Dr Mostafa Kamal Masud

Dr. Masud’s research focuses on the design and fabrication of novel nanostructures and the development of nano-diagnostic technologies for the early detection of chronic diseases—particularly cancer—and infectious diseases.

Dr. Mostafa Kamal Masud is an emerging research leader in medical nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology and personalised nanodiagnostics in Australia. His research focuses on the design of novel nanostructures and nano-diagnostic technologies to address critical challenges in early disease detection and treatment monitoring. He has pioneered mesoporous nanostructure-based biosensing platforms for the ultra-sensitive detection of clinically important biomarkers, including microRNA, extracellular vesicles, and autoantibodies, enabling point-of-care diagnostics for cancer (especially ivarian cancer), pregnancy complications, and infectious diseases. As an early-career researcher, Dr. Masud has published 60+ peer-reviewed papers in leading journals such as Science Advances, Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Nano, Chemical Society Reviews, Small, Analytical Chemistry, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and Chemical Communications, etc. with 3,000+ citations and an h-index of 30. His contributions have been recognised through competitive funding exceeding AUD 2.3 million, including an Cancer Council Queensland Next Generation Cancer Research Fellowship, ARC DECRA Fellowship, NHMRC Ideas Grant, and Australia–Japan Foundation Grant. He has also held a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). He is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists, having supervised multiple PhD students, one MPhil student, Masters and Honours students, Winter Research Scholars, as well as postdoctoral fellows and research associates. His supervision focuses on interdisciplinary problem-solving, cutting-edge research, scientific writing, and translational research. He has over six years of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Australia (UQ) and internationally (Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Bangladesh), covering chemistry, bioengineering, biomedical sciences, nanotechnology, and biochemistry. Dr. Masud serves as an Editorial Board Member of Micromachines and Nano Material Science, is a Guest Editor for Sensors, and regularly reviews for top-tier journals including Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Small, and Angewandte Chemie. He has also been a grant reviewer for NHMRC and ARC schemes. His research has attracted substantial media attention, with features in UQ News, The Courier-Mail, Dailyhunt, Gold Coast Bulletin Phys.Org, Pharmacy Daily (Print version), BioSpectrum Asia, Australian Manufacturing, and Cancer Council Queensland News. Notable headlines include “Nanosensor predicts risk of complications in early pregnancy,” “New Blood Test Could Detect Pregnancy Complications Earlier, Reveals Study,” “Flexible gold sensor by Australia unlocks new generation of medical implants” and “Revolutionising ovarian cancer care through nanodiagnostics.” Through strong collaborations with clinicians, biologists, and engineers, Dr. Masud aims to translate nanotechnology innovations into affordable, rapid, and accurate diagnostic solutions, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes and global health.

Industry

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), New Illawarra Rd, Lucas Heights NSW 2234, Australia. Schnell Manufacturers Pty Ltd (SMPL), Campbellfield, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Collaborations

Centre for Clinical Research- UQCCR, The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane, Australia Translational Research Institute-TRI, UQ, Brisbane, Australia Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC), Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia National Institute for Materials Science-NIMS, Japan Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, USA National Centre for Catalysis Research, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh.

Funding

2024-2028: Cancer Council Queensland Next Generation Cancer Research Fellowship grant ($750,000), Cancer Council Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 2024-2028: NHMRC Idea grants with UNSW ($900,000) 2024-2026: ARC DECRA grant ($4,42,162 AUD), Australian Research Council, Australia. 2022-2023: Development of Nanoarchitectured Electrodes for High Performance Energy Storage Device ($63,000 AUD), King Saud University, Australia. 2022-2023: Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF) Grant ($25,000 AUD), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. 2020-2021: JSPS Fellowship (125,000 AUD as allowenece and Grant-in-Aid), NIMS, Japan. 2018-2020: Post-graduate Research Awards (PGRA), ($15,000 AUD), the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia 2019: Travel Grant ($3000 AUD) to attend the International Conference for Advances in Chemistry, Bangladesh, Jan 27 to Feb 3, 2020. 2013-2016: Research Grant ($6000 AUD) from Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, and Shahjalal University Research Center as a Co-CI.

Key Publications

Palma, C.,$ Masud, M.K.,$ Guanzon, D., Lai, A., Razo, M., Nakahara, A., Nair, S., Salas-Burgos, A., Hossain, M.S.A., Carrion, F. and Duncombe, G., Rapid and high-sensitivity screening of pregnancy complications by profiling circulating placental extracellular vesicles. Science Advances, 2025 11(9), eadr4074. $equal contribution (1st author).

Park, H., Ashok, A., Masud, M.K.,*, Otte, J., Kim, M., Alshehri, S. M., Ahamad, T., Bando, Y., Hossain, M.S.A., Kaneti, Y.V., and Yamauchi, Y., Tailored Design of Trimetallic Mesoporous Au–Ag–Cu Alloys for Maximizing Electrochemical Applications; ACS Nano, 2025. 19, 13, 12777–12786. *Corresponding author

Masud, M.K., Natsuhara, D., Dai, Y., Bashir, J., Nugraha, A.S., Alshehri, S.M., Bando, Y., Hossain, M.S., Kaneti, Y.V., Shibata, T. and Yamauchi, Y., A plasmonic mesoporous gold-based SERS-microfluidic platform for the detection of infectious diseases. Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2024, 12(44), 17977-17985

Masud, M.K., Na, J., Lin, T.-E., Malgras, V., Preet, A., Sina, A.A.I., Wood, K., Billah, M., Kim, J., You, J., Kani, K., Whitten, A., Nguyen, N.-T., Shiddiky, M.J.A., Trau, M., Hossain, M.S.A. and Yamauchi, Y. Mesoporous Gold Biosensor for Electrochemical Detection of Attomolar MicroRNA, Biosensors and Bioelectronics 2020, 112429.

Masud, M.K, Younus M, Hossain, M.S.A, Bando Y, Shiddiky, M.J, and Yamauchi Y, Superparamagnetic Nanoarchitectures for Disease-Specific Biomarker Detection, Chemical Society Review 2019, 48, 5717-5751.