Detecting lung cancer early with sugar-sensing nanotech
Published on: 1 July 2024
Wuethrich Group
Biomedical technologies and analytical systems for personalised medicine
The Wuethrich Group, led by Dr Alain Wuethrich, has a focus on the development of innovative biomedical devices and translational nanotechnologies for applications in diagnostic and biosensing.
These technologies offer a new window into emerging diseases of major clinical need, aiming at early detection to treat patients more effectively and potentially save millions of lives worldwide.
One of the key areas of the Wuethrich Group is the exploration of nanomaterials and nanostructures, with their unique physico-chemical properties, to develop innovative sensing systems for highly sensitive and multiplex biomarker detection, generating patient-specific molecular profiles from a simple blood sample. The multidisciplinary group brings together expertise from biomedical engineering, microfluidics, biology, and clinical sciences to address analytical challenges in biomarker detection and develop biomedical devices to support personalized medicine.
Research Areas
- Biomedical engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Liquid biopsy
- Cancer
- Immune dysregulations
Research Approach
Our group is positioned at the multidisciplinary interface of biomedical engineering, nanotechnology, and clinical sciences, aiming to develop innovative analytical tools that offer new insights into emerging diseases and support personalized medicine. A unique feature of our research has been the ability to translate discoveries at the nanoscale into innovative biomedical systems for the precise study of biomolecular aberrations. Through close collaboration with clinical researchers, these systems are applied in clinical settings to generate biomolecular profiles of patients, with the goal of early disease detection and treatment monitoring to improve patient outcomes. Our group currently focuses on developing biomedical technologies to profile immune dysregulations and tissue damage in three critical areas of major clinical need (cancer, neurodegenerative, and infectious diseases).
Research Highlights
Research Projects
Funding
Since 2019
- Wuethrich. NHMRC Investigator grant. Title: Immune Dashboard Chip (IDC): Single-molecule digital nanotechnology for profiling trace immune dysregulations in Long COVID-19 and improving mRNA vaccines
- Hickie, Wray, Trau, Gachon, Scott, Crouse, Wuethrich, Occhipinti. NHMRC Synergy grant. Title: Rhythms and blues: Personalising care for body clock dysfunction in mood disorders.
- Trau, O’Byrne, Moeller, Wuethrich, Kulasinghe, Lobb, Li. Cancer Australia. Title: nanoIMPAC: Monitoring immune toxicities and tumour immune evasion in lung cancer.
- Wuethrich. NHMRC Investigator grant. Title: A protein phosphorylation mapping tool for monitoring tyrosine kinase inhibition therapy in cancer patients.
- Trau, Wuethrich, Sina. Australian Research Council Discovery Project. Title: Single molecule sensing on nanopillars: Reading complex molecular circuits.
- Wuethrich. Australian Research Council DECRA. Title: Harnessing nanotechnology to unravel extracellular vesicle heterogeneity.
Publications
Click here to view Wuethrich group publications
