Dr Kerry Gilmore

Qualifications:
BSc UoW
PhD (Cell Biology) UoW

Research interests:

My interest in the process of cell death (apoptosis) was initiated during my PhD at the University of Wollongong. This flowed naturally into the post-doctoral research that I did at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, USA on the mechanisms of action of the breast cancer drug, tamoxifen. 

My current work is based around designing and testing new conducting and/or biodegradable substrates for tissue engineering applications. As well as producing conducting and composite materials for my particular projects, materials and structures that are produced by other members of the Bionics group at IPRI are tested for cytotoxicity and for suitability as substrates for cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. The cell types that we are investigating include both primary and transformed variants of muscle, neural, fibroblastic and endothelial cells. 

The cell work encompasses a range of techniques, including cell culture, immunohistochemistry, biochemical assays, fluorescence staining and imaging and SEM whilst preparation of the materials utilises electrochemical techniques, goniometry, conductivity measurement, RAMAN scattering and SEM.

Key Publications:

1. Kerry J. Gilmore, Simon E. Moulton, Gordon G. Wallace, Incorporation of Carbon Nanotubes into the Biomedical Polymer Poly(styrene-B-isobutylene-B-styrene, Carbon, Volume 45, Issue 2, February 2007, Pages 402-410.
2. Philip G. Whitten, Adrian A. Gestos, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Kerry J. Gilmore, Gordon G. Wallace. Free standing carbon nanotube composite bio-electrodes. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research (Applied Biomaterials), Volume 82B, Issue 1, pp 37-43, July 2007. 
3. Yong Liu, Kerry J.Gilmore, Jun Chen, Violeta Misoska and Gordon G. Wallace. Bio-nanowebs Based on Poly (styrene-b-isobutylene-b-styrene) (SIBS) Containing Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes. Chemistry of Materials 2007. Volume 19, Issue 11, pp. 2721-3.
4. Joselito M. Razal, Kerry J. Gilmore, and Gordon G. Wallace, Carbon Nanotube Bio-Fiber Formation in a Polymer-Free Coagulation Bath, Advanced Functional Materials. Volume 18, Issue 1, January 2008, pp61-6.
5. Haiqun Chen, Marc B. Müller, Kerry J. Gilmore, Gordon G. Wallace, Dan Li.Mechanically strong, electrically conductive and biocompatible graphene papers. Advanced Materials 2008, 1999, 1-5.

Memberships:

ASBTE (Australian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering)

email: kerryg@uow.edu.au
phone: +61 (02) 42215159
office: 18.G24

Dr Kerry Gilmore

Figure 1: L-929 (mouse fibroblast) cells growing on a coating made from double walled-carbon nanotubes, dispersed into salmon sperm DNA.

Figure 2: A fluorescence image of the same with Calcein staining of viable cells.

Figure 3: Confocal micrograph of Calcein-stained L929 fibroblast cells on 0.05% SWNT in SIBS films

Figure 4: Epifluorescence image of Calcein stained C2C12 muscle cells on electrospun fibres made from a polythiophene.