Textile waste in Australia decomposes slowly and releases toxic chemicals. Natural fibres like cotton could be composted, but dyes and treatments hinder breakdown. This PhD develops a new compost-testing method, measures dye impacts, and identifies toxic residues. The work will inform Australia’s first composting standard and help industry choose safer, circular textile dyes.

Bowel cancer kills thousands each year, and current stool-based screening misses many cases. This PhD develops a new non-invasive method that analyzes human cells shed into stool, aiming to detect normal, pre-cancerous, and cancerous changes more accurately. The goal is a more reliable, higher-participation screening tool that could replace the existing national test.

This research focuses on developing reliable blood-based biomarkers to evaluate new treatments for hereditary frontotemporal dementia. By identifying an imbalance between two key molecules, progranulin and prosaposin, the work aims to provide accurate measures of treatment effectiveness and bring hope to families carrying this devastating genetic condition

The researcher rebuilds how cells sort materials to understand Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Using proteins and lipids like Lego pieces, they study how a key protein, retromer, malfunctions and disrupts cell transport. With cryogenic electron tomography, they aim to model this process and guide new treatments that restore healthy cellular function.