Darby, Roberts, Seth G., Anderson, Will, Groenewegen, Linda, Glossop, Ben, Barnett, Anne, Turner, Ali and Trau, Matt (2011). Quantitative sizing of nano/microparticles with a tunable elastomeric pore sensor. Analytical Chemistry, 83 (9), 3499-3506. doi: 10.1021/ac200195n
2011
Journal Article
Epiallele quantification using molecular inversion probes
Palanisamy, Ramkumar, Connolly, Ashley R. and Trau, Matt (2011). Epiallele quantification using molecular inversion probes. Analytical Chemistry, 83 (7), 2631-2637. doi: 10.1021/ac103016n
2011
Journal Article
Bisulfite-free analysis of 5MeC-binding proteins and locus-specific methylation density using a microparticle-based flow cytometry assay
Corrie, Simon R., Sova, Pavel, Feng, Qinghua, Blair, Tiffany, Kiviat, Nancy B. and Trau, Matt (2011). Bisulfite-free analysis of 5MeC-binding proteins and locus-specific methylation density using a microparticle-based flow cytometry assay. Analyst, 136 (4), 688-691. doi: 10.1039/c0an00790k
2011
Journal Article
Improvement of the wet tensile properties of nanostructured hydroxyapatite and chitosan biocomposite films through hydrophobic modification
Pradal, Clementine, Kithva, Prakash, Martin, Darren, Trau, Matt and Grøndahl, Lisbeth (2011). Improvement of the wet tensile properties of nanostructured hydroxyapatite and chitosan biocomposite films through hydrophobic modification. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 21 (7), 2330-2337. doi: 10.1039/c0jm03080e
2011
Journal Article
Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) spacers on the conformational properties of small peptides: A molecular dynamics study
Xue, Ying, O'Mara, Megan L., Surawski, Peter P. T., Trau, Matt and Mark, Alan E. (2011). Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) spacers on the conformational properties of small peptides: A molecular dynamics study. Langmuir, 27 (1), 296-303. doi: 10.1021/la103800h
2011
Journal Article
Development of encoded particle-polymer arrays for the accelerated screening of antifouling layers
Kozak, Darby, Kithva, Prakash, Bax , Jacinda, Surawski, Peter P. T., Monteiro, Michael J. and Trau, Matt (2011). Development of encoded particle-polymer arrays for the accelerated screening of antifouling layers. Chemical Communications, 47 (34), 9687-9689. doi: 10.1039/c1cc13571f
2010
Journal Article
Tunable nano/micropores for particle detection and discrimination: Scanning ion occlusion spectroscopy
Roberts, G. Seth, Kozak, Darby, Anderson, Will, Broom, Murray F., Vogel, Robert and Trau, Matt (2010). Tunable nano/micropores for particle detection and discrimination: Scanning ion occlusion spectroscopy. Small, 6 (23), 2653-2658. doi: 10.1002/smll.201001129
2010
Journal Article
Use of tunable nanopore blockade rates to investigate colloidal dispersions
Willmott, G. R., Vogel, R., Yu, S. S. C., Groenewegen, L. G., Roberts, G. S., Kozak, D., Anderson, W. and Trau, M. (2010). Use of tunable nanopore blockade rates to investigate colloidal dispersions. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 22 (45) 454116, 1-11. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/22/45/454116
2010
Journal Article
Considerations of solid-phase DNA amplification
