A microfabricated “brain tumour on a chip” for radiobiological studies

A PhD student scholarship aimed at the development of a comprehensive in vitro tumour model is available at the University of South Australia’s Bioengineering group. The group is highly cross-disciplinary and focussed on translating technological advances in biomedical engineering towards improving outcomes for cancer patients. PhD students within the group are supported by postdocs with experience in PhD student co-supervision and benefit from full access to state-of-the-art facilities and our strong international network of collaborators. A living allowance scholarship of $35,200 per year and tuition waiver will be provided to the successful applicant. You will be living in Adelaide, which has been ranked the 11^th world’s third most liveable city in2024 by The Economist global index.

The core hypothesis of the project is that lab-based tumour models should mimic the cellular complexity of real tumours and their ability to evolve and become resistant to treatment. To this end, bioengineered perfusion devices will be designed to enable the long-term co-culture of brain tumour cells and biopsies obtained from brain cancer patients with non-tumour brain microenvironment cells. This brain tumour on a chip model will be used to gain critical radiobiological insights on cutting edge radiation therapy modalities including FLASH (through Institut Curie, Paris, France) and Proton beam radiotherapy. The project will benefit from world-class microfabrication research facilities including the ANFF and the UniSA’s Industry 4.0 Testlab.

Please e-mail your expression of interest to Prof Benjamin Thierry, including a CV and the names and contact information of three referees. Candidates should have recently successfully passed an English language test or be able to demonstrate good level of English through research publications. Note due to the high number of applications, only short listed candidates will be contacted.