Biomedical engineer Professor Hala Zreiqat has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the recent Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her work on bone substitutes, representing further recognition of an engineering career peppered with international accolades.
Professor Zreiqat, whose research is focused on a substitute for bones made from a ceramic material, received her OAM for service to biomedical engineering and research councils. As Head of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Unit in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney, her group works on the development of novel engineered materials and 3D printed platforms for regenerative medicine, particularly in the fields of orthopaedics, dental and maxillo-facial applications.
A unique ceramic material developed by Professor Zreiqat was born of necessity as humans only have a limited amount of bone available for grafting, so the demand for synthetic bone substitutes is high. The material acts as a scaffold in which the body can regenerate new bone, then gradually degrades and is replaced by natural bone.
"The bone substitute my team and I have developed resembles natural bone in terms of architecture, strength and porosity. So it is strong enough to withstand the loads that will be applied to it, and also contains pores that allow blood and nutrients to penetrate it," Professor Zreiqat explained.
"In this way it is designed to encourage normal bone growth, and to eventually be replaced by natural bone in the body. The fact that it actually 'kick starts' the process of bone regeneration makes it far superior to other available materials.
"Our tests also show that it will not be rejected by the body. In addition, we can make as many implants as we want from this material, so availability will not be a problem."
Professor Zreiqat believes her ceramic bone substitute has the potential to positively affect millions of people globally and is hoping to see it in use clinically within the next 10 years.