Dr Kevin M. Koo
Affiliate of Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
Frazer Institute
Researcher biography
Dr Kevin M. Koo is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Fellow and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) Future Leader Fellow at The University of Queensland (UQ). Dr Koo was awarded his PhD (Dean's Award for Outstanding Thesis & Springer Thesis Prize) from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN), UQ in 2018.
Post-PhD, he begun a productive postdoctoral career with dual industry/academia appointments: as the Head of Assay Development/Lab Director in XING Technologies Pty Ltd (a Brisbane-based biotech start-up) to undertake product development projects for commercialization of disease in vitro diagnostics, and as an Honorary Fellow/Principal Research Scientist at UQ Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR) to continue his academic research in precision cancer nanodiagnostics. His research skills and experiences are honed through dedicated career time spent in both academic research and regulated industry environments.
Dr Koo's research encompasses multi-disciplinary fields of molecular biomarker and nanobiosensor development, translation, and commercialization for precision disease management applications. Presently, he is working on the design and development of integrated multi-bioanalyte sensing technologies to resolve the various challenges around holistic disease pathway understanding and clinical biomarker profiling.
Dr Koo's research endeavours have been recognized by a Metrohm Australia-New Zealand Young Chemist Award (2018), Australian Institute of Policy & Science (AIPS) Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2023) and UQ Faculty of Medicine "Rising Star of the Year" Excellence Award (2024).
Teaching
UQ School of School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB)
BIOT7018 Biologics: Course Coordinator 2025-2026
BIOC7001 Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory: Guest Lecturer 2024-2025
BIOC6001 Introduction to Molecular Biology Laboratory: Guest Lecturer 2024
Book
Koo, Kevin M. (2019). Advancing Gene Fusion Detection Towards Personalized Cancer Nanodiagnostics. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-31000-4
Book Chapters
Wuethrich, Alain, Dey, Shuvashis, Koo, Kevin M, Sina, Abu A. I. and Trau, Matt (2021). Simultaneous BRAFV600E protein and DNA aberration detection in circulating melanoma cells using an integrated multimolecular sensor. Melanoma. (pp. 265-276) New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1205-7_20
Ibn Sina, A. A., Koo, K. M., Ahmed, M., Carrascosa, L. G. and Trau, M. (2018). Interfacial biosensing: direct biosensing of biomolecules at the bare metal interface. Encyclopedia of interfacial chemistry: surface science and electrochemistry. (pp. 269-277) Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-409547-2.14188-5
Journal Articles
Koo, Kevin M., Phillips, Grant, Srihari, Sriganesh, Farrell, Áine, Jaradi, Binny, Fitzpatrick, Kira J., Yaxley, John W., Samaratunga, Hemamali, Mainwaring, Paul N., Ru, Ke‐lin, Korbie, Darren J., Tomlins, Scott A., Roberts, Matthew J., Gardiner, Robert A. and Trau, Matt (2026). Rapid Decentralized Prostate Cancer Risk Stratification by Portable Liquid Biopsy Analysis within a Clinical Biosensor Validation Framework. Advanced Science, 13 (13) e12126, e12126. doi: 10.1002/advs.202512126
Shrestha, Kiran, Farhana, Fatema Zerin, Koo, Kevin M., Darwish, Nadim, Ross, Allen G. and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2026). Challenges in the development and implementation of point-of-care handheld qPCR devices. Small, 22 (3) e06233, 1-21. doi: 10.1002/smll.202506233
Haque, Farjana, Shrestha, Kiran, Farhana, Fatema Zerin, Chakraborty, Moutoshi, Shaon, Md Akeruzzaman, Tantu, Milkiyas Toru, Bin Manjur, Omar Hamza, Aktar, Sharmin, Koo, Kevin M., Hussain, Tanveer, Gurr, Geoff M. and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2026). On-site amplification-free electrochemical detection of the plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa via cathodic potential-induced DNA adsorption. Analyst . doi: 10.1039/d6an00096g
