GELMI GROUP - Key Persons
Chayla graduated in 2023 from RMIT University with a BSc (Hons) in Biotechnology. She joined The Gelmi Group in July 2022, undertaking a 6-month research placement. She completed her Honours project with The Gelmi Group in 2023, looking to understand the biomechanical response of stem cells in response to different matrix stiffnesses using Quantitative Imaging AFM (QI-AFM). In her second year of her PhD Chayla looks to understand the biomechanical and biomolecular response of stem cells to external stimuli (electrical stimulation and substrate stiffness) using advanced temporal bioAFM techniques including QI-AFM and FluidFM.
Daniel is a 2022 Biomedical Engineering Graduate from RMIT. He began his industry PhD candidature in March of 2023 specialising in Biomaterials of Oral Implantology at RMIT, in collaboration with MAXONIQ - initially working under the guidance of Professor. Kate Fox, Dr. Nhiem Tran and, Mr. Stefan Di Medio. In April of 2024 he had joined The Gelmi Group following the additional supervisory guidance of Dr. Amy Gelmi. His research looks to investigate the integration of soft tissues with dental implants - with a primary focus on titanium-diamond biomaterial composites and exploring how electrical stimulation can further enhance the integration of these tissues.
Dr. Gelmi obtained her PhD in 2012 with the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the University of Wollongong. In 2012 Dr. Gelmi began a postdoctoral position at Linköping University, for research involving electroactive scaffold design for cardiac patch applications. Dr. Gelmi then joined the Stevens Group at Imperial College London with a MSCA-IF, where her research focused on understanding the behaviour of stem cells on dynamic biomaterials using highly sensitive real time characterisation tools. In 2018 Dr. Gelmi returned to Australia after receiving a Vice Chancellor's Research Fellowship at RMIT University in order to continue her research on the temporal characterisation of stem cell behaviour on dynamic biomaterials.
James attained a BEng in Biomedical Engineering from RMIT University and went on to complete his Msc in Biotechnology at NGM College. He joined The Gelmi Group in 2020 where he began his PhD candidature in Engineering. James' PhD project looked to focus on the fabrication of 3D printed designs for easy stimulation of stem cells, investigating the effects electrical stimulation have on cell growth and lineage commitment.
Luke graduated with a BEng (Hons) in Biomedical Engineering from RMIT University in December 2023. In June 2024, he joined The Gelmi Group to begin his PhD candidature where he will work under the guidance of both Dr Amy Gelmi and Professor Kate Fox. His research will consist of the design, fabrication and characterisation of novel electrical stimulation devices to investigate the appropriate parameters for inducing osteogenic differentiation in human mesenchymal stem cells.
Noah graduated from Deakin University in 2024 with a BSc majoring in Cell Biology, Human Biology and Genomics. His research interests include cellular senescence, AFM microscopy, tissue engineering, stem cell research, and human genomics. Noah joins the Gelmi Group as an Honours student in 2025 where he will look to investigate the combination of cytoskeletal modulator, Blebbistatin, and hydrogel stiffness on stem cell effective stiffness and cytoskeletal organisation.
Sebastian is a 2023 graduate from Federation University with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science. He joins the Gelmi Group in 2025 to complete his Honours project where he will work to help investigate stem cell responses to electrical stimulation.
Job Titles:
- Pulappayil Biju Masters Student
Veronica graduated from Monash University in 2022 with a BSc (Hons). As part of The World Mosquito Program lab group, her Honours looked to work towards a method to evaluate the likelihood of dengue evolving resistance to current biocontrol tools. Veronica joined The Gelmi Group in July 2024 to begin her PhD candidature where she will explore the use of stem cells for the design of biomaterials.
Wafa graduated from University Tunku Abdul Rahman with a BSc & Eng (Hons) in 2020 and attained their Masters in Biomedical Engineering in 2022 at University Malaya. Joining the Gelmi Group in July 2025, Wafa's PhD candidature looks to focus on three elements - determine a safe window for stimulating stem cells, evaluate the therapeutic potential of secretomes released by stem cells upon electrical stimulation and fabrication of biosensors to detect what is released by electrically stimulated cells.