Having recently completed a Masters by Research at La Trobe University, Joel has a background in synthetic organometallic chemistry. His Master’s project involved the synthesis of novel gold(I) and silver(I) metal complexes coordinated to N-heterocyclic carbene ligands that were then evaluated for their antimicrobial activity.
He is currently a PhD candidate at Monash University, working under supervision of Dr. Joel Hopper, Professor Gil Garnier and Professor George Simon. His research focuses on developing synthetic protocols for thermally responsive nanocellulose/polyNIPAM conjugates by silver(II) catalysed radical-decarboxylation initiated polymerisation. The aim is to use these nanocellulose/polyNIPAM polymers as thermally responsive hydrogels for the growth of three-dimensional clusters of cells used to model the behaviour of developed organs known as organoids.