Researcher

Associate Professor Robert Ernest Nordon

My Expertise

Cell separation; bioreactor systems for cell therapies

Fields of Research (FoR)

Biomedical Engineering, Regenerative Medicine (incl. Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering), Medical Devices, Cell Development, Proliferation and Death

SEO tags

Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions)

Expanding Knowledge

Biography

I am an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. I work closely with industry in the fields of advanced manufacturing and medical technologies. Since 2016 I have been awarded over $5M in research grant funding in the fields of point-of-care diagnostics, cell and gene therapy manufacture and stem cell science.

My Grants

Scaling microfluidics for cell manufacture. Australian Research Council...view more

I am an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering. I work closely with industry in the fields of advanced manufacturing and medical technologies. Since 2016 I have been awarded over $5M in research grant funding in the fields of point-of-care diagnostics, cell and gene therapy manufacture and stem cell science.

My Grants

Scaling microfluidics for cell manufacture. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP160100570 (2016-2019)

Manufacturing 3D microstructures for the medical device industry. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP160100573 (2016-2019)

Development of electrophoretic cell sorters. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP190100029 (2020-2023)

CRC-P "Making cell and gene therapy affordable with a microbioreactor" UNSW, Genesys, CSL (2021-2023)

My Qualifications

MB BS BMedSci PhD

My Research Activities

1. Developing single use-disposables for plant scale production of cells for clinical therapies

The biopharmaceutical sector has relied on large-volume, batch-fed, stainless-steel fermentation reactors to manufacture biologics at great scale where one batch run equals thousands of products. However, a rapidly evolving biopharmaceutical industry now requires cost-effective technologies to manufacture multiple diverse biologics. This problem is particularly acute for manufacture of personalised cell and gene therapy products where one batch run equals one product. Our research focuses on developing microfluidic devices for cell manufacture, and fabricating these devices as single-use disposables for plant scale production.

2. Modelling human heart and blood development from pluripotent stem cells on a microfluidic chip

We have used lab-on-chip to mimic foetal circulation and to model human blood formation from cells that line blood vessels. We are currently studying the influence of pulsatile fluid shears stress on generation of blood stem cells. We are also investigating the use of hydrogels to pattern embyonic development of the cardiovascular system.

3. Single cell analysis by live cell imaging and RNA seq
We develop software and microfluidic tools for single cell analysis including software to automate cell tracking and to analysis cell fate using single cell RNA seq.