Harvard Med Sch/Mass General Hospital -Postdoctoral (Biomedicine)

Uni of St Andrews- PhD (Optics, Biophysics)

Nanyang Technological University - B.Eng w Hons (Electronics)

• Interferometry
• Biological Physics
• Biofluidics
• Optical Imaging

CV-2025

Steve earned his doctorate in optics and biophysics from the University of St Andrews and subsequently expanded his expertise into biomedicine during a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Since joining ANU in 2013, he has been instrumental in building the institution's capacity in biomedical imaging and optical biophysics. As head of the Optical BIofluidic Group (O-BIG), his research utilizes optical and fluidic technologies to investigate single cells responses to extracellular factors to form functional tissues, with a primary focus on advancing the production of biological tissue substitutes. His accomplishments in research and translation have been acknowledged with over 35 talks (invited, keynote) and awards, including Australian Museum Eureka Prize (ANSTO Innovative Use of Technology), an ARC Discovery Early Career Award and Royal Society Incoming Fellowship (UK).

Over the last decade, Steve’s team operates at the nexus of advanced imaging and biological physics with a motto to “invent new optical techniques to precisely quantify the fundamental functions of biological systems and discover new biological physics.”

Current research is to leverage  multiscale, label-free imaging tools  to quantitate how fluid dynamics and chemical ligands work cooperatively to drive cell communities to upregulate Cell Adhesion Molecules (CAM) and self-organize into cohesive, living tissues. The research advances the science of multicellularity by demonstrating how a subtle range of diverse combinations of biofluidic forces complements biochemical signals in promoting multicellularity. The outcomes of this research aim to benefit tissue and biomaterial engineering, as well as the invention of new imaging technologies. The imaging technologies are currently being commercialized by Ability Optics Pty Ltd (CSIRO On Accelerator 9).