Ryan O'Hare Doig

Ryan O'Hare Doig

Adelaide Medical School

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Dr Ryan O’Hare Doig

Head, Spinal Cord injury Research (SAHMRI)

Neil Sachse Centre for Spinal Cord Research

E: ryan.doig@sahmri.com

T: (08) 8128 4744

In 2017, Dr. Ryan O'Hare Doig completed his Ph.D in Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Western Australia. During his PhD,  Ryan developed and optimised a combinatorial treatment strategy incorporating pharmacotherapeutics for the treatment of Central Nervous System (CNS) injury. Ryan’s combinatorial strategy has been assessed in a clinically relevant model of spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury and concussion, demonstrating significant functional recovery and tissue sparing, crucial for the translation of his research into clinical trials. He has a wealth of experience in various innovative and analytical techniques to demonstrate biochemical, molecular and gross anatomical changes that occur following CNS injury. Ryan 's early research career has focused on understanding the pathophysiology of secondary degeneration following neurotrauma to the CNS with a particular focus on spinal cord injury (SCI).

In 2017, Ryan joined the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the Neil Sachse Centre for Spinal Cord Research, to provide his expertise in SCI, which he now leads as the acting non-executive Director, and head of the SCI Research Lab Group.  Since joining SAHMRI, Ryan has developed a research programme with three distinct themes: Discovery, diagnostics and therapeutics. These themes involve several large-scale projects, all of which have attracted substantial additional external funding (e.g. AOSpine, Neurosurgical Research Foundation, Lifetime Support Authority, SpinalCure) and internal funding University of Adelaide and SAHMRI (~$5.63m as CI, ~$3.87m as AI), respectively, across 12 competitive grants. This has led to the development of several pre-clinical research studies in small and large animal models, the approval of two world-first early phase clinical trials (ACTRN1262200073374 & ACTRN12618001946202), and the establishment of South Australia's only pre-clinical stem cell tissue engineering platform (with Adelaide Medical School, School of Biomedicine, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials) actively seeking a cure for SCI. 

Research Interests

  • Neurotrauma
  • Neuropharmacology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Nuclear imaging (PET/CT)
  • Functional imaging (fMRI)
  • Nanomedicine
  • Inflammation
  • Oxidative stress
  • Stem cell biology
  • Glia

My research lab actively works on developing advanced functional and molecular imaging techniques and protocols to provide a 'live-feed' of the injured spinal cord by accurately mapping biomarkers of spinal cord pathology and quantifying dysfunction following acute and chronic SCI. My research goal is to develop a functional and molecular clinical imaging pipelines that will change how we diagnose and treat SCI, and ultimately lead novel targets for therapy to the improve quality of life of SCI individuals and their families.  

Current Projects Focus on:

  • Characterising the theranostic potential of neuroinflammation.
  • Mapping biomarkers of pathophysiology, sensorimotor and autonomic and function/dysfunction following SCI using advanced non-invasing neuroimaging techniques such as PET-CT, DTI and fMRI.
  • Developing novel techniques to improve stem cell therapeutic potential following engraftment in spinal cord tissue.  
  • Assessing the exposure risks of acute SCI patients that influence changes in the gut-inflammatory axis
  • Assessing nanomedicine techniques for the treatment of respiratory dysfunction following SCI

 

Research projects available:

Research Project 1

Project Discovery – The 18-kDa translocator protein radioligand [18F]GE-10 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker following spinal cord injury

Project description: One of the many consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI) is acute post-traumatic neuroinflammation. Understanding how particular biomarkers of neuroinflammation progress over the course of injury is imperative for tracking and predicting outcomes, providing accurate diagnosis and prognosis, and choosing and monitoring appropriate therapeutic interventions for SCI injured patients.

This study proposes to investigate whether positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of radioligands (e.g. [18F]GE-180) will serve as a robust biomarker to discriminate innate and adaptive inflammatory responses during acute and chronic phases of SCI, respectively.

Projects available for: Masters and/or PhD
Location:  SAHMRI, Royal Adelaide Hospital
Research project start: Current, ongoing.

Research Project 2

Project SCIN (Spinal Cord Injury Neurosexuality) – Developing a biological understanding of sexual health following spinal cord injury

Project description: Sexual health is a high priority for men and women with spinal cord injury (SCI). However, our understanding of the biological basis of sexual dysfunction in this context is still preliminary and there is no consensus treatment guideline or evidence-based treatment plan. This study proposes to perform detailed clinical assessment comparing the spared neurological and autonomic functions of men and women with complete SCIs with quantitative fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) read-out of cord and brain activity. This will enable evaluation in real-time and help us to elucidate the functional nature of psychogenic sexual response.

