2017 Liversidge Lecture

    “Sensing our world: From glucose sensors to
    counting single molecules and cells”

    Scientia Professor Justin Gooding
    University of NSW

    Awarded the 2017 Liversidge Medal for
    chemistry.

Thursday 11 May 2017
Tyree Room and Balcony, John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW

Biosensors are solid state analytical devices made by integrating a biological molecule that can recognise a biomarker of interest with a signal transducer, such as an electrode or optical instrument. The classical examples of such devices are the glucose meters that have revolutionised the lives of diabetic patients, and pregnancy test kits. There is a whole family of related devices developed for uses ranging from disease diagnosis to water quality testing.
This presentation covered the state-of-the-art research in this field, explored some of the challenges to wider adoption of such devices in daily life, and outlined the work of the Smart Materials and Surfaces research group at UNSW in this area. It also discussed some advances in surface chemistry and nanotechnology that will lead to the next generation of sensors that detect single molecules and cells. Such devices not only represent the ultimate sensor in being able to detect a single thing, but will solve many challenges with existing sensor technologies. By being able to detect many single moelcules or cells, such that the devices essentially count the number of entities to be measured, they will solve the main challenges in sensors of calibration and nonspecific signals, as well as create a whole new type of sensor. The presentation concluded with a discussion of some of his groups recent work on bringing this exciting vision of our sensing future towards a reality.

Scientia Professor Justin Gooding FAA, FISE, FRSN, FRACI, FRSN is currently an ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, the co-director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine and the co-director of the New South Wales Smart Sensing Network. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal ACS Sensors. He graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) from Melbourne University before obtaining a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford and received post-doctoral training at the Institute of Biotechnology in Cambridge University. He returned to Australia in 1997 as a Vice-Chancellor’s Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He was promoted to full professor in 2006. He was one of the recipients of a 2004 NSW Young Tall Poppy award, a 2005 Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, the 2007 RACI Lloyd Smythe Medal for Analytical Chemistry, the 2009 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, a 2010 ARC Australian Professorial Fellow, the RACI 2011 H.G. Smith Medal for contributions to chemistry, the 2012 RACI R.H. Stokes Medal for electrochemical research, the 2012 Royal Society of Chemistry Australasian Lecturer, the 2013 NSW Science and Engineering Award for Emerging Research, the 2016 Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry Electrochemistry Division, the 2016 Biosensors and Bioelectronics Award and the 2016 Walter Burfitt Prize for Science and Archibald Liversidge Medal for Chemistry both of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He leads a research team of 40 researchers interested in surface modification and nanotechnology for biosensors, biomaterials, electron transfer and medical applications.
 

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