Susyn Kelly

Profile

Thesis Title
Nanostructural Motifs of Collagen Based Materials

Research Description
Skin is a complex, collagen-based, material that provides great strength and forms an important physical and chemical barrier against the environment. For millennia, skins of animals have been processed and preserved to form leathers for use as clothing and coverings to provide protection and insulation against the environment. Although skin has also proven useful for other more specialized uses, for example tissue engineering, its use is being challenged by a wide range of recently developed synthetic materials. Fully understanding the structure and properties of skin and how these are affected by processing will be essential for manufacturing collagen based products with superior function and a wider range of applications. For my PhD I will use tensile testing, electron microscopy and Small-angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) imaging techniques to investigate how various physical and chemical processing steps influence the properties of a variety of collagen based materials. Techniques established in the study could also be adapted for investigations of corneal disorders and human dermatological problems.

Personal Description
I completed my undergraduate at Massey University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Engineering. Since then I've worked in the Healthcare Industry as both a Researcher and as a Product Manager. To develop my career further I decided to refine my research skills by return to Massey to complete my PhD. Pairing this with some more business development experience from industry I hope to start my own business.

Supervisors
Prof Richard Haverkamp
Prof Yusuf Chisti
Dr Katie Sizeland