Medical Nanotechnology

NMR and MRI studies of Molecular Dynamics

Professor William S Price 

(School of Biomedical & Health Sciences and School of Medicine; Head of the Nanoscale Organisation and Dynamics Group; Director of the UWS node of the National Imaging Facility; Adjunct Professor Charles Sturt University)

Dr Reynaldo Castillo - Senior Lecturer

Dr Allan Torres - NMR Facility Manager & Lecturer

Dr Gang Zheng - Lecturer  

Postdoctoral Fellows

• Dr Tim Stait-Gardner -  Post Doctoral Fellow / National Imaging Facility Fellow 
• Dr Bahman Ghadirian - Post Doctoral Fellow 
• Dr Shu Yang - Post Doctoral Fellow  

PhD Candidates

• Mr Dale Codling
• Mr Ryan Dean
• Ms Batchimeg Ganbold
• Mr Benjamin Moroney
• Mr Amninder Virk
• Mr Scott Willis  

Honours Candidates

• Mr Abhishek Gupta

• Mr James Stranger

Keywords: biomolecular association, conducting electrolytes, diffusion, drug binding, MRI, NMR, porous media, protein 

Collaborators (internal):  Prof. J. Aldrich-Wright (SBHS), A/Prof G. Dennis (SNS), Prof. A. Hennessy (SoM), Dr A. Lauto (SBHS), Prof. J. Morley (SOM), A/Prof A. Shalliker (SNS), Dr A. Torres (SBHS), Dr R. Castillo (SBHS)

Collaborators (external):   Dr Y. Aihara (Samsung, Japan), Dr M. Ali (Westmead Hospital), Prof. M. Barton (Liverpool Hospital), Dr R. Bourne (Univ. Syd), Dr S. Clarke (CSU), A/Prof. Geoff Currie (CSU), Prof. M. Guest (Tokyo Metro U. Japan), A/Prof. K. Harris (Australian Defence Force Academy), Prof. K. Hayamizu (AIST, Japan), Dr L. Holloway (Liverpool Hospital), A/Prof. D. Hwang (National Chung-Cheng Univ. Taiwan), Prof. K. Jackowski (Univ. Warsaw, Poland), A/Prof. N. Manolios (Westmead Hospital), Prof. S. Matsukawa (Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan), Dr M. Moghaddam (CSIRO), Dr S. Rogiers (National Wine & Grape Industry Centre), Prof. O. Söderman (Univ. Lund, Sweden), Prof P. Stilbs (Royal Inst. Technology, Sweden), Prof. S. Traytak (Moscow State Regional Univ. Russia).

Research;

The laboratory's interests span many areas of MRI, NMR, Medical Nanotechnology and Medical Physics: Especially experimental and theoretical developments in molecular dynamics in biological and chemical systems using MRI, relaxation and pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) NMR measurements of translational diffusion. The research has applications to many areas including pharmaceutical screening and lithium batteries. Two current lines of research are outlined below.

Protein aggregation:  Neurodegeneration (incl. Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease) is an important topic in medicine. We have been developing new magnetic resonance methods (PGSE NMR and diffusion-weighted MRI) for studying protein aggregation. In NMR this requires better suppression of background/internal (magnetic) gradients and the huge water signal commonly encountered in biological milieu. Recent studies have resulted in a new high performance water suppression and background gradient suppression NMR pulse sequences (i.e., PGSTE-WATERGATE and MAG-PGSTE) and selective RF pulses (i.e., phase modulated binomial-like sequences).

Porous media: Current models for analysing NMR diffusion studies of porous media are simplistic. We are developing more realistic models for describing diffusion in porous materials that not only incorporate greater resemblance to the pore geometry. Models which include more background gradients, polydispersity, and relaxation are being developed. These models are then simulated, then tested using NMR measurements. 

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Professor William S Price (Bill) 

BSc (Honours, Class 1) University of Sydney, PhD (Physical Biochemistry) University of Sydney.

Short Biography

2003 Prof Price took up the Chair of Nanotechnology in the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences at the University of Western Sydney in Novembe 2003. He has since been appointed as Conjoint Professor in the School of Medicine at UWS. He is also Director of the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Facility and Director of the UWS node of the National Imaging Facility.(www.anif.org.au). In 2010 he was appointed as Conjoint Professor at Charles Sturt University(http://www.csu.edu.au/).

