Bench Side Story continues with Dr Michael Collins, a kidney transplant specialist at Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia.
He is the Principal Investigator of a trial called the BEST Fluids trial, which has recently been completed and showed which was the best treatment in terms of intravenous fluids to use for kidney transplant recipients.
Since he was a young child, Dr Collins, has been interested in kidney failure and kidney transplants in particular. His father was also a kidney specialist, and he used to sit by the phone when his father, was on call and ringing people who were being offered a kidney transplant. The joy in their voices through this interaction created a lasting and profound impact on Dr Collins. This carried through his career and today he continues to seek better outcomes for Kidney patients.
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Engineering bacteria to detect colorectal cancer cells
An international team of researchers from Adelaide and the United States has engineered bacteria capable of detecting mutated DNA released from colorectal cancer cells, opening the door to faster disease detection.
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Environmental exposure to function of lung epithelial stem cell biology
Dr Clare Weeden has recently commenced as a Laboratory Head at WEHI in 2025, supported by the CSL Centenary Fellowship.
Dr Weeden specialises in lung epithelial cell biology in the context of homeostasis, inflammation, and lung cancer, particularly in people who don’t smoke. Her work endeavours to understand how past environmental exposures shape the responses of lung cells and the molecular mechanisms underlying this cellular recall, with the aim to develop novel early detection strategies for lung disease.
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Outcomes of Corneal Allergenic Intrastromal Ring Segment (CAIRS) Surgery
Dr David Gunn is an ophthalmologist specialising in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery at the Queensland Eye Institute and Focus Vision in Brisbane, Queensland. His journey into ophthalmology began during medical school, inspired by a mentor. His current research examines outcomes for patients undergoing Corneal Allergenic Intrastromal Ring Segment (CAIRS) surgery.
