BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES CONTRIBUTING TO METASTASIS OF BREAST CANCER AND OSTEOSARCOMA
Raluca Ghebosu, PhD Candidate
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | October 2024
Raluca Ghebosu graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science with majors in Japanese and Biomedical Science (2018-2021). She then completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) with the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in 2022, before pursuing a PhD with A/Prof. Joy Wolfram at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology.
Raluca is currently exploring the complex biological interactions of extracellular vesicles, with the goal of understanding how they can contribute to the metastasis of breast cancer and osteosarcoma. She will do this by uncovering how extracellular vesicles from breast cancer and osteosarcoma cells allow the cancer cells to evade the immune system and avoid being detected by Natural Killer cells. By shedding light on the complex role of extracellular vesicles in cancer metastasis she hopes to revolutionise nanoparticle and cell-based cancer treatments.
Since beginning her PhD in 2023, Raluca has published two first author and two co-author manuscripts in high-ranking journals, including a first author paper in the premier journal of her field, Journal of Extracellular Vesicles (IF: 15.5), and has gained over 500 citations across her publications. She has presented her work to various audiences including scientists, clinicians and consumers and is a University of Queensland, 2024 3 Minute Thesis finalist. Raluca is also involved with the Wonder of Science Outreach program that promotes scientific inquiry and engagement to school-aged students across Queensland. Raluca hopes to continue being an advocate for STEM education and sharing her work with consumers and the broader scientific community.
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Next generation nanomedicine and radiopharmaceuticals to treat cancer
Finding better ways of treating cancer, aside from finding a cure, aim to provide a better quality of life for those who suffer from it.
Professor Thurecht’s work focuses on nanomedicine and spans across the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the Centre for Advanced Imaging, at the University of Queensland in Australia.
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Benefits of prehabilitation ahead of surgery
Dr Matthew Wallen PhD, AES, AEP is a Senior Research Fellow in Cancer Survivorship, the Deputy Lead of the Cancer Survivorship Program, and a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University, in South Australia. His clinical interest focuses on improving outcomes for people requiring major surgery, specifically (1) lifestyle interventions, including exercise, nutritional, and psychological support to improve the health and wellbeing of people prior to surgery, termed ‘prehabilitation’, (2) novel physical function assessments aimed at identifying people at risk of treatment-related complications, and (3) implementation of new models of care in cancer.
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Genetic disease research imitating function and architecture of organs
Professor Wolvetang was among the first to bring the first human embryonic stem cells to Queensland, with his Wolvetang Group at the AIBN now renowned for its work with organoids: growing them, studying them, and using them to try and understand diseases and human development.
Using cutting edge technology, Professor Wolvetang designs and grows organoids both for their own work and for labs across the country, coaxing pluripotent stem cells or tissue samples into 3D structures that mimic the function and architecture of real brains, livers, kidneys, spinal cords, and intestines.
