RESEARCHER PROFILE
Dr Josephine Wright
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)
Filmed September 2023
Dr Josephine Wright is a Senior Research Fellow in the Gut Cancer group. She has been developing a translational network of labs, hospitals and clinics to enable validation of new approaches to prevent and treat colorectal and gastric cancer. Her key focus is studying human tumour organoids to better personalise therapy in cancer.
Dr Wright is part of an international team of researchers from Adelaide and the United States that has engineered bacteria capable of detecting mutated DNA released from colorectal cancer cells, opening the door to faster disease detection.
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Enhancing occupational therapy service provision with military veterans
Prof McKinstry was instrumental in the development of the occupational therapy course at the La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus and also the establishment of the Rural Health School.
Prof McKinstry’s research focus is on health workforce, particularly developing a sustainable rural health workforce through recruitment of rural students for health courses, innovative and flexible delivery of health courses, telehealth and emerging areas of practice for occupational therapists.
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Next Generation Condom Contraception, Dr Simon Cook
Dr. Simon Cook, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Operations at Eudaemon Technologies, has had a diverse and impactful career journey. Beginning with a background in biotechnology from the University of Wollongong, his focus on bacterial pathogenesis during his PhD led him to study Group A Strep and the streptokinase protein.
Subsequently, Dr. Cook ventured into a unique project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he became involved in the development of a next-generation condom to address existing issues such as feel, odour, and taste.
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Non-invasive tools for CVD screening and monitoring
Dr Hadi Afsharan is a Research Fellow Cardiovascular Science & Diabetes at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research; is a translational research and innovation fellow in medical technologies at The University of Western Australia, holding dual titles as Translational Fellow and Innovation Fellow within UWA’s Medical School and the FHRI (Future Health Research and Innovation) program.
