The Foundation for Australia-Japan Studies 2021 Rio Tinto Australia-Japan Collaboration Program Grants were awarded to:

RMIT University and The KAITEKI Institute

Antibacterial Packaging Solutions

Professor Elena Ivanova, RMIT University and Dr Saita Soichiro, The KAITEKI Institute (part of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group).

In 2015, Australia exported $US3.1 billion of food and agricultural exports to Japan, making it the 5th largest exporter of such products to Japan. In turn, Japan is the largest importer of Australian beef and lamb. With 32% of food produced for human consumption becoming waste, including rejection of entire shipments if bacterial growth is detected, this project aims to use the antibacterial pattern of insect wings to extend shelf-life and improve the quality, safety, and integrity of packaged food on an industrial scale, thereby reducing waste. Bio-mimetic antibacterial packaging will be developed by replicating the antibacterial pattern of insect wings into various polymeric materials. Professor Ivanova's antibacterial nanomaterials research and KAITEKI's platform enables the team to conduct cutting edge research into marketable products. The KAITEKI Institute was established by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings as a think tank and global research institute to draw and realize desirable future society and environment and to partner with academic institutions, national laboratories and private entities to perform innovative research.

Total FAJS funds awarded: AUD 145,000

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology

Neutron Capture Enhanced Particle Therapy (NCEPT) for Poor-Prognosis Cancers

Dr Safavi-Naeini Mitra, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Dr Ryoichi Hirayama, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (NIRS-QST).

Poor prognosis cancers such as certain brain cancers, pancreatic cancer and secondary melanoma have been hard to treat with conventional radiation methods. NCEPT is a new radiotherapy technique developed by ANSTO in close collaboration with Japan’s NIRS-QST with the potential to treat these cancers of poor prognosis by amplifying and concentrating the impact of particle therapy (either proton or heavy ion therapy) using targeted radiosensitisation agents. Heavy ion therapy NCEPT has already demonstrated impressive results in in vitro studies conducted in Japan over the past three years. The next critical step to take the technique closer to clinical translation is to experimentally evaluate the efficacy of NCEPT relative to standard particle therapy for tumour control in an animal model. That is the aim of the FAJS project. If successful NCEPT will improve patients’ quality of life by reducing the acute side effects and long-term effects of radiation therapy, since the same therapeutic dose can be delivered to the tumour with less radiation damage to healthy tissue compared to standard particle therapy. NCEPT is an important strategic collaboration between Japan and Australia's leading nuclear science and technology research institutes and is directly linked to key industry partners.

Total FAJS funds awarded: AUD 147,000