• Apr 2001 - Aug 2003 - Professor of Chemistry at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
• Jan 2000 - Feb 2001 - Senior Visiting Scientist at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
• Apr 1996 - Dec 1999 - Chief scientist at the Water Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan.
• Mar 1995 - Mar 1996 - Research scientist at the Water Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan.
• Mar 1993 - Mar 1995- Science and Technology Agency Fellow at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan.
• • This was his second postdoctoral position. He worked with Prof. Kikuko Hayamizu  investigating and developing sophisticated solid-state deuterium NMR techniques. This Investigation of polymerization was part of a National project on the development of non-linear optical polymers. During this time he was also collaborating with the Himeji Institute of Technology on the effects of hydration on phenyl ring dynamics in human insulin.
• Sept 1990 - Mar 1993- Research fellow at the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
• • This was his first postdoctoral position. The Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, was founded by the Nobel Laureate, Y. T. Lee in Taipei, Taiwan 1990-1993 with Professor Lian-Pin Hwang. At IAMS he developed advanced nuclear magnetic NMR relaxation techniques for studying molecular dynamics and also collaborated with the largest hospital in Taipei on clinical studies (hypothermia and pleural effusions).
• Jun 1990 - Jul 1990 - Consultant at the Australian Membrane and Biotechnology Research Institute Ltd. (AMBRI), CSIRO Division of Food Processing.

Awards & Scholarships

• Rennie Memorial Medal (National Medal), Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1998).
• BioFirst Award, NSW State Government (2004).
• Ollé Prize for Chemical Literature, Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1999 & 2010).
• RACI RSC Corday Morgan – Rennie Medal Exchange Lecturer (1999).
• Senior Fellowship, Swedish Council for International Co-operation in Research and Higher Education (2000).
• The Charles Gilbert Heydon Travelling Fellowship in the Biological Sciences, University of Sydney (1991-1992).
• The Eleanor Sophia Wood Travelling Fellowship, University of Sydney (1991).
• The Science and Technology Agency Fellowship, Australian Academy of Science /Japanese Government (1993-1995).
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Science Council, Republic of China (1990-1993).
• Commonwealth Postgraduate Research Award (1986-1989).
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2000).
• Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (1999).

Research Interests

NMR/MRI, Medical Physics and Medical Nanotechnology: Especially development of new NMR techniques, molecular dynamics in biological and chemical systems using NMR imaging, relaxation and pulsed gradient spin-echo NMR measurements of translational diffusion. His research has direct applications to a wide range of practical problems including:

• effects of macromolecular crowding on molecular association molecular mechanisms of ionic conduction (e.g., in lithium battery electrolytes)
• development of sophisticated NMR and MRI techniques for studying molecular dynamics
• pharmaceutical screening
• protein association and crystallisation
• theoretical/experimental studies of restricted diffusion in porous media
• solution dynamics and self-association in aqueous solutions

WS Price Profile (PDF, 40Kb)

WS Price Publications List (PDF, 39Kb)

WS Price Curriculum Vitae (PDF, 45Kb)

"NMR Studies of Translational Motion - Principles and Applications". Price, W.S. (2008) Cambridge University Press. ISBN-13: 9780521806961

(http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521806961)

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Dr Allan Torres

BSc Chem (UPhil) PhD (Alberta) 

Research Interests: Nanotechnology. NMR Theory and Application. Development of NMR methods. Protein structure determination. Platypus toxin characterisation.

Research: Dr Torres’s research interests include NMR method development, protein structure and dynamics, molecular diffusion and platypus venom characterisation. He has considerable experience in devising and utilizing various NMR methods for the study of bioactive molecules, molecular interactions and cells. He has been involved in the determination of three-dimensional structures of many biologically important protein molecules. These include structures of human insulin growth factor II, platypus venom peptides (DLP-1, DLP-2, DLP-4 and OvCNPa), snake (bucandin and nawaprin) and scorpion peptides (Cnerg1), and polypeptide fragments of HERG and TASKS potassium channels. He together with Prof Philip Kuchel discovered novel D-amino acid containing peptides and the enzyme (L-to-Dpeptide isomerase) responsible for their creation in the platypus venom.

He is currently involved in developing new NMR methods focused on improving the efficiency of NMR diffusion experiments. This requires eliminating peak distortions caused by homonuclear J-coupling and suppressing strong water signal. The study led to creation of new J-compensated NMR pulse sequences and binomial-like water suppression sequences that can be utilised in many conventional NMR methods. 

