Associate Professor Benjamin Thierry
Contact Details
Tel: +61 8 8302 3689
Fax: +61 8 8302 3683
Email: benjamin.thierry@unisa.edu.au
Position
Associate Research Professor
Sector Coordinator:
Bio and
Polymer Interfaces
Qualifications
BEng INP Grenoble, France MSc Ecole Polytechnique Montreal, Canada PhD
McGill, Canada
Background
Benjamin Thierry was educated in France, obtaining his Engineering degree in Chemical Physics and Materials Sciences at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG). He then moved to Montreal to complete his Masters at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Benjamin did his PhD in the
Department of Biomedical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada under the supervision of
Prof Tabrizian, Prof Winnik and Prof Mehri. His work involved the
development of new strategies for revascularization procedures based on
surface modification of endovascular devices. After completing his
studies, Benjamin worked in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at
McGill to pursue the work initiated during his PhD on the Layer-by-Layer
assembly of functionalized biocompatible thin films. Benjamin joined The
Wark in May 2004.
Research Interests
As an Associate Research Professor at UniSA, Benjamin has undertaken independent
research of high quality and high impact in the area of nanomedicine,
the medical application of nanotechnology. He is particularly
interested in the development of nanotechnology-enabled diagnostic and
therapeutic procedures against cancer. Although many
nanotechnology-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies have been
successful in vitro, implementation into clinical practice has often
proven inefficient; to fully benefit from the outstanding properties of nanomaterials,
an improved understanding of the structure-activity relationship is
required. To this extent, Benjamin is currently focusing on
three emerging research areas.
First, he is interested in the 'green synthesis' of novel functional nanoparticles using for instance polyol chemistry. Benjamin is also focussing
on the integration of solid nanoparticles into hybrid functional
nanostructures with multimodal diagnostic/therapeutic activity. The
second area involves the control of bio-interfaces at the nanoscale
towards the improved (immune) targeting of nanoparticles to pathological
tissues. A successful collaboration with the Royal Adelaide Hospital has
been already established to design an advanced MRI-nanoprobe for the
detection of intratumoral apoptosis, which could potentially spare
ineffective chemotherapy to patients and advance the drug development
process. The manuscript reporting this work has been recently accepted
for publication in Advanced Materials.
The third component of his research program aims at designing solid
state capture systems able to provide fast and reliable detection of
target cells captured from biological samples, which aim to better
predict cancer outcomes.
A key aspect of his research strategy is the establishment of genuine inter-disciplinary research projects with National and International leaders such as Prof Tabrizian (McGill University), Prof Winnik (University of Montreal), Dr Barbe (Ceramisphere/ANSTO), Prof Ghiggino (University of Melbourne), Dr Stretch (Sydney Melanoma Centre) and A/Prof Yuan Xu-bo (Tianjin University). The excellence and peer recognition of his research activities is demonstrated by successful applications for funding to the ARC, the NHMRC, the CIHR, and the South Australian Cancer Council. The excellence of his research is also attested by his publication track record (323 citations to date - June 2008). As the first or corresponding author, he has published 17 scientific articles in high quality peer reviewed international journals (9 in A* journals - top 5%), including the JACS (highest ranked journal in Chemistry) and Advanced Materials (highest ranked journal in material science). Eight additional manuscripts reporting recent work in the field have been, or will be submitted soon.
Supervisor - Available Postgraduate/Honours Projects
A
microfluidic device for detection of circulating cancer cells (P/H)
Advanced gold
nanoparticle hybrids for photothermal therapy (P/H)
Immunotargeted
nanoparticulate MRI contrast agents (P/H)
Functional nanomaterials for cancer diagnosis and lymph node imaging
(H)
Robust immobilization of antibodies onto magnetic nanoparticles (H)
Surface engineered nanoparticles for water treatment - Desalination (H)
Funding
ARC discovery project DP0881254 (Griesser H. J., Thierry B., Prestidge C.,
Brown M. B., Majewski P., Tabrizian M.)
NH&MRC project grant 511303 (Griesser H. J., Thierry B., Brown M. B., Majewski P., Taylor, J. D.)
CIHR Regenerative Medicine program (Tabrizian M., Thierry B., Winnik F.,
Mehri Y., Tanguy J.F., Nadeau, J.)
Cancer Australia and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (Russell PJ,
Thierry B, Walsh BJ, Bucci J, de Souza P, Khatri A)
South Australia Cancer Council Grant (Griesser H. J., Thierry B., Brown M.
B., Majewski P., Taylor, J. D.)
