Veski Fellowship to give POP researcher international experience boosting 3D Bioprinted clinical construct

The search for new treatments for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) will take Hudson Institute researcher Dr Kallyanashis Paul to New Zealand and Singapore next year as part of a prestigious veski Fellowship.

The highly sought-after Victoria Fellowships are funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by veski, allowing promising young researchers the opportunity to broaden their experience, develop networks and better identify where their activities fit into the local and international community.

The $18,000 prize will support Dr Paul to undertaking international study and advance his 3D printing work in a global setting, contributing to longer term growth of Victoria’s research and innovation capabilities.

Bioprinting for urogynecological health

Dr Paul’s project titled Designing bioinks for improving uterine stem cells bioprinting for women’s urogynecological health aims to create pelvic mesh products from a woman’s own cells, which would be better tolerated than existing products.

“I have shown that bioprinted 3D degradable construct is a promising new alternative, which can significantly be improved by bioprinting of therapeutic eMSCs,” Dr Paul said.

“However, this needs a robust “bioink” that can print and retain cells with their therapeutic value intact.”

“My overseas research activities in this mission will ultimately fabricate a clinically relevant bioprinted tissue engineering construct for transvaginal POP surgery.”

He will spend four months at the University of Otago, NZ and two months at the National University of Singapore working on his project and collaborating with other leaders in the field.

Pelvic organ prolapse – a hidden condition

Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is a hidden condition affecting up to 50 per cent of women. While usually caused by injury during childbirth, the patient may not know about the damage until many years later, often during menopause.

Hudson Institute is a world leader in POP research – led by Prof Caroline Gargett and Dr Shayanti Mukherjee and working with collaborators Prof Jerome Werkmeister and A/Prof Anna Rosamilia, our researchers are striving to discover effective, safe treatment options for the many women who are suffering in silence with this condition.