A Torres Publications (PDF, 24Kb)

Dr Tim Stait-Gardner

BSc (Honours, Class 1), PhD (UWS)

Research Interests: Speeding-up NMR Diffusion measurements, MRI of plants, Diffusion MRI, pulse shaping.

T Stait-Gardner Publications (PDF, 32Kb)

Dr Bahman Ghadirian

BSc (Applied Physics), BSc (Honours, Class I) (Geometry of Light Propagation), PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics (A New Regularization Procedure for Calculating the Casimir Energy).

Scholarships/Awards:

• Awarded Dean’s Medal in Bachelor of Science in 2003.
• Received the University Medal in Bachelor of Science (Honours) in 2004.
• Awarded the Australian Institute of Physics prize for the Most Outstanding Graduate in 2003.
• Received Australian Postgraduate Award in 2005.
• Awarded the University of Western Sydney Postgraduate Award (top up) in 2005.
• Awarded the certificate of Career and Cooperative Education for research internship in 2009.

Research Interests: Dr Ghadirian is interested in the theoretical aspects of diffusion especially looking at new models that characterize diffusion in restricted systems. He uses different mathematical methods such as the heat-kernel expansion which are more comprehensive and can be applied to any geometrical configuration. He is also interested in developing models to allow analysis of diffusion MRI data from complex systems (e.g., biological tissue). This modelling includes investigation of the diffusive and dispersive translational motions in porous media and their application to real systems. He is also interested in the mathematical extension of the prime numbers in physics especially heat equations; and, following from his PhD studies, vacuum fluctuations and their manifestation in the form of Casimir effect, specifically in supergravity.

Current Research:  He is presently involved in developing mathematical models for analysing diffusion MRI resulting from diffusion in biological tissues. These models are far more applicable to real systems than the presently available models. He is also working on the mathematical extension of the heat kernel expansion to boundary and volume contributions of diffusion in different restricted systems and study the energy dissipation in porous media. A final area of interest is the development of new signal analysis techniques.

B.Ghadirian Publications  (PDF, 10Kb)

Dr Shu Yang

BSc (Traditional Chinese Medicine), Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, MSc (Pharmacognosy), PhD (Analytical Chemistry)

Scholarships/Awards

• Annual merit student, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2008.
• Annual merit student, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 2002 and 2003.
• Awarded the scholarship of every semester (7 times in total) in Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, three of which won the “first-prize”.

Research Interests: Developement of medicine, Supplimentary / Complimentary Medicine, Molecular Interaction.

Current Research: Application of PFG to separate molecules using alcohol - water diffusion.

S Yang Publications  (PDF, 19Kb)

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PhD Candidates

Mr Dale Codling

BSc (Nanotechnology), BSc (Honours), PhD candidate since 2008.

"NMR and MRI studies of Restricted Diffusion."

Research Interests: My project aims to develop new analytical models for analysing NMR and MRI diffusion data obtained for diffusion in restricted geometries such as pores and to compare them with simulations and experimental data.

Mr Ryan Dean

BSc(Advanced Science), BSc (Honours, Class I)

"Development of Dynamic MRI Contrasts and their Application to Biological Systems"

Research Interests: My research aims are to investigate the use of a diverse range of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging contrasts to examine different morphological and physiologic aspects of living biological tissues.

Awards/Scholarships:

• Professor Kai Yip Cho Memorial Scholarship
• Australian Postgraduate award
• University Medal for outstanding scholarship

Ms Batchimeg Ganbold

BSc (Chemical Engineering) Ankara University, MSc (Chemical Engineering) Yildiz Technical University.

"NMR of Ion Dynamics in Solution (including ionic liquids and salt-polymer electrolytes)."

Research Interests: Ionic liquids: Experimentally investigate and clarify the nature of ion diffusion and conduction in lithium salt-polymer and ionic liquids

Awards & Scholarships

• Euroasia Pacific UNINET Scholarship (Austria)-one time, 2009
• IAESTE, DAAD - Germany Oct 8 - Nov 30, 2009
• EIPRS - 2011

B Ganbold Publications (PDF, 18Kb) 

Mr Benjamin Moroney

BSc(Advanced Science), BSc(Honours, Class I)

"Advanced Numerical Modelling of NMR Diffusion Experiments"

Awards/Scholarships:

• Australian Postgraduate Award and UWS Top-Up (2009)

Mr Amninder Virk

BSc Nanotechnology and BSc (Honours, Class 1)

"Experimental and Theoretical Modelling of Diffusion in Biological Milieu"