Shaon, Md. Akeruzzaman, Farhana, Fatema Zerin, Sikder, Rushafi, Shrestha, Kiran, Haque, Farjana, Tantu, Milkiyas Toru, Bin Manjur, Omar Hamza, Aktar, Sharmin, Koo, Kevin M., Ross, Allen G. and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2025). Preeclampsia diagnostics and therapeutics: advances, challenges, and prospects in nanoscale exosome-based clinical translation. ACS Nano Medicine, 1 (2) acsnanomed.5c00056, 342-381. doi: 10.1021/acsnanomed.5c00056
Tantu, Milkiyas T., Farhana, Fatema Z., Haque, Farjana, Koo, Kevin M., Qiao, Liang, Ross, Allen G. and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2025). Pathophysiology, noninvasive diagnostics and emerging personalized treatments for metabolic associated liver diseases. npj Gut and Liver, 2 (1) 18, 1-15. doi: 10.1038/s44355-025-00030-2
Koo, Kevin M., Farhana, Fatema Zerin, Ross, Allen G. and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2025). Enhancing electrochemical biosensing of circulating nucleic acids at the electrode-biomolecule-electrolyte interfaces. Analytical Chemistry, 97 (5), 2579-2587. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c05771
Lim, Malcom, Simpson, Peter T., Lakhani, Sunil R., Masud, Mostafa, Puttick, Simon, Rose, Stephen, Roberts, Matthew J. and Koo, Kevin M. (2025). Clinically boosting cancer molecular targeted radioligand therapies with innovative nanomaterials. ChemNanoMat, 11 (1) e202400449, 1-14. doi: 10.1002/cnma.202400449
Lin, Xuan, Vasanth, Arya, Ashok, Aditya, Phan, Hoang-Phuong, Koo, Kevin M., Amin, Mohammed A., Kaneti, Yusuf Valentino, Salomon, Carlos, Hossain, Md Shahriar A., Yamauchi, Yusuke and Masud, Mostafa Kamal (2024). Nanoarchitectonics of point-of-care diagnostics for sweat biomarkers analysis. Nano Materials Science, 6 (6), 647-671. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoms.2024.01.010
Fitzpatrick, Kira J., Rohlf, Hayden J., Phillips, Grant, Macaulay, R. Bruce, Anderson, Will, Price, Rochelle, Wood, Caitlin, James, Ameh, Langhorne, Charlotte, te Brake, Bill, Gibson, Justine S. and Koo, Kevin M. (2024). Point-of-need mastitis pathogen biosensing in bovine milk: From academic sample preparation novelty to industry prototype field testing. Talanta, 277 126424, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126424
Dey, Shuvashis, Kinoshita, Masaki, Puttick, Simon, Rose, Stephen, Trau, Matt, Roberts, Matthew J. and Koo, Kevin M. (2024). Cancer‐on‐chip and integrative tumor microenvironment sensor technologies for progressing precision radiotherapy. Advanced Sensor Research, 3 (7) 2300193, 1-16. doi: 10.1002/adsr.202300193
Jaradi, Binny, Das, Tulika and Koo, Kevin M. (2023). Design and analytical evaluation of a rapid plasma screening assay for circulating human papillomavirus DNA via thermostable enzyme chemistries. Analytical Chemistry, 95 (29), 11172-11180. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.3c02528
Koo, Kevin M. (2023). Multifunctional hybrid nanozymes for magnetic enrichment and bioelectrocatalytic sensing of circulating tumor RNA during minimal residual disease monitoring. Catalysts, 13 (1) 178, 1-10. doi: 10.3390/catal13010178
Dey, Shuvashis, Koo, Kevin M., Ahmed, Emtiaz and Trau, Matt (2023). Nanophotonic immunoarray with electrochemically roughened surfaces for handheld detection of secreted PD-L1 to predict immuno-oncology efficacy. Lab on a Chip, 23 (15), 3443-3452. doi: 10.1039/d3lc00523b
Tan, Tira J., Fink, J. Lynn, Tay, Timothy K., Jaradi, Binny, Stone, Nathan, Waring, Paul, Koo, Kevin M., Tan, Puay Hoon, Tan, Daniel S. and Dent, Rebecca A. (2022). Exquisitely platinum-sensitive triple-negative breast cancer, time for BRCA methylation testing?. JCO Precision Oncology, 6 (6) e2200309, e2200309. doi: 10.1200/po.22.00309
Wang, Jing, Koo, Kevin M. and Trau, Matt (2022). Tetraplex immunophenotyping of cell surface proteomes via synthesized plasmonic nanotags and portable raman spectroscopy. Analytical Chemistry, 94 (43), 14906-14916. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02262
Velaga, Ravi, Koo, Kevin M. and Mainwaring, Paul N. (2022). Harnessing gene fusion-derived neoantigens for ‘cold’ breast and prostate tumor immunotherapy. Immunotherapy, 14 (14), 1165-1179. doi: 10.2217/imt-2022-0081
Koo, Kevin M. and Trau, Matt (2022). Molecular locker probe enrichment of gene fusion variants from matched patient liquid biopsy specimens for magneto-bioelectrocatalytic nanosensing. Nanoscale, 14 (11), 4225-4233. doi: 10.1039/d1nr07845c
Fitzpatrick, Kira J., Rohlf, Hayden J., Sutherland, Tara D., Koo, Kevin M., Beckett, Sam, Okelo, Walter O., Keyburn, Anthony L., Morgan, Branwen S., Drigo, Barbara, Trau, Matt, Donner, Erica, Djordjevic, Steven P. and De Barro, Paul J. (2021). Progressing antimicrobial resistance sensing technologies across human, animal, and environmental health domains. ACS Sensors, 6 (12) acssensors.1c01973, 4283-4296. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.1c01973
Soda, Narshone, Gonzaga, Zennia Jean, Chen, Shuxiong, Koo, Kevin M., Nguyen, Nam-Trung, Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Rehm, Bernd H. A. (2021). Bioengineered Polymer Nanobeads for Isolation and Electrochemical Detection of Cancer Biomarkers. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 13 (27) acsami.1c05355, 31418-31430. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c05355
Singh, Karishma, Nalabotala, Ruchika, Koo, Kevin M., Bose, Sudeep, Nayak, Ranu and Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. (2021). Separation of distinct exosome subpopulations: isolation and characterization approaches and their associated challenges. Analyst, 146 (12), 3731-3749. doi: 10.1039/d1an00024a
Koo, Kevin M., Soda, Narshone and Shiddiky, Muhammad J.A. (2021). Magnetic nanomaterial–based electrochemical biosensors for the detection of diverse circulating cancer biomarkers. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 25 100645, 100645. doi: 10.1016/j.coelec.2020.100645
Zeng, Yi, Koo, Kevin M., Shen, Ai-Guo, Hu, Ji-Ming and Trau, Matt (2021). Nucleic acid hybridization-based noise suppression for ultraselective multiplexed amplification of mutant variants. Small, 17 (2) 2006370, e2006370. doi: 10.1002/smll.202006370
Koo, Kevin M. and Trau, Matt (2020). Direct enhanced detection of multiple circulating tumor dna variants in unprocessed plasma by magnetic-assisted bioelectrocatalytic cycling. ACS Sensors, 5 (10), 3217-3225. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.0c01512
Li, Junrong, Wuethrich, Alain, Dey, Shuvashi, Lane, Rebecca E., Sina, Abu A. I., Wang, Jing, Wang, Yuling, Puttick, Simon, Koo, Kevin M. and Trau, Matt (2020). Multiomics: The Growing Impact of Micro/Nanomaterial‐Based Systems in Precision Oncology: Translating “Multiomics” Technologies (Adv. Funct. Mater. 37/2020). Advanced Functional Materials, 30 (37) 2070248. doi: 10.1002/adfm.202070248
Dey, Shuvashis, Trau, Matt and Koo, Kevin M. (2020). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for cancer immunotherapy applications: opportunities, challenges, and current progress in nanomaterial strategies. Nanomaterials, 10 (6) 1145, 1-15. doi: 10.3390/nano10061145
Koo, Kevin M. and Mainwaring, Paul N. (2020). The role of circulating tumor DNA testing in breast cancer liquid biopsies: getting ready for prime time. Breast Cancer Management, 9 (1), BMT34. doi: 10.2217/bmt-2020-0003
Li, Junrong, Wuethrich, Alain, Dey, Shuvashi, Lane, Rebecca E., Sina, Abu A. I., Wang, Jing, Wang, Yuling, Puttick, Simon, Koo, Kevin M. and Trau, Matt (2020). The growing impact of micro/nanomaterial-based systems in precision oncology: translating “multiomics” technologies. Advanced Functional Materials, 30 (37) 1909306, 1909306. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201909306
Li, Junrong, Koo, Kevin M., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2019). Native MicroRNA targets trigger self‐assembly of nanozyme‐patterned hollowed nanocuboids with optimal interparticle gaps for plasmonic‐activated cancer detection. Small, 15 (50) 1904689, 1904689. doi: 10.1002/smll.201904689
Wang, Jing, Koo, Kevin M., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2019). Engineering state-of-the-art plasmonic nanomaterials for SERS-based clinical liquid biopsy applications. Advanced Science, 6 (23) 1900730, 1900730. doi: 10.1002/advs.201900730
Zeng, Yi, Koo, Kevin M., Trau, Matt, Shen, Ai-Guo and Hu, Ji-Ming (2019). Watching SERS glow for multiplex biomolecular analysis in the clinic: A review. Applied Materials Today, 15, 431-444. doi: 10.1016/j.apmt.2019.03.005
Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N., Tomlins, Scott A. and Trau, Matt (2019). Merging new-age biomarkers and nanodiagnostics for precision prostate cancer management. Nature Reviews Urology, 16 (5), 302-317. doi: 10.1038/s41585-019-0178-2
