Dr Cindy Gunawan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Particle and Catalysis research group (PARTCAT), School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Australia. Dr Gunawan graduated from UNSW Australia as Bachelor of Engineering in Bioprocess Engineering with The University Medal in 2002. Awarded with The International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (Department of Education, Science and Training and UNSW Australia), Dr Gunawan pursued her PhD in Biotechnology, developing a highly efficient biotransformation system for production of pharmaceutical precursor, which was completed in 2006.
In 2008, Dr Gunawan joined the PARTCAT research group under the supervision of Scientia Prof Rose Amal as Research Manager/Postdoctoral Research Fellow and then in 2010 as Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Dr Gunawan’s research specialises on the fusion of cellular biology and nanomaterials engineering with expertise in the fundamental and applied research of nanoparticle-cell interactions. Through her nano-bio expertise, Dr Gunawan elucidates the fundamental cellular responses toward nanomaterials and to subsequently apply the knowledge of nanoparticle-cell interactions to guide the tuning of the nanomaterials physicochemical characteristics unique to their intended biological activities. These pioneering research efforts have resulted in publications in very high impact nano-bio science journals, including Small, ACS Nano, Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Biomaterials, as well as being featured in Nature Nanotechnology as one of its Research Highlights.
Recently, Dr Gunawan’s research team reported the world-first discovery of the induced resistance of microorganisms to nanosilver, one of the most developed and commercialised nano-antimicrobials. The work, published in Small, was in the top 5% of Most Read articles (out of 1,937,413 articles ever tracked by Altmetric, as of 3 June 2013) and has featured in numerous scientific and public media outlets, including ARChway (http://www.arc.gov.au/media/feature_articles/oct13_nanosilver.htm), Science Alert (http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20130805-24354.html), The Age (http://www.theage.com.au/national/health/silver-lining-removed-in-medici...) and Australasian Science (http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-december-2013/superb...). The findings call for judicial use of the currently almost unregulated production and commercialisation of nanosilver.
