NSW 2022 Young Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year

Meet outstanding early career researcher, Dr Jiao Jiao Li

Dr Jiao Jiao Li is also a Superstar of STEM for 2021–22, which dovetails with the Tall Poppy program’s promotion of science among school students and the broader community.

What are your areas of expertise and what are you working on now?

I trained as a biomedical engineer, and undertook my PhD and postdoctoral research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This training has enabled me to work across many areas, from materials science and cell and molecular biology to nanotechnology and computer science.

I am now developing a new treatment therapy for osteoarthritis that makes use of the nanoscale packages produced by stem cells, which contain a wealth of bioactive factors. I am looking into optimising these as an off-the-shelf “magic potion” that is specifically effective for treating osteoarthritis. In parallel, I’m looking into biomaterial solutions to deliver these effectively to patients.

What excites you about it? Why is it important?

What is fascinating about tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, in general, is that the field is truly multidisciplinary, and the integration of ideas and techniques across disciplines really allows us to reach new frontiers in STEM.

We are now at the brink of building whole organs and developing cures for previously incurable diseases – unimaginable a few decades back.

In my research, I interact with people all over the world, from researchers and clinicians to patients and the community. I’m so excited to work in this field, with a specific interest in musculoskeletal tissues where associated chronic diseases cause lifelong disability in hundreds of millions of people globally. Osteoarthritis alone costs the Australian healthcare system more than $23 billion annually.

What inspired you to pursue a career in biomedical engineering?

I have always been interested in STEM, but landed in a degree in biomedical engineering through sheer luck. During my HSC year, I was sitting in a lecture theatre at my first open day and saw a combined degree in biomedical engineering and medical science, and chose it because it sounded cool and I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do. I would not change it for anything else now, but it definitely wasn’t well thought out at the time. I think being an engineer sets me apart from being a scientist or medical specialist because we’re trained in critical thinking and problem solving, which is essential for developing innovative, pragmatic and transferrable technologies.

During my honours year, I loved the experience of conducting a research project and having the intellectual freedom to find out new things. My first job was a marketing role at a biomedical devices company, which was a great experience, but it could not compare with the excitement I got out of my honours project. I saw that as a biomedical engineering researcher, I could be one of the people leading the development of new technologies that solve some of our greatest medical challenges. This motivated me to continue onto a PhD directly after my undergraduate degrees, and to pursue a career in research.

Dr Jiao Jiao Li is a Lecturer in the UTS School of Biomedical Engineering and a Science & Technology Australia 2021–22 Superstar of STEM.

In 2021, Dr Jiao Jiao Li won the Falling Walls Lab Australia national competition and went on to compete in the world final, pitching her research into an off-the-shelf, stem cell-based therapy for osteoarthritis to an international jury at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin.