Biomedical engineering research internships

Supervisors: Prof. Wei Chen, Dr. Jia Liu, Dr. Shawn Dexiao Kong

Eligibility:

1. Familiar with ECG signal processing.
2. Open minded to collaborate with clinical partners.
3. Willingness to dedicate time and effort to the project.

Project Description:

This project aims to explore the potential association between sleep ECG signal characteristics and neurodegenerative diseases. The establishment of a highly targeted and customizable ECG analysis system is urgently needed.

Such a system would enable researchers to extract and analyze sleep-stage-specific ECG features with greater precision, facilitating the identification of biomarkers linked to neurodegenerative conditions.

By incorporating advanced signal processing techniques, machine learning algorithms, and user-defined parameters, this system could provide a versatile platform for both research and clinical applications, ultimately advancing our understanding of the interplay between cardiac autonomic function and neurological health.

In summary, the development of a tailored ECG analysis system represents a critical step toward uncovering the relationship between sleep-related ECG patterns and neurodegenerative diseases, offering a powerful tool for early diagnosis, disease monitoring, and therapeutic intervention.

Requirement to be on campus: No

Supervisors: Prof. Wei Chen, Dr. Jia Liu, Dr. Glenn Stewart, Prof. Peter Cistulli

Eligibility:

1. Familiar with physiological signal sensing and processing.
2. Open minded to collaborate with clinical partners.
3. Willingness to dedicate time and effort to the project.

Project Description:

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and reduced quality of life globally, underscoring the urgent need for innovative risk assessment and management strategies. Blood pressure (BP), a critical biomarker of cardiovascular health, is dynamic and changes throughout the day and night, but current BP monitoring methods lack a reliable solution for capturing its dynamic profile.

Traditional BP methods, including the sphygmomanometer, often fall short in providing continual and user-independent measurements, hindering their utility in dynamic, everyday settings. Especially, conventional BP measurements with a cuff during the night can cause discomfort and disturbed sleep in many individuals.

This project aims to develop a wearable platform designed to provide continual, cuffless BP monitoring across daily activities and sleep. Utilizing advanced biosensing materials, sensor technologies and AI for data analysis, the platform will enable real-time tracking of both daytime and nocturnal BP for enhancing precision in cardiovascular risk assessment.

Requirement to be on campus: No

Supervisors: Prof. Wei Chen, Dr. Jia Liu, Prof. Glen M Davis

Eligibility:

1. Familiar with physiological signal sensing and processing.
2. Open minded to collaborate with clinical partners.
3. Willingness to dedicate time and effort to the project.

Project Description:

Neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury are significant causes of long-term disability in the world. This project will develop a new-generation, wearable, low-cost, multimodal neuroimaging technology for continuous, long-term rehabilitation monitoring.

Employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG), this technology will offer optimal spatial-temporal resolution. The miniaturised size and lightweight form factor will enable its use in hospital settings and at home during functional recovery.

The proposed technology will have wide-reaching implications after post-trauma brain damage and beneficial neuroplasticity during physical rehabilitation by providing non-invasive, continuous monitoring that can aid in assessing and guiding rehabilitation strategies by the clinician.

Requirement to be on campus: No

Supervisor: Dr Ann-Na Cho

Eligibility:

1. Has tissue culture experience.
2. Interested in neuroscience.
3. Willing to contribute to animal replacement model (humanised and  miniaturised organ model, organoid)
4. Availability to conduct all 6 weeks on campus in the lab.

Project Description:

Biomedical science is rapidly advancing in the development of lab-grown human cortex, known as cerebral organoids, by utilising cutting-edge human stem cell technology and insights into nervous system development. However, a major limitation of previous cerebral organoid models is their focus on cellular components alone, which significantly differs from the native brain environment, limiting maturation and functional development.

In this project, we aim to develop advanced tissue engineering tools, including novel biomaterials and biofabrication, to enable self-organising cerebral organoids that accurately replicate the endogenous cellular composition, structural organisation, phenotype, and functionality of human brain physiology.Additionally, we will utilise this human model to investigate virus infection mechanism and their mechanisms for hijacking the human brain.

This innovative platform will provide a comprehensive understanding of virus infections, neurodegeneration and facilitate drug and therapeutic screening as part of personalised medicine. This project is ideal for students interested in stem cell engineering, tissue engineering and the study of virology and neuroscience.

Requirement to be on campus: *Yes, dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisor: Dr Ann Na Cho

Eligibility:

1. Has Tissue culture experience.
2. Interested in Neuroscience.
3. Willing to contribute to animal replacement model (humanised and miniaturised   organ model, organoid).
4. Availability to conduct all 6 weeks on campus in the lab.

Project Description:

The recent breakthrough in developing the Brain organoid which involves cutting-edge technology of human stem cells and knowledge of nervous system development has been highlighted as a next-generation in vitro model for personalised disease modeling and medicine.

The 3 dimensional (3D) self-organising Brain organoid created from iPSCs enables the recapitulation of the endogenous cellular composition, organ-specific structure, phenotype, and functionality of human physiology and development including aging. Furthermore, to reflect the complexity of the central nervous system, organoid methodologies have ever advanced to physically assemble two or three different brain regions of organoid to be integrated into one organoid called ‘assembloid’.

Our novel organ-on-chip platform will not only enable an investigation of neuronal crosstalk between diverse brain organoids modeling psychiatric disorders but also screening for potential drug candidates and personalised therapeutics. This project will suit students interested in stem cell engineering, organ-on-chip and knowledge of neuroscience, developmental biology, drug development.

Requirement to be on campus: *Yes, dependent on government’s health advice.

Supervisors: Dr. Shaikh Nayeem Faisal & Prof. Gregg Suaning

Eligibility: Final year Undergraduate or Postgraduate

Project Description:

We have developed an all-ceramic photonic implant which has the potential application in the area of photo biomodulation and photodynamic therapy. This project involves biocompatibility assessment of the device in biological media as well as cell culture.

Requirement to be on campus: *Yes, dependent on government’s health advice.