Prof. Benjamin Thierry
Professor Benjamin Thierry is the Adelaide University Professor of Bioengineering and a NHMRC Investigator Fellow. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from McGill University in 2004 and has since received prestigious awards, including two previous NHMRC Career Development Fellowships.
Professor Thierry's ability to work across disciplines is central to his research and ideally position him to engage with industry, clincians and end-users to translate the outcomes of the basic research conducted in his group. This is evidenced by his balanced record of academic outputs (162 peer-reviewed outputs and over 7800 career cites) and patents (6 patent families and 15 granted patents plus 7 pending ones). In recognition of the significance and impact of his translational research, Professor Thierry was awarded the 2021 University of South Australia Senior Researcher of the year Award.
Professor Thierry leads the translational Bioengineering group which aims to develop and implement novel biodiagnostic and prognostic technologies and is currently involved in several clinical translation/commercialization activities.
Dr Valentina Milanova
Dr Valentina Milanova received her PhD in Biomaterial Engineering and Nanomedicine from the Future Industries institutes in 2020. Her PhD was supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science (CBNS). During her PhD, Dr Milanova conducted an ambitious program of research aimed at harnessing the unique properties of nanomaterials towards the development of radiolabelled agents (probes) for cancer nuclear imaging and therapy. She delivered several methodological advances and a solid foundation for the design of clinically translatable imaging and therapeutic nanoprobes.
Currently, Dr Milanova is overseeing a pipeline of precision oncology products in collaboration with Ferronova. In addition to her R&D role, she is overseeing the scale-up manufacture of Ferronova's FerroTrace, an clinical stage precision surgery agent.
Dr Nicole Dmochowska
Dr Nicole Dmochowska is a biomedical Research Fellow developing imaging technologies and contrast agents to improve tumour mapping and cancer treatment, with a strong focus on clinical translation. In 2026, she was awarded a Cancer Council South Australia Clinical Medicine and Science Fellowship to develop fluorescent nanoformulations designed to improve the visualisation and surgical resection of pancreatic tumours.
Since 2019, Nicole has collaborated closely with Adelaide-based Ferronova on the development of tracer technologies for surgical oncology. Her work has contributed to the development of second-generation FerroTrace-FAPi technology (WO/2022/241506, Mapping Nanoparticles), which is progressing towards first-in-human clinical trials. More recently, she was awarded an Australian Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite Grant. Through this project, Nicole and the team are leveraging Ferronova’s patented solid-state magnetometer technology to develop a laparoscopic probe for the intraoperative detection of high-risk lymph nodes.
Nicole completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Adelaide, in partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, in 2020. She subsequently joined the Future Industries Institute as a Research Associate. Her doctoral research focused on developing PET imaging tracers targeting intestinal inflammation and fibrosis in a murine model of inflammatory bowel disease. During this time, she was awarded the William T. Southcott Nuclear Medicine Scholarship.
Dr Greg Rollo-Walker
Greg Rollo-Walker is an Academic Research Associate, with a strong background in polymer chemistry. He was awarded his PhD (2024) in Engineering at Deakin University in Melbourne as part of a wider ARC Research and Training Centre, storEnergy.
Greg has extensive experience in inorganic and polymer synthesis and is well versed in translating new materials into products using advanced manufacturing techniques. These include chemical and physical deposition processes, coating and film formation practises.
Since joining Adelaide University, his research has focused on bi-functional polymers that can bind both to specific tumour sites and nanoparticles receptors. Greg is a key member of Ferronova’s research and manufacturing team that has worked on the generation of the first generation FerroTrace for clinical trials and the research and development of the FerroTrace-FAPi, designed to improve delineation of solid tumours on MRI. Greg is also leading the scale-up manufacturing of Ferronova's polymer platform as they look to European Clinical Trials and FDA approval for their products.
Dr Chih-Tsung Yang
Greg Rollo-Walker is an Academic Research Associate, with a strong background in polymer chemistry. He was awarded his PhD (2024) in Engineering at Deakin University in Melbourne as part of a wider ARC Research and Training Centre, storEnergy.
Greg has extensive experience in inorganic and polymer synthesis and is well versed in translating new materials into products using advanced manufacturing techniques. These include chemical and physical deposition processes, coating and film formation practises.
Since joining Adelaide University, his research has focused on bi-functional polymers that can bind both to specific tumour sites and nanoparticles receptors. Greg is a key member of Ferronova’s research and manufacturing team that has worked on the generation of the first generation FerroTrace for clinical trials and the research and development of the FerroTrace-FAPi, designed to improve delineation of solid tumours on MRI. Greg is also leading the scale-up manufacturing of Ferronova's polymer platform as they look to European Clinical Trials and FDA approval for their products.
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