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Melissa Mather

Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Melissa Mather carried out a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons), majoring in physics, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. This was followed by a PhD (2003) studying the evaluation by ultrasound of radiation sensitive polymer gels, carried out in the Centre for Medical, Health and Environmental Physics at QUT. In May 2003 Melissa took up an appointment as research fellow in the Applied Ultrasonics research group in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Nottingham. This post involved the development of ultrasonic techniques for characterisation of industrially relevant solid-in-liquid suspensions and the detection of phase transitions in supercritical fluids. In October 2005 Melissa was appointed as research fellow in the Applied Optics group as part of the 'remedi' EPSRC Grand Challenge in Regenerative Medicine. In this role she worked closely with industry to develop non-invasive characterisation techniques for application in regenerative medicine. In 2008 Melissa was awarded a 3 year National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Strategic Fellowship. In this post her research work centred on the development of novel acoustic methods to investigate the complex mechanical properties of hydrogels on a mesoscopic scale. Melissa also took a leading role in the development of an ASTM International standard guide on hydrogel characterisation which will assist in the regulation of hydrogel products. This involved co-ordinating a working group containing members from industry, academia and the United States Food and Drug Administration. Most recently, Melissa as been awarded a Career Acceleration Fellowship from EPSRC to develop self-assembling nano-transducers. These nano-transducers will be applied to the development of a new medical imaging system capable of tracking therapeutic cells in the body and detecting diseases such as cancer early.

Expertise Summary

My research is in the field of ultrasonics with particular focus on the development of techniques to support the detection and treatment of disease. Through my doctoral studies I developed an ultrasound technique for imaging radiation dose distributions in three dimensional soft tissue phantoms which lead to the establishment of a novel approach to radiotherapy treatment planning. As a Research Fellow in the Applied Ultrasonics Group, University of Nottingham my research focus was development of ultrasonic techniques for characterisation of solid-in-liquid suspensions and the detection of phase transitions in supercritical fluids, particularly in the neighbourhood of critical points.

More recently my work has made an impact in industry through my post of research fellow on the EPSRC funded 'remedi' Grand Challenge in Regenerative Medicine. Specifically, I implemented an ultrasonic technique capable of tracking the fabrication of polymer tissue scaffolds in a supercritical environment. The method developed provided new insight into the mechanisms of scaffold pore formation and facilitated in-process optimisation of scaffold fabrication protocols. As part of the 'remedi' project I also designed an experimental apparatus for the application of ultrasound to soft tissue constructs in culture. The developed methodology was found to significantly reduce production time and thus be of considerable economic value to the industrial partner. Based on this methodology a patent has been filed with the industrial partner.

In 2008 I was awarded a 3 year National Physical Laboratory (NPL) Strategic Fellowship enabling me to demonstrate my ability to lead independent research. My fellowship is in the NPL Biomaterials Group and centres on the development of novel acoustic methods to investigate the complex mechanical properties of hydrogels on a mesoscopic scale. Investigations on this scale have potential to identify and characterise exciting material properties (e.g. self assembly) not yet fully realised with current experimental techniques. This work will have impact for the design and development of new materials as well as in the establishment of techniques capable of assessing the efficacy of new healthcare products required to meet regulatory needs. Additionally, I am the technical leader of an ASTM International task group preparing a standard guide on hydrogel characterisation which will assist in the regulation of hydrogel products. This task group includes members from industry, academia and the United States Food and Drug Administration.

In 2011 I was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship providing me with 5 years of research funding. The fellowship research will focus on the development of novel ultrasonic techniques to provide fundamental insight into cellular mechanisms necessary for the establishment of new strategies for disease detection and drug discovery.