Ahmed, Mostak, Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N., Carrascosa, Laura G. and Trau, Matt (2019). Phosphoprotein biosensors for monitoring pathological protein structural changes. Trends in Biotechnology, 38 (5), 519-531. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.11.006
Dey, Shuvashis, Koo, Kevin, Wang, Zhaoran, Sina, Abu Ali Ibn, Wuethrich, Alain and Trau, Matt (2018). An integrated multi-molecular sensor for simultaneous BRAFV600E protein and DNA single point mutation detection in circulating tumour cells. Lab on a Chip, 19 (5), 738-748. doi: 10.1039/c8lc00991k
Koo, Kevin M., Dey, Shuvashis and Trau, Matt (2018). A sample-to-targeted gene analysis biochip for nanofluidic manipulation of solid-phase circulating tumor nucleic acid amplification in liquid biopsies. ACS Sensors, 3 (12) acssensors.8b01011, 2597-2603. doi: 10.1021/acssensors.8b01011
Wang, Jing, Koo, Kevin M., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2018). "Mix-to-go" silver colloidal strategy for prostate cancer molecular profiling and risk prediction. Analytical Chemistry, 90 (21), 12698-12705. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b02959
Koo, Kevin M., Wang, Jing, Richards, Renée S., Farrell, Aine, Yaxley, John W., Samaratunga, Hema, Teloken, Patrick E., Roberts, Matthew J., Coughlin, Geoffrey D., Lavin, Martin F., Mainwaring, Paul N., Wang, Yuling, Gardiner, Robert A. and Trau, Matt (2018). Design and clinical verification of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy diagnostic technology for individual cancer risk prediction. ACS Nano, 12 (8), 8362-8371. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b03698
Koo, Kevin M., Dey, Shuvashis and Trau, Matt (2018). Amplification-free multi-RNA-type profiling for cancer risk stratification via alternating current electrohydrodynamic nanomixing. Small, 14 (17) 1704025, e1704025. doi: 10.1002/smll.201704025
Koo, Kevin M., Dey, Shuvashis and Trau, Matt (2018). Adjustable fluidic nanomixing: amplification-free multi-RNA-type profiling for cancer risk stratification via alternating current electrohydrodynamic nanomixing (Small 17/2018). Small, 14 (17) 1870075. doi: 10.1002/smll.201870075
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2017). Enabling miniaturised personalised diagnostics: from lab-on-a-chip to lab-in-a-drop. Lab On a Chip, 17 (19), 3200-3220. doi: 10.1039/c7lc00587c
Koo, Kevin M. , Carrascosa, Laura G. and Trau, Matt (2017). DNA-directed assembly of copper nanoblocks with inbuilt fluorescent and electrochemical properties: Application in simultaneous amplification-free analysis of multiple RNA species. Nano Research, 11 (2), 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s12274-017-1706-0
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H. and Trau, Matt (2017). High-speed biosensing strategy for non-invasive profiling of multiple cancer fusion genes in urine. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 89 (2), 715-720. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.11.024
Wang, Jing, Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2017). A nanoplasmonic label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering strategy for non-invasive cancer genetic subtyping in patient samples. Nanoscale, 9 (10), 3496-3503. doi: 10.1039/c6nr09928a
Koo, Kevin M., McNamara, Benjamin, Wee, Eugene J. H., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2016). Rapid and sensitive fusion gene detection in prostate cancer urinary specimens by label-free surface-enhanced raman scattering. Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, 12 (9), 1798-1805. doi: 10.1166/jbn.2016.2294
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Matt (2016). A simple, rapid, low-cost technique for naked-eye detection of urine-isolated TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion RNA. Scientific reports, 6 (1) 30722, 30722. doi: 10.1038/srep30722
Koo, Kevin M., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2016). Amplification-free detection of gene fusions in prostate cancer urinary samples using mRNA-gold affinity interactions. Analytical Chemistry, 88 (13), 6781-6788. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01182
Koo, Kevin, Wee, Eugene and Trau, Matt (2016). Colorimetric TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion detection in prostate cancer urinary samples via recombinase polymerase amplification. Theranostics, 6 (9), 1415-1424. doi: 10.7150/thno.15250
