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
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8839-3512
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Understanding the experience of pain for novel brain-based treatments
Associate Professor Tasha Stanton leads the Persistent Pain Research Group at SAHMRI. She is also co-Director of IIMPACT in Health at the University of South Australia, Adelaide. She is a clinical pain neuroscientist, with original training as a physiotherapist, and her research focusses on pain – why do we have it and why doesn’t it go away?
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Respiratory health and the microbiome in the lung environment
Dr Taylor leads the Respiratory Health Group within the Microbiome and Host Health Program. His research employs tailored techniques that allow the lung environment to be characterised to a high level of accuracy, including detailed measurements of airway microbiology (microbiome), mucus composition, and inflammation. This information is used to identify predictive markers of chronic lung disease severity as well as determine effective forms of therapy.
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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.