Research Interest: Diffusion is the most fundamental transport in biological cells and is, for example, how most reactants make their way to the active sites of enzymes and how the products move away. Thus being able to probe diffusion is important for understanding the metabolism and the functioning of biological cells. Since diffusion is also sensitive to changes in the molecular weight and shape of diffusing species, diffusion measurements are also important for probing the self-association of molecules and thus become important in understanding how larger structures are built up – including in some diseased states (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). If the diffusion measurement is performed over a timespan D then the measurement will provide information on structural boundaries (restricted diffusion) as well as obstructions that the diffusing species is subject to during D. NMR diffusion measurements are now established as one of the most powerful techniques for measuring diffusion due to its speed accuracy and non-invasive nature. However, most of the theory used to analyse the resulting data has been derived on the assumption that the diffusion is occurring at infinite dilution. Clearly in cellular milieu this is never true as they are almost always crowded systems. For example in a red blood cell much of the intracellular volume is taken up by the protein haemoglobin. Thus, it is possible that a diffusion measurement can be reporting on true self-diffusion, obstruction and molecular association. Without cogent models it is extremely difficult to separate these effects out. Yet, the ability to separate them out will provide a huge increase in the amount of information available. My research includes the development of cogent semi-analytical and numerical models (e.g., Brownian Dynamics simulations) in tandem with extensive experiments on well-chosen model systems that attempt to mimic various aspects of the intracellular milieu (e.g., crowding conditions) to test the validity of the simulated models.

Awards/Scholarships:

• Honours Scholarship
• UWSIPRS Post Graduate Research Scholarship

Mr Scott Willis 

BSc (Nanotechnology) with Distinction, BSc (Honours, Class I), PhD Candidate since 2009.

“Development of novel technologies for solution phase chemical separations.”

Research Interests: My research interests lie in the synthesis of polymeric and other materials, and  the study of diffusion in polydisperse and anisotropic systems.

I have been in the Nanoscale Organisation and Dynamics Group at UWS for about 3 years. While I was in the 3rd year of my BSc (Nanotechnology) degree I undertook two short research projects, one was looking at the hydration of some amino acids using NMR diffusion measurements and the other was looking at some properties of star polymers.

For my honours project in 2008, I looked at the effects of polydispersity on self-diffusion in linear and star polymer systems with NMR diffusion measurements. I am currently working on my PhD with my two main supervisors, Prof. William S. Price and Dr Gary R. Dennis.

Awards/Scholarships:

• Australian Postgraduate Award and UWS Top-Up (2009)
• UWS Medal for outstanding scholarship (for 2008)
• UWS Honours Scholarship (2008)
• UWS Dean's Medal (for 2005 - 2007)
• Ellice Swinbourne Prize (for 2005 - 2007)
• UWS U Step Merit Equity Scholarship (2005 - 2007)
• Flender Prize for Mechatronics (for 2001 - 2003)

S.Willis Publications - (PDF, 10Kb)

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Honours Candidates 

Mr James Stranger

BSc (Advanced Science)

"NMR Studies of Molecular Dynamics in Ionic Liquids"

Research Interests: The aims of this project are to: (i) experimentally investigate and clarify the nature of ion translational diffusion and reorientational motions in ionic liquids and (ii) to correlate these dynamic parameters with the physical properties of ionic liquids with a view to the development of ionic liquids with improved performance.

Awards/Scholarships:

• UWS Honours Scholarship

Mr Abhishek Gupta

BSc (Nanotechnology)

"NMR studies of novel supramolecular paramagnetic metal ions as highly sensitive contrast agents for MRI"

Research Interests: NMR imaging and the use of various paramagnetic and superparamagentic contrast agents to produce better images. My basic interest is to gain better understanding about the underlying reasons for the high relaxivity of the Mn or Gd complexes in specific supramolecular nanostructure environment by NMR studies.

Awards/Scholarships

• UWS Dean's merit list for 2008, 2009
• UWS Honours Scholarship

Past Group Members 

Dr Nirbhay N Yadav (PhD) - 2009

"Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Modelling Techniques for Probing Porous Systems."

BSc (Honours), MSc (Honours), PhD (UWS 2009)

Awards/Scholarships:

• University representative at the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Winter School (2001)
• Best poster prize award winner at the UWS Imaging and Diffusion Symposium (2006)
• UWS Postgraduate award with stipend (2007-2009)
• First place in the poster prize competition at the ANZMAG 2008 conference (2008)

N Yadav Publications (PDF, 13Kb) 

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