Nicole Dmochowska

Research Interests

Nanomedicine Molecular imaging (incl. electron microscopy and neutron diffraction) Solid Tumours Biomedical imaging Molecular Targets

Dr Nicole Dmochowska

Research Fellow

Future Industries Institute

Future Industries Institute

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

Dr Nicole Dmochowska is a biomedical Research Fellow developing imaging technologies and contrast agents to improve tumour mapping and cancer treatment, with a strong focus on clinical translation. In 2026, she was awarded a Cancer Council South Australia Clinical Medicine and Science Fellowship to develop fluorescent nanoformulations designed to improve the visualisation and surgical resection of pancreatic tumours.
 
Since 2019, Nicole has collaborated closely with Adelaide-based Ferronova on the development of tracer technologies for surgical oncology. Her work has contributed to the development of second-generation FerroTrace-FAPi technology (WO/2022/241506, Mapping Nanoparticles), which is progressing towards first-in-human clinical trials. In 2022, Nicole was awarded an MTPConnect Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry Fellowship and undertook a year-long placement with Ferronova, gaining industry experience in clinical translation and commercialisation. More recently, she was awarded an Australian Economic Accelerator (AEA) Ignite Grant. Through this project, Nicole and the team are leveraging Ferronova’s patented solid-state magnetometer technology to develop a laparoscopic probe for the intraoperative detection of high-risk lymph nodes.
 
Nicole completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Adelaide, in partnership with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, in 2020. She subsequently joined the Future Industries Institute as a Research Associate. Her doctoral research focused on developing PET imaging tracers targeting intestinal inflammation and fibrosis in a murine model of inflammatory bowel disease. During this time, she was awarded the William T. Southcott Nuclear Medicine Scholarship.
 
From 2019 to 2024, Nicole served on the board of the Australian Society of Molecular Imaging, supporting the advancement of multidisciplinary molecular imaging research in Australia. She is also an editorial board member of Discover Imaging (Springer Nature). Committed to supporting the next generation of women in STEM, Nicole serves as a mentor with the South Australian Academy for Gender Equity in STEM.

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2024 Award Finalist in science category, Women in Innovation (Winnovation) Winnovation Australia -
2020 Award Alavi-Mandell Award Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging United States -

Date Institution name Country Title
2016 - 2020 University of Adelaide Australia Doctor of Philosophy
2015 - 2015 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Health Science (Honours)
2012 - 2014 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science

