Development of integrated microfluidic chips for making mRNA nanomedicines

Project: Messenger RNA (mRNA) provides a highly flexible platform for the development of vaccines. A robust immune response typically requires both an antibody response and a T-cell response. An appropriate antibody response is dependent on the immune system encountering an antigenic protein in its correct three-dimensional ‘tertiary’ configuration. This is influenced by the cell type that produces the protein, with different cell types (such as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells) modifying the protein after translation in different ways—ultimately resulting and different tertiary configurations. Accordingly, producing and validating a protein-based subunit vaccine can be difficult because it requires not only the production of the protein, but also requires a thorough assessment that the protein is correctly, and stably, configured. The MRFF project will engineer a fully automated continuous-flow system to produce small scale, bespoke, mRNA vaccines. This involves both the production of mRNA (upstream process) and mRNA encapsulation and formulation (downstream process), with each of these processes including multiple distinct ‘unit operation’ which are integrated in a chip to stream the process. The successful candidate will work on the development of sensing components of this miniaturised mRNA vaccine factory aiming to attain precise control over a range of parameters (e.g. flowrate, temperature, pH, concentration and quality of mRNA) and will have a strong background in B. Eng. Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field from reputable universities.

Student Requirements: The candidate will preferably have a Master degree or work experience in a related field and publications (recommended). The successful candidate will join a team of expert researchers seconded from The University of Adelaide for a PhD position. His/Her skillset will complement the University's considerable existing expertise in sensing, process control engineering, digital.

Supervisor: The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Abel Santos (https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/abel.santos#). He has demonstrated national and international research standings in nanofabrication and applied photonics, and unique expertise in fabricating nanostructures with precisely engineered features at the nanoscale for specific applications through anodisation. He has an excellent track-record of publications (>117 research articles) in top international journals, and a strong history of successful competitive grants (>$9.6M) including one ARC DECRA, two ARC DPs, four ARC LIEFs, one APRIL Innovation and Commercialisation Project, and one Australia–India Research Strategic Grant. He has mentored and supervised three ECRs and 15 PhDs (seven completions and eight current). Internationally, he has been recognised as one of world’s 2% researchers by Stanford University (since 2019), emerging investigator by the editorials of Journal of Materials Chemistry C (2017) and ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (2021), and holds an adjunct visiting professorship at his alma mater university (URV, Spain) in recognition of his significant contributions over the past ten years. He has strong experience in industrial engagement and translation of findings, project management, and international collaboration. He will lead this aspect of the MRFF project and oversee the experimental design, manuscript preparation, dissemination of results, and supervision.

Facilities: During the last twelve years our team has built research infrastructure, including four ARC LIEF grants, and established a substantial suite of fabrication and characterisation facilities; these are cutting-edge environments in nanofabrication and optical and electrochemical chemo- and biosensing, including two fully computerised semi-industrial anodisation stations, two electrochemical workstations, two metal and oxide coating systems, 3D printing microfluidic chips, optical microscope coupled with optical fibre spectrometer, digital imaging characterisation, and several UV–visible–NIR spectrometers. Beyond our own independent research laboratory, we have access to a broad range of world-class nanofabrication and characterisation facilities. UoA’s CHEM ENG provides an outstanding research environment with an analytical laboratory worth >$15M, which houses over 40 items of equipment, including research infrastructures of relevance to the proposed research (ALD, Raman, FTIR, PL, XRD, TGA–MS/FTIR, HPLCs, Mastersizer, DLS, BET). UoA also hosts the centre for Advanced Microscopy and Microanalysis (Adelaide Microscopy), which enables access to state-of-the-art SEMs, EDAX, TEMs, and HRTEM. Further to that, as members of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) our research group has access to multiple research infrastructures across different Schools, Departments, and Research Institutes, such as the School of Electronic Engineering (THz spectroscopy characterisation facility), the Department of Chemistry (NMR 600 MHz with cryoprobe and 500 MHz with autosampler spectrometers), and IPAS (Optofab Node of ANFF with IR and visible ellipsometers, optical profilers). Our team has also access to the research infrastructures located at the central facilities of the South Australian and Victorian nodes of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF–SA and –VIC), which are world-class nanofabrication centres with >$100M investment in micro- and nanotechnology infrastructure, including cleanrooms classes 10,000 and 100, photolithography and nanolithography, and deposition systems at subsidised costs.

Scholarship: The University of Adelaide offers Research Scholarships of $AU 32,500 p.a. fully funded as part of the MRFF project.

How to Apply: If you are ready to seize this remarkable opportunity, please submit a comprehensive application including your CV, academic transcripts, and a brief paragraph introducing yourself, your motivation, and your interests to [Email Address Removed]

We look forward to receiving your application.