Australian National Fabrication Facility Ltd
NEWSLETTER
SUMMER 2015
In This Issue
• Gene Therapy.........................................1
• US / Australia Joint Commission Meeting......1
• ANFF 2025 Future Capabilities Consultation.2
• Awards..................................................2
Making gene therapy accessible to the masses
Inherited genetic disorders, cancer and
viral infections such as HIV may all be
treatable in the future thanks to the field
of research called gene therapy.
Given these issues, gene therapy is
currently only being tested for the
treatment of diseases that have no other
cures.
A major challenge with gene therapy is
the risks associated with gene delivery.
Normally, genes are delivered across
a cell membrane by an engineered
virus that is given to a patient. In 1999,
18 year old Jesse Gelsinger, who was
undergoing gene therapy for a liver
disorder, died after having a reaction
to the engineered gene-carrying virus,
stopping clinical trials in their tracks.
Ryan Pawell, a PhD Student at the
University of New South Wales,
may have a better solution. Ryan is
developing a microfluidic chip that
replaces the need for an engineered virus
and allows the cell to be engineered
in an affordable and scalable manner.
Device development and fabrication
took place at the OptoFab (Bandwidth
Foundry), New South Wales (UNSW),
and South Australian (Uni of SA) nodes
of ANFF.
A less risky but very costly alternative has
since evolved. It involves injecting cells
into the patient that have been modified
with the virus outside of the body. The
cost of engineering these cells leads to
gene therapies often costing in excess
of $100,000 as they require expensive
facilities that have limited throughput.
His device also uses the Radulok™
tubing interface, developed at the SA
Node, which allows simple high pressure
connections to a microfluidic device that
can be easily sterilised. (Video)
Ryan has filed a provisional patent on
his work and is currently looking to
commercialise his invention, initially for
HIV. ANFF looks forward to supporting
Ryan commercialise his new venture that
may disrupt the already substantial gene
therapy industry.
Image of the microfluidic chip used to deliver genes
to cells, incorporating the ANFF-South Australia
node’s Radulock™ tubing interface.
Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology, 11-14 May 2015
Australian researchers are now invited
to submit abstracts for inclusion in the
program.
ANFF, with the US Air Force Office
of Scientific Research (AFOSR), will
be hosting an Enabling Technologies
Technical Exchange Meeting, as part of
the US-Australia Joint Commission Meeting
on Science and Technology.
Abstracts should include a biography,
be in word format, be no more than 1
page long, and identify a subtopic/s of
relevance from the following list:
It will be held in Arlington, Virginia (USA)
from 11-14 May 2015.
The purpose of the meeting is to explore
and potentially build basic research
collaborations between the US and
Australia. The three over-arching technical
thrusts are:
US participation will include the
Department of Defense, National Institutes
of Health, National Science Foundation
as well as academic researchers.
• Materials Science,
• Physics, and the
• Biomedical Sciences.
Efforts will be made to identify new
areas of potential collaboration between
Australian and US participants.
Materials for extreme environments,
low-density materials, materials
chemistry, nanoelectronics, sensors,
lasers, photonics, biophysics, human
performance, biological effects of
nanosystems, power and energy; and
structural mechanics and prognosis.
Abstract submission is via e-mail by 13
February to [email protected].
(More information)
Providing micro and nano fabrication facilities for Australia’s researchers
ANFF 2025 - Future Capabilities Consultation
Nearly 3,000 users are forecast to access
ANFF facilities to create new products,
new companies, and world-class scientific
advances this year.
The ANFF Future Capabilities Consultation
is an opportunity to examine the fabrication
challenges that the Australian R&D community
will tackle over the next 7 – 10 years.
What will be the impact of this work? What
will be the new scientific and commercial
outcomes? What are the barriers to our
success?
All participants are welcome, including
existing and future ANFF users from
universities, publicly funded research
agencies and industry. Come and tell us
your vision for nanofabrication in Australia.
Events will be held around Australia:
- Canberra - 24 February
- Adelaide - 26 February
- Melbourne - 10 March
- Sydney - 17 March
- Brisbane & Perth dates TBA
It will follow the themes identified in the
2012 National Nanotechnology Strategy
released by the Australian Academy of
Science.
For venues and detailed program
information, see the ANFF website. (Link)
Awards
ARC and NHMRC grants
ANFF would like to congratulate researchers
and staff on receiving the following awards:
ANFF supports much of the research that
is funded through the Australian Research
Council (ARC), and National Health and
Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
- Prof Laurie Faraone, who became a fellow
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE).
- Prof Tanya Monro, who won the Australian
Optical Society W.H. Beattie Steel Medal.
- Prof Michael Withford, who became a
fellow of the Optical Society (OSA).
- Dr Ben Johnston, who won a Peak
Professional prize at the Macquarie
University Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence
Awards.
It is estimated that about 10% ARC
Discovery grants fall within the ambit
of nanotechnology research that ANFF
supports. As an integral part of Australia’s
research and innovation system, ANFF has
prepared an advice document for 2016
ARC and NHMRC applicants. (Link)
ANFF would like to wish its researchers the
best of luck in with their applications for
the 2016 round of funding.
Around the Nodes
ACT:
Hosted the ANFF Annual Research
Showcase. (Photos)
Senator Zed Seselja, Senator for
the Australian Capital Territory,
officially launched one of the ACT
Node’s flagship capabilities, the
Metal Organic Chemical Vapour
Deposition (MOCVD) laboratory.
(More)
Supporting
Research &
Innovation
Commercial prototyping, hosting
industry R&D operations, and
contract research are all services
that the ANFF provides beyond
supporting cutting edge university
research.
Projects can be co-ordinated across
the network taking advantage of
the $200 m facility portfolio with
support from world leaders in the
following fabrication fields:
• Micro and Nano electronics
• Microfluidics and MEMS
•Bio-nano applications
• Advanced materials
• Sensors and medical devices
•Optics and photonics
Innovative projects that have made
a real difference to Australia can be
found at www.anff.org.au
Upcoming Events
ANFF 2025 Community Consultations
24 February - Canberra
26 February - Adelaide
10 March - Melbourne
17 March - Sydney
Brisbane and Perth TBA
(More Information and Program)
29-30 April - Melbourne
AusMedtech 2015 - Business Breakfast
(More)
ANU Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Michael Cardrew-Hall,
Senator Zed Seselja, and ACT Node Director Prof
Chennupati Jagadish at the MOCVD Launch in Canberra.
Western Australia: Hosted COMMAD 2014, the Conference on Optoelectronic and
Microelectronic Materials & Devices, during December.
As part of the conference the Node held an ANFF short course,
Introduction to Nano-fabrication Technologies that was attended by over
50 researchers from around Australia.
NSW:
Commissioned its new Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) lab consisting of 3
systems including two that are laser assisted.
ANFF welcomes Pierette Michaux, Andrew See, Ute Schubert, Jeffrey
Cheung, Prince Mathew and Felicity Tracy to the NSW Node team.
Victoria:
MCN released a new video on their mission and vision. (Link)
Installed a four stack furnace, optical profilometer and an RF Microwave
probe station.
SA:
ANFF-SA commissioned the remote access capability for their NanoCT
tomography facility.
Position Opening
WA Node
MEMS Engineer (More)
Contact Us
Dr Warren McKenzie - ANFF
Business Development Manager
Phone: 0400 059 509
Web: www.anff.org.au
Email: [email protected]
Providing micro and nano fabrication facilities for Australia’s researchers