QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 8 matching student topics
Displaying 1–8 of 8 results
Development of bioengineered 3D tumour models for preclinical breast cancer research
3D organoid model technologies have led to the development of innovative tools for precision medicine in cancer treatment. Yet, the lack of resemblance to native tumours, and the limited ability to test drugs in a high-throughput mode, has limited translation to practice.This project will progress organoid models by using advanced tissue engineering technologies and high-throughput 3D bioprinting to recreate 'mini-tumours-in-a-dish' from a patient’s own tumour cells, and study the effects of various components of the tumour microenvironment on drug response.In …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Engineering 3D osteocyte–tumour microenvironments to study bone metastasis and therapeutic response
Project Reference: #2MPQC-HuECM1Preferred Project Start: Late 2026/Early 2027How do cancer cells communicate with bone cells, and can we recreate these interactions in the laboratory to improve therapy testing?When cancer spreads to bone, tumour cells enter a highly specialised microenvironment containing multiple cell types and a complex extracellular matrix. Osteocytes are embedded throughout this matrix and form an interconnected cellular network that senses and regulates changes within bone. However, their contribution to cancer progression and treatment response remains poorly understood.Conventional two-dimensional …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Understanding cellular-spatial interplay between osteocyte networks and their environment using bioengineered 3D bone models
Project Reference: #1MPQC-NATP1Preferred Project Start: ImmediateHow do bone-forming cells communicate to build and maintain a functional bone matrix?Osteoblasts produce new bone extracellular matrix, while osteocytes become embedded within this matrix and form an interconnected network that helps regulate bone formation, adaptation and remodelling. Although these cells work closely together in the body, their interactions are difficult to reproduce and investigate using conventional two-dimensional cell culture.Bone-cell behaviour is strongly influenced by the surrounding microenvironment, including its composition, mechanical properties, mineral content, …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Regenerating bone following osteosarcoma tumour resection in a post-chemotherapy treated bone defect
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer in children and adolescents. Standard treatment involves surgical resection of the tumour combined with systemic chemotherapy. While most patients undergo limb-sparing surgery to avoid amputation, this often results in significant morbidity and lifelong complications. These complications stem from the creation of large bone defects, poor healing outcomes, the need for revision surgeries, and long-term prosthetic failureThere is a critical clinical need for regenerative strategies that restore bone integrity and function following …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Local drug delivery to prevent osteosarcoma recurrence and metastasis
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer in children and adolescents. Despite aggressive treatment involving multi-agent chemotherapy and wide surgical resection, survival outcomes remain poor, with five year survival as low as 13% for patients with metastatic or recurrent disease. Current treatment relies heavily on systemic chemotherapy, which is associated with significant toxicity and long-term side effects, including cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and impaired growth and fertility. Local recurrence occurs in up to 30% of patients after surgical resection, often …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Engineering bioartificial extracellular tumour microenvironments for Osteosarcoma personalised precision oncology
Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common malignant bone tumour affecting children and adolescents. Importantly, clinical outcomes have not improved for decades, and bone tumours remain to be a leading cause of cancer-related death in adolescents.By identifying ideal treatment approaches for each individual patient, precision oncology has the potential to significantly improve these outcomes. Yet, its widespread application is hindered by a lack of biomaterials that support the reproducible and robust generation of patient-derived osteosarcoma organoids in vitro.Therefore, this project will …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Engineering the prostate tumour microenvironment in organ-on-a-chip systems
Prostate cancer remains one of the leading causes of global death. The tumour microenvironment (TME) including blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) possesses disease-specific biophysical and biological factors that are difficult to recapitulate using conventional in vitro cell culture models.The absence of these factors, however, causes cells to display abnormal morphologies, polarisation, proliferation, and drug responses, thereby limiting the ability to translate research findings from traditional cell culture into clinical practice.Recent advances in organ-on-a-chip technology enable …
- Study level
- Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Health
- School
- School of Biomedical Sciences
Understanding the structure-property relationships in reduced graphene oxide hydrogels
Graphene consists of hybridised carbon atoms in a hexagonal two-dimensional (2D) lattice. This material has extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. However, one problem in practical applications is the aggregation and restacking between neighbouring graphene layers.In contrast, a possible way to avoid this problem is by transforming 2D graphene sheets into graphene hydrogel (GH) consisting of a three dimensional (3D) porous structure. Recently, 3D GH has been widely investigated in energy storage and conversion, catalysis and sensors. Furthermore, its accessible …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
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