Palanisamy, Ramkumar, Connolly, Ashley R. and Trau, Matt (2010). Considerations of solid-phase DNA amplification. Bioconjugate Chemistry, 21 (4), 690-695. doi: 10.1021/bc900491s
2010
Journal Article
Isothermal detection of DNA by beacon-assisted detection amplification
Connolly, Ashley R. and Trau, Matt (2010). Isothermal detection of DNA by beacon-assisted detection amplification. Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), 49 (15), 2720-2723. doi: 10.1002/anie.200906992
2010
Journal Article
Tissue transplantation by stealth — Coherent alginate microcapsules for immunoisolation
Leung, Andy, Nielsen, Lars K., Trau, Matt and Timmins, Nicholas E. (2010). Tissue transplantation by stealth — Coherent alginate microcapsules for immunoisolation. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 48 (3), 337-347. doi: 10.1016/j.bej.2009.10.007
2010
Journal Article
'On-the-fly' optical encoding of combinatorial peptide libraries for profiling of protease specificity
Marcon, Lionel, Battersby, Bronwyn J., Ruhmann, Andreas, Ford, Kym, Daley, Matthew, Lawrie, Gwendolyn A. and Trau, Matt (2010). 'On-the-fly' optical encoding of combinatorial peptide libraries for profiling of protease specificity. Molecular Biosystems, 6 (1), 225-233. doi: 10.1039/b909087h
2010
Journal Article
Quantitative considerations for suspension array assays
Connolly, A.R., Palanisamy, R. and Trau, M. (2010). Quantitative considerations for suspension array assays. Journal of Biotechnology, 145 (1), 17-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2009.10.004
2010
Journal Article
Biomimetic synthesis and tensile properties of nanostructured high volume fraction hydroxyapatite and chitosan biocomposite films
Kithva, P., Grondahl, L., Martin, D. and Trau, M. (2010). Biomimetic synthesis and tensile properties of nanostructured high volume fraction hydroxyapatite and chitosan biocomposite films. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 20 (2), 381-389. doi: 10.1039/b914798e
2009
Journal Article
Development of a multiplexed bead-based assay for detection of DNA methylation in cancer-related genes
Corrie, Simon, Sova, Pavel, Lawrie, Gwen, Battersby, Bronwyn, Kiviat, Nancy and Trau, Matt (2009). Development of a multiplexed bead-based assay for detection of DNA methylation in cancer-related genes. Molecular Biosystems, 5 (3), 262-268. doi: 10.1039/b813077a
2009
Journal Article
Antifouling Surface Layers for Improved Signal-to-Noise of Particle-Based Immunoassays
Chen, A., Kozak, D., Battersby, B.J., Forrest, R.M., Scholler, N., Urban, N. and Trau, M. (2009). Antifouling Surface Layers for Improved Signal-to-Noise of Particle-Based Immunoassays. Langmuir, 25 (23), 13510-13515. doi: 10.1021/la903148n
2009
Journal Article
An organic matrix-mediated processing methodology to fabricate hydroxyapatite based nanostructured biocomposites
Kithva, Prakash Hariram, Grondahl, Lisbeth, Kumar, Rajendra, Martin, Darren and Trau, Matt (2009). An organic matrix-mediated processing methodology to fabricate hydroxyapatite based nanostructured biocomposites. Nanoscale, 1 (2), 229-232. doi: 10.1039/b9nr00062c
2009
Journal Article
Biosensing cancer biomarkers
Trau, M. and Battersby, B. (2009). Biosensing cancer biomarkers. The Chemical Engineer (820), 30-31.