Projects available for: Honours, Masters and/or PhD
Location: SAHMRI, Royal Adelaide Hospital
Research project start:  Ongoing.

Research Project 3

Project Bridge - Bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and spinal cord injury

Project description: The human spinal cord has limited capacity for spontaneous regeneration. Regeneration and replacement of neurons and glia that undergo cell death after SCI are the main goals of all stem cell-based therapies for SCI. However, stem cells typically show poor survival and/or differentiation under the severe conditions of SCI. Thus, translation from bench-to-bedside is clearly hindered by the lack of understanding of stem cell survival and stem cell differentiation pathways following delivery/transplantation.

This research project uniquely explores novel techniques to pre-conditioning dental pulp stem cells to promote enhanced stem cell survival and neural regeneration.

Projects available for: Third Year, Honours, Masters and/or PhD
Location: SAHMRI, University of Adelaide
Research project start: July 2019, on-going.

Research Project 4

Project Bridge - Day One to 365 (DOT365) Pilot Study - Understanding the microbial risks of neuropathic pain during the first year of spinal cord injury

Project description: Recently, it was discovered that gut dysbiosis and consequent changes in the gut microbiome influences neuropathic pain through inflammatory pathways. Similarly, it is understood that exposures to medications, diet and lifestyle factors are strongly associated with changes in the gut-microbiome and inflammatory axis. In the first 12 months following SCI, patients will be exposed to numerous modifications in both their lifestyle and environmental factors. However, to this date, no one has explored how such exposure-risks may influence changes in the gut-inflammatory axis, and thus lead to the onset of comorbidites (e.g.Neuropathic pain). Therefore, we propose an innovative observational pilot study, assessing the exposure-risks of acute SCI patients, to determine their effects on the gut-immune axis and neuropathic pain. This proposal brings together an investigative group of E/MCR research leaders with Clinical expertise in the fields of Neurotrauma, Neuroinflammation and Microbiome and Host Health. 

Research Project 5

The BREATH delivery project - Biodegradable Respiratory Enhancing nAnoparticle conjugates for THeophylline delivery and treatment of respiratory dysfunction following SCI

Project description: Respiratory dysfunction following SCI is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in SCI patients and remains without a cure. Whilst various clinical trials have attempted to target respiratory dysfunction through drug interventions, they often require large doses of systemic drug delivered to patients who ultimately suffer low therapeutic benefit and highly intolerable side effects. Therefore, there is a critical need to pursue alternative and novel methods for treating respiratory dysfunction in SCI patients. Our breakthrough research will provide a new alternative for drug delivery using biocompatible nanoparticle delivery through a world first targeted nanomedicine approach. This study aims to engineer newly synthesised nanoparticles (NPs) with biodegradable materials, to test the hypothesis that theophylline drug-carrying NPs can selectively transport and release drugs in neurons for the effective treatment of acute respiratory dysfunction following SCI.

 

 

Selected External Grants 

2023 - Research Grant. ‘BioSpine 2.0: the personalised Digital Twin for Thought-driven Electromechanical Assistive Neurorehabilitation Devices Program, Motor Accident Insurance Comission.

2023 - Research Grant. ‘Role of concomitant traumatic brain injury on the development of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury’, Neurosurgical Research Foundation.

2023 - EMCR Seed Funding Grant (2023 - 2024) - AU$30,000. ‘Day One to 365 (DOT365) Pilot Study – Understanding the microbial risks of neuropathic pain during the first year of spinal cord injury’, SAHMRI.

2021 - Flinders Accelerator for Microbiome Exploration.  ‘Metagenomic sequencing of viruses present in the csf of patients after spinal cord injury’, Flinders University.

2020 - Start-up Grant, "Functional tissue engineering for spinal cord injury: A strategy using teeth and nanomedicine", AOSpine.

2019 - Lifetime Support Authority Research Grant. ‘Project SCIN (Spinal Cord Injury Neurosexuality)’, Lifetime Support Authority. 

2019 – Discovery and Innovation Award,  "Modulation of inflammatory responses using neural crest derived dental pulp stem cells following acute spinal cord injury", AOSpine.