Recent Publications

  • MATHER, ML, RIDES, M, ALLEN, CRG and TOMLINS, PE, 2012. Liquid Viscoelasticity Probed By A Mesoscale Piezoelectric Bimorph Cantilever Journal Of Rheology. 56(1), 99-112
  • HAOWEN RUAN, MELISSA MATHER and STEPHEN MORGAN, 2012. Pulse inversion ultrasound modulated optical tomography Optics Letters. 37(10), 1658-1660
  • DAVID Y S CHAU, SHERIDAN V BROWN, MELISSA MATHER, VICTORIA HUTTER, NAING L TINT, HARMINDER S DUA and FELICITY ROSE, 2012. Tissue transglutaminase (TG-2) modified amniotic membrane: a novel scaffold for biomedical applications Biomedical Materials. (In Press.)
  • HUYNH, N.T., PARKER, N.G., HE, D., RUAN, H., HAYES-GILL, B.R., MATHER, M.L., CROWE, J., ROSE, F.R.A.J., POVEY, M.J.W. and MORGAN, S.P., 2011. Characterization of tissue scaffolds using optics and ultrasound, Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells In: BiOS Spie Photonics West, Conference 7897, San Francisco, California, 22-27 January 2011.
  • DAVID E MORRIS, MELISSA L MATHER, CARL G SIMON JR and JOHN A CROWE, 2011. Time-optimized X-ray micro-CT imaging of polymer based scaffolds Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Part B Applied Biomaterials. 100B(2), 360-367
  • HUYNH, NT, HE, DW, HAYES-GILL, BR, CROWE, JA, WALKER, JG, MATHER, ML, ROSE, FRAJ, PARKER, NG, POVEY, MJW and MORGAN, SP, 2011. Application Of A Maximum Likelihood Algorithm To Ultrasound Modulated Optical Tomography
  • N T HUYNH, F ZHANG, H RUAN, D HE, B R HAYES-GILL, J A CROWE, N G PARKER, M L MATHER, F R ROSE, N G PARKER, M J W POVEY and S P MORGAN, 2011. Signal processing in the application of ultrasound modulated optical tomography to tissue engineering In: In: BiOS Spie Photonics West, Conference 7899, San Francisco, California, 22-27 January 2011.. 252
  • MATHER ML and TOMLINS PE, 2011. Standard Guide for Characterization of Hydrogels used in Regenerative Medicine At: ASTM International, Designation F2900-11, 2011
  • PARKER, NG, MATHER, ML, MORGAN, SP and POVEY, MJW, 2010. Longitudinal Acoustic Properties Of Poly(Lactic Acid) And Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Biomedical Materials. 5(5), -
  • FARRUGIA M, MATHER ML, CROWE JA, MORGAN SP and ALEXANDER C, 2010. Ultrasound monitoring of sol-gel transitions in Pluronic F127 Hydrogels In: TERMIS-EU, Galway, Ireland, June 2010.
  • RABI AM, MATHER ML, MORRIS DE, CHANDRA A and CROWE JA, 2010. Wireless monitoring system for cell culture processes In: TERMIS-EU, Galway, Ireland, June 2010.
  • PARKER NG, MATHER ML, MORGAN SP and POVEY MJW, 2010. A preliminary study of acoustic propagation in thick foam tissue scaffolds composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) In: Anglo-French Physical Acoustics Conference, Grasmere, UK, January 2010.
  • MATHER ML and TOMLINS PE, 2010. Translation of Emerging Hydrogel Therapies: The Role of Metrology. In: Biomaterials Developments and Applications Nova Science. 495
  • MORRIS, D.E, MATHER, M.L and CROWE, J.A., 2009. Generation and simlated imaging of pseudo-scaffolds to aid characterisation by x-ray micro CT Biomaterials. 30(25), 4233-4246
  • MATHER, ML, BRION, M, WHITE, LJ, SHAKESHEFF, KM, HOWDLE, SM, MORGAN, SP and CROWE, JA, 2009. Time-Lapsed Imaging For In-Process Evaluation Of Supercritical Fluid Processing Of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds
  • MATHER ML, RIDES M, ALLEN C and TOMLINS PE, 2009. In situ monitoring of sol-gel transitions in PEO-PPO-PEO aqueous solutions In: 2nd International Congress on Biohydrogels, Viareggio, Italy, November 2009..
  • NAING MW, LIU Y, MORRIS DE, MATHER ML and WILLIAMS DJ, 2009. Effect of tri-axial mechanical stimulus on cell-seeded scaffolds In: TERMIS-WC, Seoul, Korea, September 2009.
