Training

By collaborating with universities, research institutes and hospitals, our senior researchers supervise students undertaking original research. There aren't many things we love more than hearing their fresh ideas!

2019-2020 projects

Students who are supported by scholarships are shown with an asterisk, and Lifeblood supervisors are shown in bold.

Student name	Project title	Degree	Institution	Supervisors
Faheed Alkhureeb	Coursework Masters Research Placement	Master of Science	Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology	Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Robert Flower
Timothy An*	Occult Hepatitis C Infection: Is There a Risk to Transfusion Safety?	MPhil	University of Queensland	Prof Robert Flower, Dr Helen Faddy, Dr Melinda Dean
Isabella Baines (completed)	Their lives in your veins: How the use of affect and memory could bolster the loyalty of blood donors	BPschSchi (Honours)	The University of Queensland	Prof Barbara Masser
*Joshua Bates (completed)**	A comparison of cell-free DNA extraction kits as suitable pre-analytical methods for non-invasive prenatal blood group genotyping	Vacation Research Student Undergraduate	Queensland University of Technology	Helen O'Brien, Prof Catherine Hyland, Prof Robert Flower Christine Knauth
Jason Bouwmeester	Ethnic diversity and English speaking Western Countries’ blood services	Bachelor of Arts	Bachelor of Arts Swinburne University of Technology	Dr Luke Gahan, Dr Aisling Bailey
Liam Byrne	Fluid resuscitation during sepsis: Effects upon the microcirculation	PhD	Australian National University	Dr John Paul Tung, Prof John Fraser, Prof Frank van Haren
Chiara Carnaveli*	Arbovirus transmission and Climate Change	Global Change Scholar Program	University of Queensland	Dr Elvina Viennet
Cassandra Chapman*	Toward a Triadic Understanding of Charitable Giving: How Donors, Beneficiaries, Fundraisers, and Social Contexts Influence Donation Decisions	PhD	The University of Queensland	Prof Winnifred Louis, Prof Barbara Masser
Anne-Marie Christensen	Extracellular traps and TRALI: more than just neutrophils	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	Prof Robert Flower, Dr Melinda Dean, Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Damien Harkin
Roberta Dumbrava	Serum Eye Drop Manufacture and Usage in Australia	Doctor of Medicine	University of Western Australia	Dr Joanne Tan, Dr Peter Bentley
Jared Edgeworth	Responding to Crisis: How did the impact on blood donations in Australia during the Natural Disasters of 2019 differ from Covid-19 Pandemic?	Placement	Queensland University of Technology	Dr Elvina Viennet, Dr Eileen Roulis, Prof Robert Flower
Abby Edwards (completed)	The role of emotions in the impact of voluntary reciprocal altruism and the question-behaviour effect on blood donation willingness and behaviour.	BPsychSci (Honours)	University of Queensland	Prof Barbara Masser
Serena Ekman*	Applying biotechnology to improve management of alloimmunisation to red cell antigens	PhD	University of Queensland	Prof Catherine Hyland, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Xuan Bui, Dr Martina Jones, Dr Stephen Mahler
*Nadeeshani Maheshika Geekiyanage (completed)**	Numerical investigation of recoverability of morphological and deformability changes of stored red blood cells.	PhD	Queensland University of Technology PhD	Prof YuanTong Gu, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Emilie Sauret, and Dr Suvash Saha
Wilbert Gonzales	Techniques for noninvasive glucose monitoring and blood cell counting	PhD	University of Queensland - Electromagnetic Innovations Group, School of IT & Electrical Engineering	Prof Amin Abbosh, Dr Ahmed Toaha Mobashsher, Dr Xuan Bui, Prof Robert Flower
Sarah Green (nee Raynel)*	Characterisation of biological response modifiers (BRMs) in transfusible platelet products	PhD	University of Technology Sydney	Dr Lacey Johnson, Dr Matthew Padula
Ji Hui Hwang*	Investigating the role of extracellular vesicles in blood components and their impact on coagulation	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Natalie Pechiniuk, Prof Damien Harkin
Sudhir Jadhao*	Integrated bioinformatics solution to improve compatibility testing for blood transfusion	PhD	Queensland University of Technology, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and School of Biomedical Sciences (IHBI)	Dr Shivashankar H Nagaraj A/Prof Catherine Hyland, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Elizna Schoeman, Dr Eileen Roulis
Yu Ji*	Determine the clinical significance of Red Cell Antibodies	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	Prof YuanTong Gu, Dr Emilie Sauret, Dr Suvash Saha, Dr Melinda Dean, Prof Robert Flower
