Context - Research Portfolio

ARNTE will synthesise, support and monitor an integrated portfolio of research activities, ranging from high-risk ‘blue sky’ research, through development of enabling technologies, to specific product-oriented projects where Australia has a competitive advantage. The database of research activities currently undertaken by ARNTE members can be found and searched here, and is summarised below. The range of research activities includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• 'Living’ scaffolds
• Angiogenesis
• Ethics of tissue engineering
• Extracellular matrix growth factors
• Impact of tissue engineering on health inequities
• Ocular tissue engineering
• Public perception of tissue engineering
• Rational drug design
• Scaffold - cell interactions
• Scaffold modeling and imaging physical chemistry
• Scaffold production
• Scaffold protein chemistry
• Scaffold surface modification
• Social/ethical/legal/political/economic contextual features of tissue engineering
• Stem cell biology
• Surface – protein interactions
• Tissue engineered blood vessels
• Tissue engineering as art
• Tissue engineering of blood
• Tissue engineering of bone
• Tissue engineering of skin
• Tissue-engineered heart valves

The research portfolio will be synthesised from a range of activities:

Existing research projects will be reviewed and opportunities for expanded involvement of ARNTE expertise and facilities will be identified. Researchers will be encouraged to identify and access the most relevant, up-to-date expertise and infrastructure to enhance their current research programs and develop exciting new projects.

New project proposals will be generated by sub-groups of ARNTE members and submitted to ARNTE for peer evaluation and feedback. Proposals will receive support to assist in the preparation of applications to funding bodies, charitable institutions, and industry where appropriate. ARNTE will also help researchers to identify skill sets and infrastructure that will strengthen their research proposals.

Reviews of all research activities will be carried out periodically. ARNTE will identify potential gaps and synergies across projects, and encourage the development of proposals which address them.

Industry-focused projects will be established to meet specific needs of commercial partners. These will include problem-solving and access to specialised infrastructure as well as basic research activities with research to develop or support defined commercial applications.

Competitions and workshops will be held by ARNTE with the aim of encouraging new research proposals across a range of themes, such as breaking disciplinary barriers, outreach, public debate, and innovation.