The Melbourne Biophysics Colloquium is a bi-monthly series for Melbourne’s research community in biological physics, microscopy, computational & mathematical biology, and quantitative analysis. These events provide an opportunity for researchers undertaking interesting field-related projects to inform the local community on the progression, challenges, and impact of their current research. The colloquium allows students to hear about the exciting work being undertaken by local leaders in the field and provides opportunities for both researchers and students to meet each other to discuss interests or future academic pursuits.

Date: Bi-monthly with the next colloquium taking place on 17 September 2025
Time: 3:30pm – 5pm
Attend in-person: Room 260, David Caro Building, University of Melbourne, Parkville
Attend online: Click this link to join the meeting. 

Featured speakers

• Prof. Kathryn Stok  (UoM) – Exploring the Cartilage Micromechanical Environment
• Prof. Kim-Anh Lê Cao (UoM) – Using Multivariate Statistics

Prof. Kim-Anh Lê Cao – Omic Data Analytics
Abstract: Advances in sequencing omics technologies have enabled the measurement of thousands of biological features at a very fine molecular and cellular resolution. I will give a broad overview of how we have so far tackled the challenge of
‘classic’ omics data integration using dimension reduction techniques to improve our understanding of biological systems, with some real-world applications.
Bio: Kim-Anh Lê Cao is Professor of Statistical Genomics at the University of Melbourne and Director of Melbourne Integrative Genomics. She has secured 3 consecutive NHMRC fellowships since 2014, and numerous awards for her contributions to statistics applied to molecular biology. Her research focuses on `omics data integration and she leads the development of the popular R toolkit mixOmics.

Prof. Kathryn Stok -Exploring the Cartilage Micromechanical Environment
Abstract: Our research aims to unlock new insights into the complex mechanical microenvironment of cartilage and directly influence new strategies in tissue engineering. The presentation will describe contributions of cells and extracellular matrix components to mechanical integrity over time, and our efforts to build a strain map of the cartilage microenvironment and quantification of dynamic structural remodelling. The cartilage mechanical microenvironment includes a variety of mechanical stress “types”: hydrostatic and osmotic pressures, tensile and compressive stresses, and fluid shear stresses, that are associated with matrix material and structural properties and externally applied loads from daily activity. Chondrocytes (cartilage cells) react differently to stress amplitude and these various stress types. Therefore, replicating the matrix mechanical environment is not just a question of tuning stiffness (as is the current norm) but also the transient material properties linked to deformation, interstitial fluid flow and streaming potentials.