Dr Natasha de Alwis receives third place in the Victorian Falling Walls Lab competition

Dr Natasha de Alwis, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Newborn Health in the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS), University of Melbourne received third place for the Falling Walls Lab Victorian competition that took place at the Bio21 Institute,19 July 2024.

The Falling Walls Lab event was part of a global research pitching competition, supported through the Australian Academy of Sciences, similar to the Three Minute Thesis. Pitching competitions take place in each Australian state and Dr Natasha de Alwis, University of Melbourne and Mingje Yang, RMIT University, will compete against other state winners in the Australian final, 30 August at the Shine Dome in Canberra. The Australian winners then travel to Berlin for the international final.

Early career researchers from Victorian universities pitched their research ideas at the event, with Ms Danni Li, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology and Dr Natasha de Alwis, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Newborn Health representing the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences and the Chiao Hwei Lee from the Faculty of Engineering and IT. Dr Mehdi Ghazavi Dozein, Monash University, Mingje Yang, RMIT University, Miris Arachchige Gayani Piyumika Perera, Monash University, Dr Donovan Garcia Ceron, La Trobe University also represented their universities in the competition.

Dr de Alwis, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Newborn Health, wishes to address the problem of how to test drug safety for pregnant women. Currently women are left out of trials, for fear of harming the fetus.

Ms Dani Lee, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology is finding ways to safely deliver drugs to treat cystic fibrosis in the developing fetus and during breast-feeding, and Chiao Hwei Lee, Faculty of Engineering and IT, is emulating conditions within the human body in cell and organ culture systems, to test drugs, without needing to trial in animals, using a high-through-put pump system.

Dr Natasha de Alwis, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, (Mercy Hospital for Women and Northern Health), Mingje Yang, RMIT University, Dr Donvan Garcia Ceron, La Trobe University will head to the Shine Dome in Canberra to participate in the Australian final this August.

The event was supported by the University of Melbourne and the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, which also hosted the event. 

The participants were judged by an eminent jury from the Australian Academy of Sciences that included Professor Marilyn Anderson AO FAA, Professor Jenny Graves AC FAA and Professor Andrew Wilkes FAA.

Falling Walls Lab provides eight emerging researchers, academics, entrepreneurs and professionals from Victoria to present research, a business model, innovative project or social initiative to a distinguished jury and diverse audience. This is one of 79 Falling Walls Labs taking place globally throughout the year. Three Australian winners will travel to Berlin to participate in the Falling Walls Lab Finale, 7 November. On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, these young researchers will propose solutions to the greatest challenges of our time, contributing to a better world.