03 March 2023
Media release
In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, we are delighted to announce the appointment of our third, senior five-year Alice Baker and Eleanor Shaw Gender Equity Fellow, Associate Professor Sara Baratchi.
A/Prof. Baratchi comes to us from RMIT where she was the founder and leader of the Mechanobiology and Microfluidic Research Group. She is also an adjunct Senior Fellow at the Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health of the University of Melbourne.
As a passionate vascular biologist and mechanobiologist, A/Prof. Baratchi brings a unique multidisciplinary expertise in cellular and molecular biology, advanced imaging and microfluidics.
Her research focuses on pioneering artificial models of human blood vessels and heart valves using advanced microfabrication and microfluidic technologies to clarify the molecular mechanisms that control cellular responses to hemodynamic forces.
She says these systems, commonly referred to as ‘organ-on-a-chip’ models, offer unique advantages for advancing vascular biology at both basic and applied levels, and for screening novel therapeutics for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.
Her work sees her engaging regularly with a broad range of specialists from engineers and vascular biologists to immunologists, bioinformaticians and clinicians.
A/Prof. Baratchi already collaborates with the Institute’s researchers, including Professor Karlheinz Peter and our Atherothrombosis and Vascular Biology Research Group. This collaboration has resulted in several joint papers, PhD students and grant applications, including an NHMRC Idea Project, ARC Discovery Project and an ARC Linkage Project.
In addition to the above project grants, A/Prof. Baratchi is also the recipient of several other grants and fellowships, including an ARC Discovery for Early Career Researchers and a RMIT Vice Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015–2018), worth more than $2.5M.
She has published more than 65 papers in high-impact journals such as Circulation, Cellular and Molecular Life sciences, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces and Cellular Physiology. A/Prof. Baratchi is also the founding member and current Victorian President of the Australian Society for Mechanobiology (AuSMB), established to promote the field of mechanobiology in Australia.
Baker Institute Director, Professor Tom Marwick said: “A/Prof. Baratchi brings an interesting and exciting engineering interface to our research and we are delighted to welcome her to the Institute”.
Professor Marwick said the Institute began a search last year for another Alice Baker and Eleanor Shaw Gender Equity Fellowship recipient after our 2022 Fellow, Professor Dianna Magliano OAM, secured a significant Investigator Grant, negating the need for the Fellowship. “This is, of course, one of the purposes of the Fellowship to provide financial security and time – a rarity in research - to develop your track record and to work on grant applications,” Professor Marwick said.
These fellowships, named after female philanthropists who helped to establish the Baker Institute, are supported by our long-time supporters, the Baker Foundation, and the Institute. Professor Marwick said the fellowships formed a critical cornerstone of our gender equity and diversity program, which we are very proud of.
The Institute was one of the first 15 research organisations nationally to be awarded a Bronze Award, the highest award at the time, through the Athena Swan SAGE (Science in Australia Gender Equity) program. We are now working towards a Silver Award.
For further information or to organise interviews please contact:
Tracey Ellis
T: 03 8532 1514
M: 0433 781 972
E: tracey.ellis@baker.edu.au
