Dr Naatasha Isahak

Naatasha Isahak specialises in developing novel biomaterials using RAFT polymerisation technique. Naatasha   Isahak specialises in developing novel biomaterials

Her current project focusses on the development of functional biomaterials that would amalgamate synthetic polymers with biological moieties for various applications, spacing from the creation of an artificial stem cell niches to the incorporation in microfluidic bioreactors for multiorgan systems modelling.

Naatasha Isahak studied Materials Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. With particular interests in biomedical applications of materials, she worked on the synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for drug delivery during her Honours. She went on to take her Masters by Research in Biomedical Engineering with Prof. Laura Poole Warren and Dr. Penny Martens at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering in the University of New South Wales, investigating the inflammatory response to polymeric scaffolds designed for tissue engineering. Recently, Naatasha has completed her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Sébastien Perrier and Prof. Richard Payne at the University of Sydney, in the development of modified silica nanoparticles with RAFT polymers for biomedical applications.

Key Publications

Synthesis of Polymers and Nanoparticles Bearing Polystyrene Sulfonate Brushes for Chemokine Binding. Naatasha Isahak, Julie Sanchez, Sébastien Perrier, Martin J. Stone and Richard J. Payne Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2016, 14, 5652-5658

Single Addition of an Allylamine Monomer Enables Access to End-Functionalized RAFT Polymers for Native Chemical Ligation Naatasha Isahak, Guillaume Gody, Lara R. Malins, Nicholas J. Mitchell, Richard J. Payne and Sébastien Perrier Chemical Communications (2016) Advanced Article. DOI: 10.1039/C6CC06010B