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ASBTE Newsletter
Check out the latest ASBTE Newsletter(July 2026)
Find updates on the 2026 ASBTE Conference (Adelaide) in this newsletter, as well as what our conference attendance awardees have gotten up to!
If you've missed one of the previous Newsletters, please check out the Archive.
ASBTE Awards 2026
Congratulations to Professor Justin Cooper-White who received the ASBTE Award of Research Excellence, Dr Jacqui McGovern who received the ASBTE Emerging Leadership Award, and Dr Amy Jiang who received the ASBTE Early Career Research Award. Read more about the awards and their achievements here.
ASBTE Lab Travel Awards 2026 highlights
2024 Australia Day Honours
Congratulations to Prof John Ramshaw who was made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to research science, to professional societies, and to the community.
This includes substantial contributions to the ASBTE and biomaterials community:
Australian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering
• Inaugural President, 1989-1990.
• Member, since 1989
• Co-Founder, 1989.
International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE)
• Honorary Secretary, 2000-2008.
• Australian Delegate, 1994-2008.
• Australian Observer, 1990.
International College of Fellows of Biomaterials Science & Engineering
Three of our society members who were elected to the International College of Fellows of Biomaterials Science & Engineering. The announcement was made at the World Biomaterials Congress in December 2020. Congratulations to:
- Justin Cooper-White
- Veronica Glattauer
- Tim Woodfield
William Humble – Rome, Bologna, Turin
"While overseas, I focused on a dynamic cell culture system for tumor modelling in Rome. This included biofabrication of porous scaffolds, osteogenic differentiation, and time-lapse confocal microscopy to characterize cellular behaviour. I also taught cell culture to fellow students and reviewed a journal article.
In Bologna, I learned to culture and characterize a cell line derived from a patient tumor, visited the anatomy/pathology lab to see osteosarcoma first-hand, and delivered a seminar.
In Turin, I attended the European Society for Biomaterials congress, presented a poster, and expanded my professional network through various scientific and social activities.
ASBTE’s support fostered cross-institutional collaborations between Australia and Italy which continue to inspire innovation in tackling osteosarcoma. The work I completed has given me great direction and excitement to finish my PhD."
Ryan McKinnon - Adelaide
"Through the support of the ASBTE Domestic Lab Travel Award, I attended and presented at the Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences – Micro-Total Analysis Systems (μTAS 2025), the world’s leading conference in nano- and micro-engineered systems. I established new national and international research connections and engaged with leaders in microfluidics, biomaterials, and biomedical engineering.
I also completed a laboratory visit with Professor Ferry Melchels, where I expanded my expertise in photochemical polymer synthesis and advanced biomaterials design. In parallel, I progressed several PhD manuscripts and strengthened translational pathways aligned with industry and commercialisation objectives."
Max Yavitt - Sydney
"I used the lab travel award to visit A/Prof. Khoon Lim at the University of Sydney, where I used his volumetric printer from Readily 3D. I worked with one of his PhD students to collect data for a publication. Additionally, I met with Khoon and his students to plan other experiments for future collaborations. Outside of the lab, I attended a workshop on commercialization hosted by Nucleate Australia, where I was able to network with other young researchers and entrepreneurs. I also socialized and networked with students and postdocs from the University of Sydney and University of New South Wales.
While in Khoon’s lab, I was able to collect enough data to compile a figure for a publication. Our lab has identified a compound that rapidly consumes oxygen in solution. We have used this compound as an additive to improve the hydrogel crosslinking efficiency during radical-based photoinitiation reactions. Using the volumetric printer in Khoon’s lab, I was able to show that this compound works to lower the light dose required for volumetric printing, enabling faster printing with less severe light doses. This data was compiled into a figure that will be included in a future publication."
Chayla Reeves - Lausanne
"I was lucky enough to make the trip to EPFL University, Lausanne, Switzerland in July this year to visit Dr Orane Guillame-Gentil (Deplancke Lab), to learn how to operate the Cytosurge Omnium Fluidic Force Microscope (FluidFM) for single cell extraction and transcriptome analysis. Across the 2-week visit, I shadowed Dr Guillame-Gentil, learning the setup, pack-up and cellular extraction methodology of the Omnium. I was even fortunate enough to have a run at using the Omnium unsupervised to fully grasp the technique of FluidFM and how to efficiently and effectively extract cellular biopsies (RNA) of living cells whilst keeping them viable.
The opportunity to gain mentorship on the FluidFM and cellular extraction from Dr Guillame-Gentil has left me with a greater fundamental understanding of FluidFM and tips to take back to RMIT University to apply to our Add-On system. I take away a thorough FluidFM standard operating procedure that I plan to adapt to our system at RMIT in the hopes to successfully extract from single cells, despite at a lower throughput than the Omnium system. This first-hand experience and knowledge should serve to benefit all future FluidFM experiments and continue to flourish the professional working relationship with Dr Guillame-Gentil and the FluidFM for future projects."