  • MATHER ML and TOMLINS PE, 2009. Characterisation of hydrogels used in regenerative medicine In: Tissue and Cell Engineering Society Conference, Glasgow, UK, July 2009.
  • MATHER ML, MORGAN SP, MORRIS DE, ZHU Q, KEE J, ZOLADEK A, CROWE JA, NOTINGHER I, WILLIAMS DJ and JOHNSON PA, 2009. Raman spectroscopy and rotating orthogonal polarization imaging for non-destructive tracking of collagen deposition in tissue engineered skin and tendon In: Optics in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine III, SPIE Photonics West, California, USA, January 2009.
  • CHALLIS, R.E, PHANG, A.P.Y, LOWE, M.J.S and MATHER, M.J., 2008. A system for magnetostrictive transduction of guided waves in fluid filled pipes of small diameter IEEE Trans. UFFC. 55(9), 1992-2004
  • MATHER, ML, CROWE, JA, MORGAN, SP, WHITE, LJ, KALASHNIKOV, AN, IVCHENKO, VG, HOWDLE, SM and SHAKESHEFF, KM, 2008. Ultrasonic Monitoring Of Foamed Polymeric Tissue Scaffold Fabrication Journal Of Materials Science-Materials In Medicine. 19(9), 3071-3080
  • MATHER, ML, MORGAN, SP, WHITE, LJ, TAI, H, KOCKENBERGER, W, HOWDLE, SM, SHAKESHEFF, KM and CROWE, JA, 2008. Image-Based Characterization Of Foamed Polymeric Tissue Scaffolds Biomedical Materials. 3(1), -
  • PHANG, APY, CHALLIS, RE, LOWE, MJS and MATHER, ML, 2008. Magnetostrictive Transduction Of Guided Waves In Fluid-Filled Pipes
  • MATHER ML, CROWE JA, MORGAN SP, WHITE LJ, SHAKESHEFF KM, HOWDLE SM, THOMAS RJ, BYRNE HM, WATERS SW and WILLIAMS DJ, 2008. Remedi: A Research Consortium Applying Engineering Strategies to Establish Regenerative Medicine as a New Industry In: European Medical and Biological Engineering Conference, Antwerp, Belgium, November 2008.
  • MATHER ML, CROWE JA, MORGAN SP, WHITE LJ, THOMAS RT, WATERS SL and BYRNE HM, 2008. Mathematical investigation of population variability in neural stem cells In: Tissue and Cell Engineering Society Conference, Nottingham, UK, July 2008.
  • MORRIS DE, MATHER ML, CROWE JA, LIU Z and MORGAN SP, 2008. Strategies for image-based characterisation of tissue scaffolds’ In: Tissue and Cell Engineering Society Conference, Nottingham, UK, July 2008.
  • MATHER, M.L., MORGAN, S.P. and CROWE, J.A., 2007. Meeting the Needs of Monitoring in Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine. 2((2)), 145-160
  • TAI, HY, MATHER, ML, HOWARD, D, WANG, WX, WHITE, LJ, CROWE, JA, MORGAN, SP, CHANDRA, A, WILLIAMS, DJ, HOWDLE, SM and SHAKESHEFF, KM, 2007. Control Of Pore Size And Structure Of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Produced By Supercritical Fluid Processing European Cells & Materials. 14, 64-76
  • MATHER ML, CROWE JA, MORGAN SM, KALASHNIKOV AN, IVCHENKO V, WHITE LJ, BRION M and SHAKESHEFF KM, 2007. In-process monitoring of foamed polymeric tissue scaffold fabrication In: 3rd World congress on regenerative medicine, Leipzig, Germany October 2007.
  • MATHER ML, CROWE JA, MORGAN SP, WHITE LJ, TAI H and SHAKESHEFF KM, 2007. Image based characterisation of foamed polymer tissue scaffolds In: TERMIS-EU, London, UK, September 2007.
  • CHALLIS, R.E., POVEY, M.J.W., MATHER, M.L. and HOLMES, A.K., 2005. Ultrasound techniques for characterizing colloidal dispersions Reports on Progress in Physics. 68(7), 1541-1637
  • MATHER, M.L., CHALLIS, R.E. and HOLMES, A.K., 2005. On the problem of the NDE of concentrated slurries In: REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN QUANTITATIVE NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION. 1266-1272
  • A J VENNING, M L MATHER and C BALDOCK, 2005. Investigation of vacuum pumping on the dose response of the MAGAS normoxic polymer gel dosimeter’ Australasian Physical & Engineering Science in Medicine. 28(2), 105-110
  • MATHER ML, CHALLIS RE and HOLMES AK, 2005. Ultrasound propagation in concentrated suspensions of high density particles In: Anglo-French Physical Acoustics Conference, Le Harve, France, January 2005.
