Associate Professor David Nisbet

David Nisbet is an Associate Professor in the Research School of Engineering at the Australian National University and the Head of the Laboratory of Advanced Biomaterials. Dave joined the ANU after completing his PhD at Monash University and postdoctoral Fulbright scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dave is passionate about developing novel biomaterials, and particularly about seeing the biomaterials developed for clinical applications. His research groups consist of team of engineerings, chemists, and biologists, all working together to create novel materials to help combat injury and disease.

Current Postdoctoral Fellows

Vini Gautam
Vini’s research is focused on developing nanostructured scaffolds for engineering the growth of neuronal cells on artificial substrates. She is a postdoctoral fellow in collaboration with the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the ANU. Vini previously received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (India) and has a research background in conducting polymers, bioelectronics and retinal prosthesis.

Current PhD Students

​Yi Wang

For her PhD, Yi is investigating the use of self-assembling peptides for viral vector gene delivery. Our recent work has shown that by altering the electrostatic interactions of these materials, they can operate successfully as gene delivery vehicles. Yi is investigating this process in 3D cell cultures and is considering the controlled delivery of genetic material for the treatment of disease.

Francesca Maclean

Francesca’s project focuses on controlling the response of astrocytes after penetrating traumatic injury, whilst also providing a growth-permissive environment, using  self-assembling peptide hydrogels and nanofibres.  She is investigating the in vivo response to these materials using a traumatic (stab) mouse model, and is also developing 3D culture environments in which to further study the ability of these biomaterials to attenuate the astrocytic inflammatory response.
To see previous PhD students, click here.

​Undergraduate Students