2018 – Early and Mid-Career Research Development Support Grant, "18-kDa translocator protein radioligand [18F]GE-180 as a neuroinflammatory biomarker following spinal cord injury, SAHMRI

2017 - Research, Education and Programs Grant, "Project Discovery - Using molecular imaging for precision medicine approaches for SCI", Lifetime Support Authority

Selected Awards & Scholarships

High Impact Publication for 2021, Industry Impact – Health Solutions IEP, University of Adelaide 

2021 

Collaboration Grant, Spinal Research Institute 

 

2021 

Early Career Scholarship, Spine Society of Australia 

2021 

Certificate of Excellence, National Neurotrauma Society  

2018 

Travel Scholarship, National Neurotrauma Society 

2018 

Alumni Recognition Award (Community Award), Christian Brothers College  

2018 

Three Minute Thesis People Choice Award (Winner), Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) 

2017 

Ross Wishart Memorial Award (Finalist), Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR)  

2017 

Student Awards & Scholarships

Melinda Mead, University of Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship 

Reeya Patel, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Honours Scholarship 

Madeleine Holmes-Vickers, Research Training Program Scholarship, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide 

Paul Marciano, Research Training Program Scholarship, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide 

Sunyu Cha, ANZSNM Nuclear Medicine Undergraduate Student Award 

Sunyu Cha, ANSTO/ANZSNM ASM 2022 Travel Grant 

Georgia Bright, Research Training Program Scholarship, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide 

Negar Mansouri, High Impact Publication for 2021, University of Adelaide 

Sandra Jenkner, Early Career Scholarship, Spine Society of Australia 

Sandra Jenkner, Research Training Program Scholarship, Faculty of Health and Medical Science, University of Adelaide 

Ashton Milton-Hine, University of Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship 

Sandra Jenkner, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Honours Scholarship 

Aleesha Searle, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Honours Scholarship 

Teaching experience

The University of Adelaide

 

The University of Western Australia

Lecturer, ANHB1102: Human Biology

2016 – 2018

Guest Lecturer, NEUR4010: Modern Research Tools in Neuroscience

2016

Tutor, ANHB1101/1102: Human Biology

 

Teaching Assistant, ANIM3320: Comparative Neurobiology

2014 – 2016

Teaching Assistant, NEUR3326: Advanced Neuroscience

2012 – 2016

Teaching Assistant, BIOL1130: Frontiers in Biology

2014

Teaching Assistant, DENT4101/POD4103: Anatomy Physiology & Cell Biology

2013

Teaching Assistant ANHB2217: Human Neurobiology

2012 – 2013

Student Supervision & Mentoring

Graduate 

  • Madeleine Anne Holmes-Vickers (Doctor of Medicine, March 2023 – present), University of Adelaide. ‘Day One to 365 (DOT365) - Understanding the Microbial Risks of Neuropathic Pain during the First Year of Spinal Cord Injury’. Supervisor with Dr. Anna Leonard, Dr. Andrew Shoubridge 

  • Paul Marciano (Doctor of Medicine, Jan 2023 - present), University of Adelaide. ‘Targeted drug delivery for treatment of respiratory dysfunction following spinal cord injury using retrograde transport of biodegradable nanoparticles’. Supervisor with Prof. Guangzhao Mao, Dr. Anna Leonard. 

  • Mohammad Khaled A Alsenaide (Doctor of Biomedical Engineering, March 2022 - present), University of Adelaide. ‘Graphene Based Scaffold for Neural Tissue Engineering (NTE) and Biomedical Engineering Applications’. Supervisor with Prof. Dusan Losic, Dr. Said Al Sarawi 

  • Keziah Jane Skein (Doctor of Biomedicine, March 2022 - present), University of Adelaide. ‘Evaluating the role of concomitant traumatic brain injury on the development of neuropathic pain following traumatic spinal cord injury’. Supervisor with Dr. Anna Leonard, Dr. Frances Corrigan.  

  • Georgia Bright (Doctor of Medicine, March 2022 – present), University of Adelaide. ‘MRI and PET-CT in spinal cord injury – investigation of the neural bases of sexual function and the viability of 18-kDa translocator protein radioligand [18F]GE-180 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker’ Supervisor with Dr. Nigel Rogasch, Prof. Jillian Clark 

  • Sandra Jenkner (Doctor of Medicine; March 2021 – present), University of Adelaide. ‘Pre-conditioning and modulation of dental pulp stem cells for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury’. Supervisor with Prof. Stan Gronthos, Prof. Jillian Clark.  

  • Negar Mansouri (Doctor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering; 2018-2021), University of Adelaide. ‘The Study of 3D Graphene-based Scaffolds in Neural Tissue Engineering. Supervisor with Dr. Said Al-Sarawi, Prof. Dusan Losic.  

  • Sreya Santhakumar (Master in Health Science, Neuroscience; 2015-2016), University of Western Australia. Supervisor with Dr. Stuart Hodgetts.  