  • MATHER ML, CHALLIS RE and HOLMES AK, 2004. Ultrasonic wave propagation in particulate mixtures In: Proceedings of the 148th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, California, USA, November 2004.
  • CHALLIS RE, MATHER ML, HOLMES AK and KALASHNIKOV A, 2004. Ultrasonic monitoring of particulate suspensions in-process In: Physics, Technology and applications, 16th World Conference on NDT, Montreal, Canada, September 2004.
  • MATHER ML, CHALLIS RE, HOLMES AK and KALASHNIKOV A, 2004. On the problem of the NDE of concentrated slurries In: Review of progress in Quantitative Non-destructive Evaluation, Colorado, USA, July 2004.
  • MATHER, ML, COLLINGS, AF, BAJENOV, N, WHITTAKER, AK and BALDOCK, C, 2003. Ultrasonic Absorption In Polymer Gel Dosimeters Ultrasonics. 41(7), 551-559
  • GRAMOTNEV, DK, MATHER, ML and NIEMINEN, TA, 2003. Anomalous Absorption Of Bulk Shear Sagittal Acoustic Waves In A Layered Structure With Viscous Fluid Ultrasonics. 41(3), 197-205
  • MATHER, ML, CHARLES, PH and BALDOCK, C, 2003. Measurement Of Ultrasonic Attenuation Coefficient In Polymer Gel Dosimeters Physics In Medicine And Biology. 48(20), N269-N275
  • VENNING AJ, MATHER ML and BALDOCK C, 2003. Investigation of manufacturing methodology of MAGAS polymer gel dosimeters In: Proceedings of World Congress 2003, World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Sydney, Australia, August 2003.
  • DE DEENE, Y, HURLEY, C, VENNING, A, VERGOTE, K, MATHER, M, HEALY, BJ and BALDOCK, C, 2002. A Basic Study Of Some Normoxic Polymer Gel Dosimeters Physics In Medicine And Biology. 47(19), 3441-3463
  • MATHER, ML, DE DEENE, Y, WHITTAKER, AK, SIMON, GP, RUTGERS, R and BALDOCK, C, 2002. Investigation Of Ultrasonic Properties Of Pag And Magic Polymer Gel Dosimeters Physics In Medicine And Biology. 47(24), 4397-4409
  • MATHER, ML, WHITTAKER, AK and BALDOCK, C, 2002. Ultrasound Evaluation Of Polymer Gel Dosimeters Physics In Medicine And Biology. 47(9), 1449-1458
  • MATHER ML, WHITTAKER AK, DE DEENE Y and BALDOCK C, 2002. Investigation of PAG and MAGIC polymer gel dosimeters using ultrasound In: Proceedings of the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Montreal, Canada, 2002.
  • MATHER ML, WHITTAKER AK, DE DEENE Y and BALDOCK C, 2002. Use of Ultrasound for Evaluation of Polymer Gel Dosimeters In: IAEA conference on radiation dosimetry, Vienna, Austria, 2002.
  • MATHER ML, WHITTAKER AK, DE DEENE Y and BALDOCK C, 2001. A new method for evaluation of polymer gel dosimeters In: Proceedings of 2001 International Conference on Radiotherapy Polymer Gel Dosimeters, Brisbane, Australia, 2001.
  • LWIN, MJ, GRAMOTNEV, DK, MATHER, ML, BELL, JM and SCOTT, W, 2000. Experimental Observation Of Anomalous Absorption Of Bulk Shear Acoustic Waves By A Thin Layer Of Viscous Fluid Applied Physics Letters. 76(15), 2020-2022
  • GRAMOTNEV, DK and MATHER, ML, 1999. Anomalous Absorption Of Bulk Shear Acoustic Waves By An Ultra-Thin Layer Of A Non-Newtonian Fluid Journal Of The Acoustical Society Of America. 106(5), 2552-2559
  • GRAMOTNEV, D.K., MATHER, M.L. and NIEMINEN, T.A., 1998. Anomalous absorption of bulk longitudinal acoustic waves in a layered structure with viscous fluid In: 1998 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM. 1203-1206
  • GRAMOTNEV DK, MATHER ML and NIEMIEN TA, 1998. Anomalous absorption of bulk longitudinal acoustic waves in a layered structure with viscous fluid In: IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings, Sendi, Japan, October 1998.

Faculty of Engineering

The University of Nottingham
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telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 4163
email:engineering@nottingham.ac.uk