Communicating stem cell research

The Intern Series takes a slightly different direction this week with a special guest, Ena Music, who talks to intern Carly Booth about her work in communicating stem cell research.

Ena is a PhD student at TRI who recently won a contest from visual animation company Animated biomedical Productions to produce an animation which will explain a process of collecting and storing stem cells. Ena is the Brisbane organiser of Pint of Science, a regular Tweeter, TRI social media club member and an all around champion of science communication. 

The research underway in supervisor Dr Mike Doran's lab investigates stem cells, with Ena's current projects focusing on applications for stem cell research such as cartilage regeneration. The team aims to understand how cartilage can be regrown with stem cells directed to a damaged joint such as a knee or elbow. The long term aim could be an injectable replacement for reconstructive surgery.

"Translational research is taking the ideas and the validated protocols or treatments, the core research - once the researchers have found something that works, it's getting that next step to taking it to the patients and the clinical trials. We are lucky to be on the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus and we do have spaces in the hospital where this kind of clinical trial setup can begin."

During development of research processes, the team have discovered a method for 3D printing a series of cone shapes to separate cells. We can't really describe it in words, and it's difficult to demonstrate its effectiveness in a still image. The team from Animated biomedical Productions are working with Ena to produce a short animation to explain the process to other researchers, investors, partners and each other.

In the meantime, please enjoy this audio introduction to Ena's stem cell research at TRI.

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