Year Citation
2024 Badiee, P., Maritz, M. F., Dehghankelishadi, P., Dmochowska, N., & Thierry, B. (2024). Hydrophobic ion pairing and microfluidic nanoprecipitation enable efficient nanoformulation of a small molecule indolamine 2, 3-dioxygenase inhibitor immunotherapeutic. Bioengineering and Translational Medicine, 9(1, article no. e10599), 1-13.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC2
2023 Dmochowska, N., Milanova, V., Mukkamala, R., Chow, K. K., Pham, N. T. H., Srinivasarao, M., . . . Thierry, B. (2023). Nanoparticles Targeted to Fibroblast Activation Protein Outperform PSMA for MRI Delineation of Primary Prostate Tumors. Small, 19(21), 2204956-1-2204956-14.
DOI Scopus10 WoS9 Europe PMC9
2023 Dehghankelishadi, P., Badiee, P., Maritz, M. F., Dmochowska, N., & Thierry, B. (2023). Bosutinib high density lipoprotein nanoformulation has potent tumour radiosensitisation effects. Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 21(102), 1-14.
DOI Scopus12 WoS10 Europe PMC5
2022 Dmochowska, N., Milanova, V., Mukkamala, R., Chow, K. K., Pham, N. T. H., Srinivasarao, M., . . . Thierry, B. (2022). Nanoparticles targeted to fibroblast activation protein outperform PSMA for MRI delineation of primary prostate tumours.
DOI
2022 Dehghankelishadi, P., Maritz, M. F., Dmochowska, N., Badiee, P., Cheah, E., Kempson, I., . . . Thierry, B. (2022). Formulation of simvastatin within high density lipoprotein enables potent tumour radiosensitisation. Journal of Controlled Release, 346, 98-109.
DOI Scopus21 WoS18 Europe PMC14
2022 Badiee, P., Maritz, M. F., Dmochowska, N., Cheah, E., & Thierry, B. (2022). Intratumoral anti-PD-1 nanoformulation improves its biodistribution. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 14(14), 15881-15893.
DOI Scopus14 WoS15 Europe PMC10
2020 Dmochowska, N., Tieu, W., Keller, M. D., Hollis, C. A., Campaniello, M. A., Mavrangelos, C., . . . Hughes, P. A. (2020). ⁸⁹Zr-pro-MMP-9 F(ab′)₂ detects colitis induced intestinal and kidney fibrosis. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 20372.
DOI Scopus12 WoS13 Europe PMC10
2019 Dmochowska, N., Tieu, W., Keller, M. D., Wardill, H. R., Mavrangelos, C., Campaniello, M. A., . . . Hughes, P. A. (2019). Immuno-PET of Innate Immune Markers CD11b and IL-1β Detects Inflammation in Murine Colitis. Journal of nuclear medicine : Official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine, 60(6), 858-863.
DOI Scopus34 WoS31 Europe PMC31
2019 Wardill, H. R., Choo, J. M., Dmochowska, N., Mavrangelos, C., Campaniello, M. A., Bowen, J. M., . . . Hughes, P. A. (2019). Acute colitis drives tolerance by persistently altering the epithelial barrier and innate and adaptive immunity. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 25(7), 1196-1207.
DOI Scopus13 WoS13 Europe PMC11
2018 Dmochowska, N., Wardill, H., & Hughes, P. (2018). Advances in imaging specific mediators of inflammatory bowel disease. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(9), 2471-1-2471-13.
DOI Scopus51 WoS36 Europe PMC28

Year Citation
2022 Dmochowska, N., Milanova, V., Shetty, A., Mukkamala, R., Srinivasarao, M., Walser, E., . . . Thierry, B. (2022). FIBROBLAST ACTIVATION PROTEIN-SPECIFIC MRI PROVIDES IMPROVED TUMOUR MAPPING IN AN ORTHOTOPIC MODEL OF PROSTATE CANCER COMPARED TO PROSTATE SPECIFIC MEMBRANE ANTIGEN. In JOURNAL OF UROLOGY Vol. 207 (pp. E101). LA, New Orleans: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS.
2020 Dmochowska, N., Tieu, W., Keller, M. D., Hollis, C., Campaniello, M., Mavrangelos, C., . . . Hughes, P. (2020). Detection of colitis induced intestinal and kidney fibrosis using α-pro-MMP9 immuno-PET. In NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY AND MOTILITY Vol. 32 (pp. 1 page). WILEY.
2018 Hughes, P., Wardill, H., Choo, J., Dmochowska, N., Campaniello, M., Mavrangelos, C., . . . Rogers, G. (2018). Acute colitis chronically alters epithelial barrier and adaptive and innate immune responses to subsequent colitis re-activation independently of shifts in microbiota composition. In NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY AND MOTILITY Vol. 30 (pp. 1 page). WILEY.