Michael Lam*	The Effectiveness of Combining Warm Glow and Altruistic Appeals in Retaining First Time Blood Donors	PhD	The University of Queensland	Prof Barbara Masser
*Pearl Lei (completed)**	Does blood donation frequency influence the release of biological response modifiers from donated red cells during storage?	Summer Research Scholarship	University of Sydney	Dr Joanne Tan, Dr Denese Marks
Symsia Long	Investigation of unresolved weak D phenotypes in the donor population	Honours	University of Sunshine Coast	Prof Catherine Hyland, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Melinda Dean, Dr Helen Faddy
Eunike McGowan*	Applying biotechnology to improve management of alloimmunisation to red cell antigens	PhD	University of Queensland	Prof Robert Flower, Prof Catherine Hyland, Dr Xuan Bui, Dr Martina Jones, Dr Stephen Mahler
Elissa Millford	Effects of commonly used and emerging resuscitation fluids on end organ function in severe trauma	PhD	University of Queensland	Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Michael Reade
Maree Perry*	Blood: Thoughts, feelings or beliefs Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples have about blood, blood donation or blood transfusion.	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	A/Prof Debbie Duthie, Prof Katherine White, Prof Robert Flower and Prof Catherine Hyland.
Hien Phan*	Genomic approaches for investigating viral infections in blood donors	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	Prof Kirsten Spann, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Helen Faddy, Dr Eileen Roulis
Agus Priyono (completed)	Age at the time of first blood donation and future donation pattern of blood donors in Australia	Master of Public Health (HDR)	Macquarie University	Dr Surendra Karki, Dr Amalie Dyda
Wei Qian*	Comparison of epidemiological models for predicting Ross River virus disease in Queensland, Australia	PhD	University of Queensland	Dr Elvina Viennet, A/Prof David Harley, A/Prof Katie Glass
Filip Radenkovic*	Development of Antibodies against Human Neutrophil Antigens (HNA)	PhD	University of Queensland - AIBN	Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Robert Flower, Dr Xuan Bui, Dr Martina Jones, Dr Stephen Mahler
Md Morshadur Rahman*	Healthy Donor Effect- improving analytical methods	PhD	University of Technology Sydney	Dr Surendra Karki, Prof Andrew Hayen
Lanny Ramadi (withdrawn)	Towards improved transfusion practice for patients with chronic transfusion requirements in Australia: Genotyping and Allele Matching	PhD	Queensland University of Technology	Prof Louise Hafner, Dr Eileen Roulis, Dr Elizna Schoeman, Prof Robert Flower, A/Prof Catherine Hyland
Laura Rey Gomez (completed)	The role of glycans in clearance of platelet microparticles.	Honours	University of Sydney	Dr Dianne van der Wal, A/Prof Denese Marks
Katelyn Richards*	An analysis of systems that modify RBC antigens and their role in RBC maturation, lifespan and disease resistance.	PhD	University of Queensland, AIBN	Prof Robert Flower, Dr Melinda Dean, Dr Xuan Bui, Prof Steven Mahler, A/Prof Benjamin Schulz, Dr Cassandra Pegg
Michelle Roets*	Intraoperative cell salvage as an alternative to allogeneic (donated) blood transfusion: An evaluation of the immune response profile	PhD	University of Queensland	Dr Melinda Dean, A prof David Sturgess, A/Prof Louisa Gordon, A/Prof Kerstin Wyssusek, Prof Andre Van Zundert
*Gabriella Simonova (completed)**	Developing laboratory models to help translate findings from the sheep model to the clinical setting	PhD	University of Queensland	Prof Robert Flower, Dr Melinda Dean, Dr John Paul Tung, Prof Michael Reade
Sandra Sowah*	Identifying novel red blood cell targets as a basis for development of biopharmaceuticals for treatment of infectious diseases	PhD	University of Queensland, AIBN	Prof Robert Flower, Dr Melinda Dean, Dr Xuan Bui, Prof Steven Mahler, Dr Martina Jones
Amanda Thijsen	Strengthening the use of research in blood donor management	PhD	The University of Sydney	Prof Barbara Masser, A./Prof Tanya Davison, Dr Anna Williamson
Laura Thomas	Characteristics of donors to Lifeblood Milk	M.Epi	University of Melbourne	Dr Laura Klein, Dr Surendra Karki, Prof Dallas English
Lauren Waters*	Investigating novel ways to improve the safety and quality of cryopreserved platelet components	PhD	University of Technology Sydney	Dr Lacey Johnson, Dr Matthew Padula
Timothy White	Estimation of the epidemic potential of chikungunya virus in Australia	Master’s degree	Queensland University of Technology, School of Biomedical Sciences	Dr Elvina Viennet, Dr Francesca Frentiu
Ben Wood*	Examination of the impact of refrigeration and cryopreservation on the non-haemostatic functions of stored platelets	PhD	University of Technology Sydney	Dr Lacey Johnson, Dr Matthew Padula