Publications
Total: 20 published (17 as first or *corresponding author); 9 in A* (top 5%)
and 6 in A (top 20%) journals (ERA ARC Australian Ranking of Journals 2008);
394 citations; 4 book chapters; 2 patents; 6 invited talks; 32
communications in international conferences.
Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals
22 Thierry B.*, Al-Ejeh F., Khatri A., Yuan Z., Russell P.J., Ping S., Brown
M.P., Majewski P. Multifunctional Hybrid Core-Shell Nanostructures: Towards
Combined Cisplatin- and Gene-Based Anti-Cancer Therapy. Submitted to the
Journal of the American Chemical Society
21 Thierry B.*, Griesser H.J. Gold Nanorods-Organic Polymer Hybrid
Nanostructures for Simultaneous Photodynamic/Photothermal Therapy. Under
review Journal of the American Chemical Society
20 Thierry B.*, Ng J., Krieg T., Griesser H.J. A Robust Procedure for the
Functionalization of Gold Nanorods and Noble Metal Nanoparticles. Chemical
Communication, Accepted Jan. 2009 (A, IF 5.1)
19 Thierry B.*, Al-Ejeh F., Brown M., Majewski P., Griesser H.J.
Immunotargeting of advanced functional nanostructures for cancer diagnosis
and treatment. Advanced Materials (In press) (A*, IF 8.2)
18 Al-Ejeh F., Darby J.M., Thierry B., Brown M. Modulating the ratio of
metal chelator-antibody conjugation to optimize radioimmunoscintigraphy and
radioimmunotherapy applications. Nuclear Medicine and Biology (B, IF 2.5)
(In press)
17 Pan W. R., Rozen W. M., Stretch J., Thierry B., Suami H., Ashton M. W.,
Corlett R. J., Taylor I. Advanced Imaging Technologies for Mapping Cadaveric
Lymphatic Anatomy: Magnetic Resonance and Computed Tomography
Lymphangiography. Lymphology 41, 126-130 (2008)
16 Thierry B.,* Winnik F., Merhi Y., Griesser H.J., Tabrizian M. Effective
Immobilization of Hyaluronan on Metal Surfaces: Towards Biomimetic
Haemocompatible Coatings. Langmuir 24(20) 11834-11841 (2008) (A*, IF 4.0)
15 Thierry B.*, Jasieniak M., De Smet L., Vasilev K., Griesser H.J. Reactive
epoxide thin film by pulsed-plasma polymerization. Langmuir, 24(18)
10187-10195 (2008) (A*, IF 4.0)
14 Thierry B.*, Zimmer L., McNiven S., Finnie K., Barb C., Griesser H.J.
Design of a new stealth drug delivery system: Electrostatic self-assembly of
PEG copolymers onto silica nanoparticles. Langmuir, 24(15) 8143-8150 (2008)
(A*, IF 4.0)
13 Majewski P., Thierry B. Superparamagnetic Magnetite (Fe3O4) Nanoparticles
for Bio-Applications, Journal of Recent Patents in Materials Science, 1(2)
116-127 (2008) (NA)
12 Majewski P., Thierry B.* Functionalized magnetite nanoparticles �
synthesis, properties, and bio-applications, Critical Reviews in Solid State
and Materials Science, 32, 203-215 (2007) (A, IF 4.1)
11 Thierry B.*, Majewski P., Ngothai Y., Shi Y. Preparation of Monodisperse
Functionalized Nanoparticles, Internat. J. Nanotechnology, 4, 5. (2007) (NA)
10 Thierry B., Winnik F., Merhi Y., Silver J., Tabrizian M. Biodegradable
Membrane Covered Stents from Chitosan based Polymers: Design and
Characterization, J. Biomed. Mat. Res. 75A(3) 556-566 (2005) (A, IF 2.6)
9 Thierry B., Kujawa P., Tkacyk C, Winnik F.M., Bilodeau L., Tabrizian M.
Novel Drug Delivery Platform through Combined Prodrug Approach and
Self-Assembled Multilayers, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127(6)
1626-1627 (2004) (A*, IF 7.9)
8 Thierry B., Faghihi S., Torab L., Pike G.B., Tabrizian M. Magnetic
Resonance Signal-Enhancing Self-Assembled Coating for Endovascular Devices,
Advanced Materials. (2004) (A*, IF 8.2)
7 Thierry B., Winnik F., Merhi Y., Silver J., Tabrizian M. Bioactive
Coatings of Endovascular Stents based on Polyelectrolyte Multilayers,
Biomacromolecules, 4(6) 1564-71 (2003) (A, IF 4.2)