Koo, Kevin M., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2016). Poly(A) extensions of miRNAs for amplification-free electrochemical detection on screen-printed gold electrodes. Analytical Chemistry, 88 (4), 2000-2005. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b04795
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene J. H., Mainwaring, Paul N., Wang, Yuling and Trau, Matt (2016). Toward precision medicine: a cancer molecular subtyping nano-trategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine. Small, 12 (45), 6233-6242. doi: 10.1002/smll.201602161
Koo, Kevin M., Sina, Abu A. I., Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2015). DNA-bare gold affinity interactions: mechanism and applications in biosensing. Analytical Methods, 7 (17), 1-13. doi: 10.1039/c5ay01479d
Koo, Kevin M., Sina, Abu Ali Ibn, Carrascosa, Laura G., Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2014). eMethylsorb: rapid quantification of DNA methylation in cancer cells on screen-printed gold electrodes. Analyst, 139 (23), 6178-6184. doi: 10.1039/c4an01641f
Koo, Kevin M., Wee, Eugene, Rauf, Sakandar, Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2014). Microdevices for detecting locus-specific DNA methylation at CpG resolution. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 56, 278-285. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2014.01.029
Wee, Eugene J. H., Rauf, Sakandar, Koo, Kevin, Shiddiky, Muhammad J. A. and Trau, Matt (2013). mu-eLCR: a microfabricated device for electrochemical detection of DNA base changes in breast cancer cell lines. Lab on a Chip, 13 (22), 4385-4391-4385-4391. doi: 10.1039/C3LC50528F
Conference Papers
Roberts, Matthew, Koo, Kevin, Yaxley, John, Samaratunga, Hema, Jones, Andrew, Trau, Matt and Gardiner, Frank (2025). Non-invasive detection of significant prostate cancer with a 3-gene urine test. 77th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Urological-Society-of-Australia-and-New Zealand, Perth, WA Australia, 1-4 March 2025. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley.
Mainwaring, Paul N., Grewal, Yadveer S., Koo, Kevin M., Anderson, Will and Korbie, Darren J. (2019). Liquid biopsy in cancer—getting down to the nano level. Can nano-diagnostics lead to comprehensive, accurate, and affordable biomarkers to improve advanced breast (ABC) care?. Advanced Breast Cancer Fifth International Consensus Conference (ABC5), Lisbon, Portugal, 14 - 16 November, 2019. London, United Kingdom: Churchill Livingstone. doi: 10.1016/s0960-9776(19)30638-1
Gardiner, F., Koo, K., Wang, J., Richards, R., Farrell, A., Yaxley, J., Samaratunga, H., Teloken, P., Roberts, M., Coughlin, G., Lavin, M., Mainwaring, P., Wang, Y., Gardiner, R. and Trau, M. (2019). Design and clinical validation of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy nanodiagnostic technology for urinary prostate cancer risk prediction. Annual Scientific Meeting of the Urological Society of Australia and New-Zealand, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 April 2019. Chichester, West Sussex United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.
Koo, K., Wee, E., Mainwaring, P., Wang, Y. and Trau, M. (2016). Towards precision medicine: A cancer molecular subtyping nano-strategy for RNA biomarkers in tumor and urine. 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, Munich Germany, November 29 - December 2 2016. United Kingdom: Pergamon. doi: 10.1016/S0959-8049(16)32680-6
Wee, Eugene J.H., Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Mattias (2015). Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology. 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL United States, 29 May - 2 June 2015. Alexandria, VA United States: American Society of Clinical Oncology. doi: 10.1200/jco.2015.33.15_suppl.11063
Wee, Eugene J. H., Koo, Kevin M., Mainwaring, Paul N. and Trau, Mattias (2015). Towards rapid and cost-effective point-of-care detection of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion transcripts in urine via a novel methodology. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Chicago, IL United States, 29 May-02 June 2015. Alexandria, VA United States: American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Thesis
Koo, Maisheng (2018). Advancing Gene Fusion Detection towards Personalized Cancer Nanodiagnostics. PhD Thesis, The Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.716