 

Undergraduate  

  • Reeya Patel (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2023), University of Adelaide. ‘Exploiting Immune cells to enhance viability and regenerative capacity of dental pulp stem cells following spinal cord injury 

  • Shehani Loku Pathirage (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2023), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterising the effects of graphene-based scaffolds on dental pulp stem cell neural properties for the treatment of spinal cord injury’ 

  • Paul Marciano (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2022), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterisation of the central and peripheral neuroinflammation following acute blood spinal cord barrier disruption following spinal cord injury’ 

  • Aker Leuth (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2022), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterisation of immunodulation caused by acute spinal cord injury’  

  • Benjamin Shao En Sim (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2021), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterisation of the central and peripheral responses of inflammatory cells following acute spinal cord injury’. 

  • Hosanna Ratnayake (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2021), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterisation of the central and peripheral responses of inflammatory cells following acute spinal cord injury’. 

  • Sunyu Cha, (Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science [Nuclear Medicine] Honours; 2020-2021). University of South Australia. ‘The Functionality of 18-kDa Translocator Protein Radioligand [18F]GE-180 as a Biomarker in the Diagnostic and Prognostic Evaluation of Spinal Cord Injury’. Supervisor with Prof. Dylan Bartholomeusz, Ms. Katherine Guerrero. 

  • Ashton Milton-Hine (Summer Research Placement; 2020-2021), University of Adelaide. ‘Bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and spinal cord injury’. 

  • Sandra Jenkner, (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences [Advanced] Honours; 2020), University of Adelaide. Supervisor with Prof. Stan Gronthos, A/Prof. Jillian Clark. Graduated with First Class Honours.  

  • Aleesha Searle (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2020), University of Adelaide. ‘Characterisation of the central and peripheral responses of inflammatory cells following acute spinal cord injury’. Graduated with First Class Honours;  

  • Chad Lennon (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Honours; 2020). University of Adelaide. ‘Can the radioligand [18F]GE-180 be used as a diagnostic and prognostic tool following a spinal cord injury?’. Graduated with First Upper Second Class Honours 

  • Amelia Noone (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2019-2020), University of Adelaide. ‘Bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and spinal cord injury’.  

  • Florence Muhoi (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2019-2020), University of Adelaide. ‘Bridging the gap between regenerative medicine and spinal cord injury’.  

  • Amelia Rinaldi (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2019-2020), University of Adelaide. ‘Exploring [18F]GE-10 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker following spinal cord injury’.  

  • Portia-Ellen Cook (Bachelor of Health and Medical Sciences Final Year Research Project; 2019-2020), University of Adelaide. Exploring [18F]GE-10 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker following spinal cord injury’. 

  • Jade Kenna (Bachelor of Science, Neuroscience; Final Year Research Placement; 2016), University of Western Australia. ‘Combinatorial ion channel inhibitor therapy for the treatment of CNS injury’.  

  • Breanna Dixon (Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Final Year Research Placement; 2016) University of Western Australia.  ‘Combinatorial ion channel inhibitor therapy for the treatment of CNS injury’. 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor Spinal Quantitative Imaging with Super High-field strength MRI for accurate non-invasive spinal cord tumour diagnosis (The SQUISH spine project) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Reeya Chetan Patel
    2023 Principal Supervisor Targeted drug delivery for treatment of respiratory dysfunction following spinal cord injury using retrograde transport of biodegradable nanoparticles. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Paul Marciano
    2022 Co-Supervisor Evaluating the role of concomitant traumatic brain injury on the development of neuropathic pain following traumatic spinal cord injury Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Keziah Jane Skein
    2022 Principal Supervisor A clinical advanced neuroimaging study investigating the validity of fMRI and DTI as a diagnostic biomarker for sexual dysfunction following spinal cord injury. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Georgia Elise Bright
    2022 Co-Supervisor Graphene Based Scaffold for Neural Tissue Engineering (NTE) and Biomedical Engineering Applications Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Mohammad Khaled A Alsenaide
    2021 Co-Supervisor Pre-conditioning and modulation of dental pulp stem cells for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Sandra Jenkner

  • Presentation
    Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
    2021 - ongoing Developing and Characterising a Porcine Survival Model of Thoracic Contusion Spinal Cord Injury Annual Scientific Meeting Spine Society of Australia -
    2021 - ongoing Developing and Characterising a Porcine Survival Model of Thoracic Contusion Spinal Cord Injury Florey Postgraduate Research Conference Florey Medical Foundation, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide -
    2020 - ongoing Developing and Characterising a Porcine Survival Model of Thoracic Contusion Spinal Cord Injury South Australian Annual Scientific Meeting Australian Society for Medical Research -
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