Associate Professor Melanie MacGregor

A/Prof Melanie Macgregor is an ARC Future Fellow in material science. Her research group explores the effects of surface chemistry and nanoscale topography on the interaction between (bio)materials and their environment. Her applied research program includes multiple projects to develop novel advanced manufacturing solutions for the biomedical and energy industries.

Melanie has, for instance, worked on developing bioengineered platforms capable to guide cell growth and differentiation, and selective cell capture devices for diagnostic purposes.In this field, she has led several externally, internally and industry funded projects as principal chief investigator (Channel 7 Children Research Foundation grant, ARC discovery grant). In 2017, her collaborative research work was further funded through a CRC-P project in partnership with SMR automotive, Flinders Medical Center, and Prohealth care, aiming to industrialise biomedical devices for the non invasive diagnosis of bladder cancer.

In 2018, her fundamental work on wetting phenomena at the nanoscale was funded by an ARC discovery project in collaboration with QUT and the Max Plank Institute for Polymer research in Germany. It is this aspect of her research that she will explore further in her future fellowship, started in 2021. Is this project she intends to develop new knowledge and know-how to control the binding of nanoobjects to nanotextured surfaces. She will be working with (inter)national collaborators from UCL, ETH Zurich, INL Braga, and ANU to apply these findings to new technologies for oil recovery, catalysis, and medical devices.