Developing new medical technologies through a PhD

Life as a graduate researcher: Negar Zoka

Negar Zoka is researching new methods of brain stimulation. She is excited about the potential practical outcomes of her research.

Negar Zoka says that undertaking a PhD is not just enabling her to research a fascinating topic, but is helping her develop a raft of skills that will be useful in her career.

“A PhD is your project. It gives you all these extra skills in project management, leadership and organisation,” she says. “It gives you the time and opportunity to really think about what you want to achieve in life, and find a way to do it.”

Negar is a member of the John NeuroBionics Lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The lab focuses on researching and developing the next generation of medical systems that interact with the body.

“I’m trying to see how we can generate neural responses using ultrasound,” Negar explains.

Brain stimulation can help people who have a range of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. But current methods can be quite invasive, requiring open brain surgery to implant electrodes inside the brain.

“We’re trying to investigate a minimally invasive method for an effective brain stimulation.”

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Support for professional development and networking

Negar is coming to the end of the first year of her PhD. She says that receiving an Ingenium scholarship has enabled her to seize many opportunities over the past 12 months.

“I’ve spent this year attending conferences, which has been a really good opportunity to network, attend useful workshops and develop as a researcher.”

Negar studied electronic and micro-electronic engineering as a graduate student in her home country Iran. She then moved to New Zealand, embarking on another masters degree in biomedical engineering.

She landed a job in New Zealand designing and manufacturing crystal oscillators, a type of electronic circuit. But she wanted to further develop herself professionally, so she contemplated undertaking a PhD that would combine her interests.

“I thought it would be nice to go to another country, that it would give me the opportunity to develop further. I had heard great things from friends about Melbourne – the city and lifestyle.”

She chose biomedical engineering specifically because she wanted to contribute to health outcomes. “It sounds like a cliche, but it’s true – I wanted to make a difference. This is the field that enables you to make a difference in people’s lives through their health.”

Practical possibilities

Negar is planning to collaborate with neurosurgeons to help further develop her project.

“There have been discussions with industry as well, because we’re thinking of this implantable drivers system, which means we need to collaborate with businesses that do implants and integrated-circuit design.”

Negar is interested in taking her PhD in a practical direction, and is excited to see where her research will take her.

“We are developing a device, a new technology. Developing a startup with my friends and colleagues here could be a very interesting possibility as well.”

"The University offers numerous research centres, collaborative spaces and initiatives designed to support this type of research. These resources create an environment for translating the research into tangible real-world applications. And your supervisors have a crucial role in guiding you to leverage these resources effectively."

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