Visit by Brianna Thompson to Bionic Ear Institute – Melbourne.
Brianna Thompson has completed a 3 months trip to visit collaborators at the Bionic Ear Institute, Melbourne. While in Melbourne, Brianna was working with Dr. Rachael Richardson at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, to gain experience in animal and primary cell culture work.
During her visit, work was completed on assessing the biological response to nerve growth factors that had been released from polypyrrole. This was studied in both in vitro (culturing primary nerve cells derived from the inner cell mass of rat pups) and in vivo (implanting polypyrrole-coated cochlear implant electrodes into guinea pigs) systems. Funding for the trip had been provided by the ARC Nanotechnology Network, as well as the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science. Brianna is excited about the possibilities that the trip has provided her and it is anticipated that the research completed during the visit should contribute to several papers.
Also during her time in Melbourne, initial work on biobattery-powered release of nerve growth factors from polypyrrole films was commenced in collaboration with Dr. Bjorn Winther-Jensen from Monash University.
Brianna Thomspon and Rachael Richardson enjoying 'science' at the Bionic Ear Institute.
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