Year Citation
2022 Dmochowska, N., Milanova, V., Shetty, A., Mukkamala, R., Srinivasarao, M., Walser, E., . . . Thierry, B. (2022). Fibroblast activation protein-specific mri provides Improved tumour mapping in an orthotopic model of Prostate cancer compared to prostate specific Membrane antigen. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts from the AUA Annual Meeting as published in The Journal of Urology. United States: American Urological Association.
DOI
2018 Dmochowska, N., Campaniello, M., Mavrangelos, C., Wardill, H., Takhar, P., Keller, M., . . . Hughes, P. (2018). "In vivo" PET imaging of innate immune responses in murine DSS colitis. Poster session presented at the meeting of NEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY AND MOTILITY. WILEY.
2018 Hughes, P., Wardill, H., Dmochowska, N., Mavrangelos, C., Campaniello, M., Bowen, J., . . . Andrews, J. (2018). Proteolytic activation of IL-1 beta impairs epithelial barrier integrity in the ulcerative colitis lumen. Poster session presented at the meeting of Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Brisbane, Qld: Wiley.
2017 Wardill, H., Bowen, J., Dmochowska, N., Campaniello, M., Mavrangelos, C., Holloway, R., . . . Hughes, P. (2017). Faecal supernatants from diarrhoea predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients disrupt colonic epithelial barrier function and directly activate colo-rectal afferent nerves. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts of the NeuroGASTRO 2017 Congress, as published in Neurogastroenterology and Motility. Cork, Ireland: Wiley.
DOI
2017 Wardill, H. R., Dmochowska, N., Campaniello, M. A., Mavrangelos, C., Bowen, J. M., Andrews, J. M., . . . Hughes, P. A. (2017). Fecal supernatants from active ulcerative colitis patients impair colonic epithelial barrier integrity and activate pelvic mucosal extrinsic afferent nerves. Poster session presented at the meeting of FASEB Journal. Chicago, IL: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Year Citation
2022 Thierry, B., Nelson, M. R. M., Milanova, V., Dmochowska, N., Pham, T. H. N., & Hawkett, B. S. (2022). WO2022241506, Mapping nanoparticles.
  • Cancer Council South Australia Clinical Medicine and Science Fellowship, Preclinical investigation of an ultrabright indocyanine green nanoformulation towards improved intraoperative fluorescence-guided surgery of pancreatic tumours, 1/3/2026-1/3/2029 
  • Development and preclinical validation of a laparoscopic magnetometer probe based on quantum sensors for intraoperative mapping of the spread of gastrointestinal tumours, Australia's Economic Accelerator Ignite Grant, 27/05/2025 - 26/05/2026
  • Preclinical investigation of an ultrabright indocyanine green nanoformulation towards improved intraoperative fluorescence-guided surgery of pancreatic tumours, Tour de Cure Ltd, 01/01/2024 - 27/02/2026
  • Preclinical validation of a new molecular magnetic resonance imaging of glioblastoma towards improved image-guided treatment, Tour de Cure Ltd, 01/07/2023 - 01/07/2024
  • FAPi-MRI towards better target delineation of high-grade Gliomas, Neurosurgical Research Foundation, 30/08/2021 - 31/08/2022
  • FAPi-MRI towards better target delineation of high grade gliomas, MTP Connect Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry Fellowship, 2022-2023

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2026 Co-Supervisor Development and manufacturing of an indocyanine green nanoformulation towards improved intraoperative fluorescence-guided surgery of pancreatic tumour Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nicholas William Harrington
2023 Co-Supervisor Next generation bioengineered in vitro tumour models Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Luke Bredberg
2023 Principal Supervisor 111188 - Development of brain tumour-targeting ICG nanoformulations for fluorescence-guided neurosurgery Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jaco Van Rooyen
2023 Co-Supervisor 110450 - Development of a theranostic agent for image-guided and radiosensitisation of pancreatic cancer Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jalil Charmi
2023 Co-Supervisor New radiobiological insights using a microphysiological device enabling long-term culture of patient-derived brain tumour tissue slices and cerebral organoid slices  Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Tesi Liu

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2024 - 2025 Co-Supervisor Systematic characterisation of existing and new models of the vaginal mucosa and their application to assess the vaginal delivery of nanomedicine Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Lutfun Neesa
2021 - 2022 Co-Supervisor A nanomedicine approach for immune checkpoint inhibition: towards better and safer cancer immunotherapy Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Parisa Badiee

Date Role Board name Institution name Country
2021 - 2025 Secretary Australian Society of Molecular Imaging Australian Society of Molecular Imaging Australia
2021 - 2025 Board Member Federation of Asian Societies of Molecular Imaging (FASMI) University of South Australia Australia
2019 - 2021 Board Member Australian Society of Molecular Imaging Australian Society of Molecular Imaging Australia

Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
2024 - ongoing Board Member Discover Imaging Springer Nature (United States) Australia

Date Engagement Type Partner Name
2019 - ongoing Collaboration Ferronova

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