Australia-Harvard Fellowship makes news in association with rotten oranges!

Harvard Club’s scientific research support program continues to be represented in acclaimed company. As published in a prominent medical journal last week, a University of Sydney PhD student, Mr. Pooria Lesani, is developing a cancer-detecting probe made from an extraordinary source - rancid oranges. Their high levels of ascorbic acid form the basis of a nano-biosensor, a tiny probe that uses fluorescence to signal a cell’s pH. It detects whether biological cells are at risk - likely in the early stages of cancer or other serious diseases. The main advantages of the new technique are its simplicity, low cost and speed. It takes less than a minute to get a result, and makes possible very early detection of disease threats that might otherwise only show their symptoms too late for treatment.

And Harvard Club’s connection with Pooria’s advance? He is supervised by Australia-Harvard Fellow, Professor Hala Zreiqat AM. Dr Zreiqat, a HCA member, is Director of the ARC Centre for Innovative BioEngineeering and Head of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Unit funded by NHMRC.