RESEARCHER PROFILE (Filmed November 2023)
Dr Felicity Han, Research Fellow
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
University of Queensland, Australia
Applying nanotechnology to chronic pain management
Dr Felicity Han is a Research Fellow and Leader in Pain Relief Innovation, at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland. Dr Han’s research interests sit at the interface of drug delivery and the pain field. Her overarching research goal is to improve the quality of day to day life of patients suffering from chronic pain, by applying nanotechnology to the development of novel highly effective pain-killer products for improving chronic pain management.
Dr Han’s team have developed five different techniques to produce painkiller-loaded nanoparticles and nanofibers aimed at improving pain relief for patients where available pain-killers either lack efficacy or produce dose-limiting side-effects. With the use of their nanoparticles, Dr Han’s team aim to turn a small but potent peptide that has been on the market for over a decade into an oral treatment for improving pain management that currently lacks efficacy in patients. T
Dr Han’s research focuses on developing drug-products to solve one of the largest unmet medical needs in the pain field through the use of sustainable materials. Her team are currently working on developing multifunctional sutures including biodegradable pain relief sutures and innovative novel nanoparticles, which deliver innate-immune targeting peptides for the treatment of cancer and cancer-related pain. Their research also investigates the role of C5a and C3a in the pathogenesis of chronic pain including neuropathic pain, cancer-related pain, low back pain, and OA pain.
Dr Han works in collaboration with other leading Australian and international researchers to stay at the forefront of the drug delivery systems field and the pain field. They also provide a preclinical evaluation of novel compounds and formulations.
Dr Han enjoy’s volunteering within the academic community, most notably as Head of the SBMS ECR Committee and Treasurer for The Queensland Chinese Association of Scientists and Engineers (QCASE). Currently, she is serving as a guest editor of Pain Research and Management.
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Investigating invasive lobular carcinoma and metaplastic breast cancer sub-types
Assoc Prof McCart Reed is the scientific lead on an MRFF-funded (Medical Research Future Fund) genomics program investigating the potential for the application of Whole Genome Sequencing in the breast cancer care pathway in Australia, ‘Q-IMPROvE’. She applies genomics and spatial transcriptomics methodologies to archival clinical samples to understand the differences between tumour types and their potential for treatment. Amy is passionate about clinical research, biobanking and precision oncology. In addition to her breast cancer research portfolio, she is on the steering committee for the Brisbane Breast Bank and the Scientific Advisory Board for Breast Cancer Trials.
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Identifying and treating autoimmune neurological disorders
Associate Professor Sudarshini Ramanathan is a neurologist and clinician scientist whose work focuses on autoimmune neurological disorders. Her research has helped identify new neurological syndromes due to antibody-mediated demyelination and encephalitis, and improve diagnostic tools and treatment guidelines for patients with autoimmune diseases affecting the brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves.
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Medically Complex Pregnancies
A/Prof Shelley Wilkinson is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, Fellow of Dietitians Australia, and a leading Australian researcher in maternal health and implementation science.
She has over 30 years of experience in the field and holds a PhD in Psychology. Her passion is in health service redesign through co-creation and combining the ‘know-what’ of nutrition with the ‘know-how’ of innovative behaviour change techniques.