2009
Journal Article
Synthesis and Application of FRET Nanoparticles in the Profiling of a Protease
Marcon, L., Spriet, C., Meehan, T.D., Battersby, B.J., Lawrie, G.A., Heliot, L. and Trau, M. (2009). Synthesis and Application of FRET Nanoparticles in the Profiling of a Protease. Small, 5 (18), 2053-2056. doi: 10.1002/smll.200801887
2009
Journal Article
The fabrication and characterization of biodegradable HA/PHBV nanoparticle-polymer composite scaffolds
Jack, Kevin S., Velayudhan, Shiny, Luckman, Paul, Trau, Matt, Grondahl, Lisbeth and Cooper-White, Justin (2009). The fabrication and characterization of biodegradable HA/PHBV nanoparticle-polymer composite scaffolds. Acta Biomaterialia, 5 (7), 2567-2667. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2009.03.017
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Matt Trau is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Single-nanoparticle upconversion nanolasers for probing biological systems
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Towards n-plex quantification of molecular interactions for evolution-free biopanning
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
Chemical Reactions in Confined Systems
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Debra Bernhardt
-
Doctor Philosophy
A nano-engineered chip to help manage acute and long-haul COVID-19 patients
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Multi-Factor Authentication of Extracellular Vesicles in Clinical Settings
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Lobb, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Single-nanoparticle upconversion nanolasers for probing biological systems
Principal Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Utilising extracellular vesicles for the diagnosis of lung cancer.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Lobb, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Utilising extracellular vesicles for the diagnosis of lung cancer.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich, Dr Richard Lobb
-
Doctor Philosophy
Digital Nanotechnologies to track molecular aberrations in cancer
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Lobb, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Single Molecule Readout of Immune Disfunction
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Lobb, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Towards n-plex quantification of molecular interactions for evolution-free biopanning
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
Towards n-plex quantification of molecular interactions for evolution-free biopanning
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
Digital nanotechnologies for profiling trace immune dysregulations and tissue damage in emerging diseases
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Advanced Micro and Nano Engineered Sensors for Post Translational Modification based Liquid Biopsy Analysis of Cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Digital nanotechnologies to unravel immune dysregulation in long COVID
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
A nano-map of cytokines in skin: Personalising treatment of skin inflammation by a digital nanotechnology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Mitchell Stark, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Master Philosophy
Digital catalysis and digital chemistry
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Shuvashis Dey
-
Doctor Philosophy
The investigation of microglial activation in brain cancer and brain metastasis by an integrated nano-sensor
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich, Dr Richard Lobb
-
Doctor Philosophy
A potential pan-cancer diagnostic utilizing DNA methylation landscapes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina
-
Doctor Philosophy
Development of next-generation molecular tools for diagnostics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating therapeutic potentials of brain-derived exosomes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard, Dr Richard Lobb
-
Doctor Philosophy
Development of next-generation molecular tools for diagnostics
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
A nano-map of cytokines in skin: Personalising treatment of skin inflammation by a digital nanotechnology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Mitchell Stark, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
Single molecule sensing on nanopillars: Reading complex molecular circuits
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich, Dr Abu Sina
-
Doctor Philosophy
An integrated nano-bioengineered chip for enhanced molecular evolution
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
-
Doctor Philosophy
Harnessing nanotechnology to unravel the phenotypic heterogeneity of extracellular vesicles
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina, Associate Professor Mitchell Stark, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
Doctor Philosophy
A potential pan-cancer diagnostic utilizing DNA methylation landscapes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina
-
Doctor Philosophy
Surface engineering of nanoyeast
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Radiopharmaceutical on Demand - Reinventing the Infrastructure of Nuclear Medicine Therapy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Shuvashis Dey
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Clinical Epigenetics: Technology Development for Biomarkers of Human Health and Diseases
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Bioengineering yeast nanofragment affinity probes for dengue diagnostics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christopher Howard, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Precision Nano-Diagnostics for Dynamically Profiling Glioblastoma Multiforme and the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Novel Nanotechnology Platforms for Cancer Diagnostics
