Dr Lauren Aoude was awarded a PhD in melanoma genetics from the University of Queensland in 2014. Her research focused on large scale genetic sequencing projects that described novel melanoma predisposition genes. In 2016, Dr Aoude was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship to investigate precision medicine for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
Currently, Dr Aoude is a UQ Amplify Fellow in the Surgical Oncology Group at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute. Her research primarily focuses on ways to better predict treatment responses and outcomes for patients with cancer, particularly melanoma and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Her research integrates genomic sequencing data from both tumours and circulating tumour DNA with clinical, pathological and imaging information. The results of her research will inform treatment decisions and improve health outcomes for patients through the integration of genomics into the clinic.
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
UQ Centre for Clinical Research
Faculty of Medicine
Availability:
Available for supervision
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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).
