{"id":1115,"date":"2024-04-03T16:07:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T05:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/?p=1115"},"modified":"2024-04-03T16:09:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T05:39:48","slug":"andrew-hayles-2023-recipient-of-the-vice-chancellors-award-for-doctoral-thesis-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/2024\/04\/03\/andrew-hayles-2023-recipient-of-the-vice-chancellors-award-for-doctoral-thesis-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Hayles \u2013 2023 Recipient of the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Hayles<\/strong> is from the College of Medicine and Public Health and is one of the 12 winners of the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence for 2023. Andrew was supervised by\u00a0Prof. Krasimir Vasilev<\/a> and\u00a0Dr. Vi Khanh Truong.<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrew\u2019s thesis, \u201cHydrothermally Etched Titanium for the Mitigation of Implant Associated Infection<\/strong><\/em>\u201d explored modifying the surface of titanium to create spiked nanostructures that kill bacteria on contact, for orthopaedic and periodontal implant applications.<\/p>\n

We invited Andrew<\/strong> to share insights into the PhD journey and what winning this award means.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tell us about your research<\/strong><\/p>\n

I observed how different clinically relevant pathogenic microorganisms respond to nanostructured materials. The surface modification I investigated consists of sharp, pointed nanostructures that pierce and deform bacteria on contact \u2013 think about a water balloon on a bed of nails. I had the pleasure of visually observing this effect with fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, under various conditions. I also got to measure changes in gene expression for important virulence factors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What was the topic of your PhD and why is it important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The topic of my PhD was focused on investigating the interactions between microbial pathogens and biomaterials containing mechano-bactericidal nanostructures. This topic was important to me because I love to learn about how microorganisms interact with their environment, and the topic allowed me to feed that curiosity in the context of a clinically important issue.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What does winning this award mean to you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Winning the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s PhD Thesis Excellence award means a lot to me because it serves as a reminder that all the hard work and late nights were worth it, and that my work has been recognized. Most importantly, the award will be a big boost to my academic track record, helping me to secure funding for my research.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why did you choose to commence a PhD? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I was first inspired to pursue a career in science when I read Carl Sagan\u2019s \u2018The Demon Haunted World\u2019, which completely changed my perspective about my place in the universe. I soon found a keen interest in microbiology and decided to undertake a bachelor\u2019s degree in biomedical science, majoring in microbiology. Following my undergrad, I stumbled into a research assistant role within an industry-based project to work on anti-infective titanium-based biomaterials. In this role I developed my research skills and was encouraged by my supervisor, Prof. Krasimir Vasilev, to enrol as a Master\u2019s student. A while later I managed to upgrade my enrolment to a PhD.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What has been one of the hardest parts of the journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hardest part has been the late nights, made necessary by trying to juggle parenthood with research!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What\u2019s a highlight of your student life at Flinders?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The culture at Flinders has been one of the greatest highlights. I have made many friends here, and it\u2019s always a pleasure to catch up with them over a coffee or a beer at the Tavern.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What advice would you give to current or prospective PhD students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Find a topic that genuinely interests and excites you, and then it won\u2019t feel like a chore to undertake the project.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Where are you now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am currently working as a postdoctoral research associate in the Biomedical Nanoengineering Laboratory, under Prof. Krasimir Vasilev<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Hayles is from the College of Medicine and Public Health and is one of the 12 winners of the Vice-Chancellor\u2019s Award for Doctoral Thesis Excellence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3645,"featured_media":1116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,2931,2442,224,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-cmph","category-congratulations","category-hdr-students-in-focus","category-uncategorised"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/hdr-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}