Spotlight on:
Coursework Showcase

Meet Peter

Coordinator of the Master of Biomedical Science and Coordinator of Neuroscience Major

What has inspired you?

I was drawn to neuroscience because of the vastness of the challenge. More recently the advent of machine learning has provided a way to look at how certain functions that we would call cognitive can be performed - what does it mean to say things like learning and language can be instantiated by computers?

What do you like most about working with and teaching Master of Biomedical Science students?

We are on the same page, we all want to learn and develop and share ideas, experiences and questions – it’s totally different from the more “one-way” teaching that is typical of undergraduate subjects.

Discussion - with a range of our leading researchers - is at the core of the learning experience. We want students to be able to get deep insight into what it is to be a biomedical scientist, and we do this by getting them to talk with a diverse range of experts from across biomedicine.

How does the Master of Biomedical Science at the University of Melbourne make students job-ready?

Biomedicine is centred on research, so the authentic research experience is crucial, but biomedicine is also about the entire enterprise of getting research to where it will have benefits, in treatment, prevention, or economic opportunity. Those industries need the skills beyond the bench scientist: how to communicate, solve problems, generate support etc. basically, how you can add value to enterprises that focus of discovery and translating that into tangible benefits.

What are the future possibilities available to your Masters students?

Research through higher degrees; employment in research-associated industries and organisations, anywhere where science needs to be understood by all of the other discipline and that are needed for science to have impact. Basically, anywhere you can add value to enterprises that focus of discovery and translating that into tangible benefits.

Why is 'Curiosity' such a key word?

Curiosity drives exploration and discovery, it creates knowledge and the reconceptualising of knowledge and culture.

Meet Sarah

Laboratory Head, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Senior Lecturer of Virology

Describe your area of research

My research investigates the pathways that influenza, and other respiratory viruses, use to infect host cells. Specifically, we wish to understand how airway immune cells control viral replication to prevent severe infection. We are also investigating why particular respiratory viruses are highly pathogenic, leading to very severe disease.

What do you work with Masters students on?

I coordinate two Masters of Biomedical Science coursework subjects:

(1) Frontier Technologies is a showcase of cutting-edge technologies delivered by experts at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity.

Masters students get to learn about the latest techniques and how they are applied to answer key research questions in infection and immunity. It gives students a real insight into how to ask specific research questions and how to decide what is the best technology to answer those questions.

(2) Containment or Chaos is a really practical subject that helps students to understand all of the regulatory requirements and safety processes that underpin research using pathogenic micro-organsims. It also showcases the different types of laboratories from basic research through to public health laboratories and how they work together to solve key issues in infection and immunity.

I also supervise Masters of Biomedical Science students and their research projects are focussed on respiratory viruses and the innate immune system during viral replication.

^{Image: The Londrigan Research Group}

What are the future possibilities available to your Masters students?

Our Masters students go on to pursue employment in medical research, including further studies, as well as public health, diagnostic and surveillance laboratories. Jobs in industry based projects and industry labs is also increasingly common.

Meet Magda

Laboratory Head, Department of Anatomy & Physiology; Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator of Current Technologies in Metabolism

Describe your area of research

Obesity is a disease state and is associated with many metabolic co-morbidities, including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, diabetic kidney disease, liver disease, depression, asthma, and so many other problems.

Metabolism research aims to uncover novel pathways leading to these diseases, and with 70% of the Australian population being overweight or obese, our research is of immense importance in alleviating the future healthcare burden.

What do you work with Masters students on?

I supervise Master of Biomedical Sciences students who are doing their research projects in my lab. I also coordinate the Current Technologies in Metabolism subject. The past decade has seen a growing interest in metabolism research which is reshaping our understanding of human physiology and disease in order to find better treatment and prevention diseases like obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

This course brings together some of our most outstanding metabolism researchers, with a strong translational focus, to introduce students to innovative technologies utilized for discovery and translational metabolism research.

What are some of the cutting-edge technology and equipment that your Masters students can access?

My Masters students have learned about many new technologies including CRISPR/Cas9 technology, mass spectrometry (lipidomics and proteomics), flow cytometry and FACS.

In addition, we have one of the most advanced metabolic phenotyping facilities in our building, and my students learn a lot about new tech in respect to energy metabolism, MRI-based body composition analysis and heart function measures. They are really interested in learning about CRISPR-based gene editing, metabolic phenotyping using innovative tracer technologies, and metabolic phenotyping of models of advanced liver disease and diabetes.

How does the Master of Biomedical Science at the University of Melbourne make students job-ready?

The Master of Biomedical Science incorporates both highly innovative and industry-relevant coursework components and a significant research project, where students gain hands-on experience in real-world scientific questions and methodological approaches to tackle important healthcare challenges.

All coursework subjects have been recently developed with the aim at making students job-ready including: learning how to use pluripotent stem cells for gene editing and cell manufacturing, understanding what is required for containment of specific pathogens and the underlying regulatory frameworks, to gaining hands-on experience in innovative technologies used by our industry partners.

Students also learn about science commercialisation and communication, budget management and accounting.

Meet Christine

Laboratory Head, Department of Anatomy & Physiology; Professor of Stem Cell Systems and Course Coordinator of Contemporary Cell and Gene Therapies

What do you work with Masters students on?

In the contemporary cell and gene therapy course, we focus on the emerging field of cell and gene therapies - an exciting area which promises to treat the root-cause of an illness and has the potential to offer a ‘one-shot’ cure for some diseases.

We use case studies to understand how an invention moves from an idea to a product, to clinical trial, and then as a standard of care. We ground our studies in real world examples of what has worked, and what hasn’t. Students are offered perspectives from patients, clinicians, commercial partners, research scientists, regulators and cell manufacturers.

^{Image: Macrophages play an important role in keeping the body clean and healthy}

What are the advantages of studying the Masters in the Biomedical Precinct?

We are so fortunate to have so many research powerhouses, industry partnerships and clinical knowhow right on our doorstep. Our students are meeting and working in such a diverse set of laboratories that the cohort really provide amazing cross-fertilisation with one another.

There are very few other places globally that provide the opportunities to take a discovery to a treatment in one location – and we have real world examples of this at the Peter McCallum Institute, with the innovative CAR-T therapies being developed, WEHI with discovery of growth factors now used to mobilise blood stem cells, CERA and the amazing gene therapies being used to treat inherited blindness, and the Florey whose researchers are inventing the cells that will repair a damaged brain.

Why is Curiosity such a key word? 

Curiosity encourages us to change the status quo. Instead of accepting what is, we ask – 'why is this so?' or 'why can’t this be better?' It is incredibly motivating because the world of research is full of unexpected outcomes. Curiosity fuels curiosity, and when coupled with the tools to ask questions with rigour, and the critical thinking to really dissect a problem, and the incentive to partner with other ways of thinking or doing, then curiosity can drive real impact from research.