6 Thierry B., Winnik F., Merhi Y., Tabrizian M.
Radionuclides-Hyaluronan-Conjugate Thromboresistant Coatings to Prevent
Restenosis, Biomaterials. 25(17) 3895-905 (2003) (A*, IF 6.3)
5 Thierry B. and Tabrizian M. Biocompatibility and Biostability of Metallic
Materials: Current Status and Future Perspective, Journal of Endovascular
Therapy, 10(4) 807-24 (2003) (B, IF 2.4)
4 Thierry B., Winnik F., Merhi Y., Tabrizian M. Nanocoatings onto Arteries
via Layer-by Layer Deposition: Towards the In-Vivo Repair of Damaged Blood
Vessels, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 125(25) 7494-7495. (2003)
Comment in Nature, Materials update 5 June 2003). (A*, IF 7.9)
3 Thierry B., Merhi Y., Bilodeau L., Silver J., Tabrizian M. Nitinol versus
Stainless Steel Stents: Acute Thrombogenicity Study in an Ex Vivo Porcine
Model, Biomaterials. 23(14) 2997-3005 (2001) (A*, IF 6.3)
2 Thierry B., Tabrizian M., Savadogo O., Yahia LH. Effect of Surface
Treatments and Sterilization Processes on the Corrosion Behavior of NiTi
Shape Memory Alloy, J. Biomed. Mat. Res. 51(4), 685-93 (2000) (A, IF 2.6)
1 Thierry B., Tabrizian M., Savadogo O., Yahia LH. Effects of Sterilization
Processes on NiTi Alloy: Surface Characterization, J. Biomed. Mat. Res.
49(1), 88-89 (2000) (A, IF 2.6)
Patents
2008 Thierry. B. Gold Nanorods-Organic Polymer Hybrid Nanostructures for
Simultaneous Photodynamic/Photothermal Therapy. Provisional patent (July
2008)
2003 Thierry B., Tabrizian M. Biodegradable Membrane Covered Implants.
WO/2004/112863
Book Chapters
4 Majewski P., Thierry B. Functionalized magnetite nanoparticles,
synthesis, properties, and bio-applications, In Systems in Nano and
Biotechnologies, Wolfgang Sigmund, Taylor and Francis (In press)
3 Thierry B., Majewski P. Magnetic Nanoparticles, In 2nd edition of The
Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (In press)
2 Thierry B., Bilodeau L., Tabrizian M. Stents, In Encyclopedia of
Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Marcel Dekker. (2005)
1 Thierry B., Tabrizian M., Merhi Y., Bilodeau L., Yahia L�H. Effects of
Surface Modifications Induced by Sterilization Processes on the
Thrombogenicity of NiTi Stents, In Shape Memory Implants, Yahia LH.,
Springler-Verlag, 253-266 (2000)
Invited Speaker
6 Thierry B. Functional Nanoparticles for Medical Applications: Green
Synthesis, Surface Engineering and Immunotargeting. 2nd Annual Meeting of
the Australian Controlled Release Society. Canberra, Dec 07 (2008)
5 Thierry B., Griesser H.J. Functional Nanoparticles: Lessons from Surface.
BioInterfaces Workshop, Adelaide, June 27th (2007)
4 Thierry B. Control of Bio-Interfaces for the Development of Advanced
Functional (Nano)Biomaterials. Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne,
Lausanne, May 15 (2007)
3 Thierry B. Controlling Nanoparticle bio-interfaces: a requirement to
nanobiotechnology ? McGill Institute for Advanced Materials Seminars.
Montreal, May 04 (2007)
2 Thierry B, Zimmer L., Griesser H.J. Control of Bio-Interfaces and
Application to Drug Delivery. Advanced Nanostructures for Drug Delivery
Workshop, Adelaide, May 04 (2006)
1 Thierry B. Biomedical applications of Layer-by-Layer Assembled Multilayers.
ETH, Zurich, Jan 19 (2005)
Teaching
UniSA Bachelor of Science (Honours) Nano- and Biomaterials Program Course
Coordinator: Biomaterials (Advanced Topics in Materials and Interfaces)
Description: This course deals with the properties of biomaterials currently
used including metallic, ceramic, polymeric, and biological materials. The
course covers the fundamentals of biocompatibility and introduces the new
trends in the field such as nanobiotechnology, targeted drug delivery,
regenerative medicine and biosensor/microarray technology. The lectures are
given in the form of 15 seminars by lecturers from UniSA or other local
university. In addition to coordinating the course, A/Prof Thierry is teaching
about 60% of the lectures.