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
A Bioinformatics Approach Towards an Integrative Multi-Omics Analysis of Pan Cancer Biomarkers
Principal Advisor
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Nanoparticle tracking and trapping using computerised feedback control
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Will Anderson
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Driving Nanomaterial-Based Systems towards "Multiomics" Detection for Precision Oncology
Principal Advisor
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Two Photon Laser Techniques for 3D Miniaturized Structures: Resistive-pulse Sensing and Potential Bio-uses
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Probing cancer epigenetics with highly multiplexed PCR and targeted resequencing
Principal Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Engineering Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Strategies for Liquid Biopsy Analyses: A Step Towards Precision Medicine in Cancer Management
Principal Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Extracellular Vesicles as Circulating Breast Cancer Biomarkers
Principal Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
SERS-Microfluidic Assay for Rapid Profiling of Cancer Biomarkers
Principal Advisor
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
Unravelling pathologic protein phosphorylation with interfacial biosensing: a new approach for cancer detection and therapy monitoring
Principal Advisor
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
Point-of-care tuberculosis diagnostics: Meeting global needs through innovative nanotechnologies
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nick West
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
Miniaturized Techniques for Rare Cell Isolation, Release and Molecular Analysis
Principal Advisor
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Advancing Gene Fusion Detection towards Personalized Cancer Nanodiagnostics
Principal Advisor
-
2017
Doctor Philosophy
Detecting DNA methylation at the gold interface: A gateway towards next generation cancer diagnostics
Principal Advisor
-
2017
Master Philosophy
Bioinformatic Tools and Applications for Analysis of DNA Methylation
Principal Advisor
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Resistive pulse sensing through tunable nano-scale devices: Fundamental investigations, developments and applications
Principal Advisor
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Nanoyeast Antibody Fragments: Engineering the Next Generation of Molecular Diagnostics
Principal Advisor
-
2014
Doctor Philosophy
Towards comprehensive DNA methylation analysis using molecular inversion probes
Principal Advisor
-
2010
Doctor Philosophy
Development of a Multiplexed Particle-based Immunoassay for Biomarker Screening
Principal Advisor
-
2008
Doctor Philosophy
Dual Purpose Colloids for Peptide Synthesis and Bio-Assay Applications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Gwendolyn Lawrie
-
2007
Doctor Philosophy
DEVEOPMENT A LOAD-BEARING NANOCOMPOSITE BIODEGRADABLE SCAFFOLD FOR USE IN BONE TISSUE ENGINEERING
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lisbeth Grondahl
-
2007
Doctor Philosophy
ENCODING MICROSPHERE-BASED LIBRARIES USING FLOW CYTOMETRY: A SCALABLE METHOD FOR DIRECTED COMBINATORIAL SYNTHESIS
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Gwendolyn Lawrie
-
2006
Doctor Philosophy
PREPARATION OF NOVEL MATERIALS FOR RAPID DNA SEQUENCING
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Gwendolyn Lawrie
-
2006
Doctor Philosophy
DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIPLEXED PARTICLE ASSAYS FOR DNA SCREENING APPLICATIONS
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Gwendolyn Lawrie
-
2003
Doctor Philosophy
NANOSTRUCTURED BIOMATERIALS AND DEVICES
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Advanced Micro and Nano Engineered Sensors for Post Translational Modification based Liquid Biopsy Analysis of Cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Abu Sina, Dr Alain Wuethrich
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Development of point-of-care and multiplex diagnostic methods for the detection of plant pathogens
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jimmy Botella
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Nanoshearing: A Microfluidic Approach for Isolation and Enumeration of Cancer Biomarkers
Joint Principal Advisor
-
2012
Doctor Philosophy
Detection and quantification of miRNA promoter DNA methylation as prognostic biomarkers for breast cancer
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Melissa Brown
-
2010
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding effects of nanoparticle dispersion on physical and mechanical properties of HA/PHBV nanocomposites
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Darren Martin
-
2008
Doctor Philosophy
Self Assembled Nano-coats for Protection of Foreign Tissue Transplants
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lars Nielsen
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
IN VITRO AND IN VIVO CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULAR RESPONSES TO PHBV AND HYDROXYAPATITE/PHBV COMPOSITES AS BONE BIOMATERIALS
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Lisbeth Grondahl
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Matt Trau directly for media enquiries about:
- Biomarkers
- Biosensors
- Breast cancer
- Cancer
- Colloid science
- Diagnostics cancer
- Materials science
- Medicine - personalised
- Nanobiotechnology
- Nanotechnology
- Personalised medicine
- Physical Chemistry
- Preventative medicine
- Surface science
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