Dr Karen K W Siu

Full description

Dr Karen Siu is a Senior Research Fellow at Monash Biomedical Imaging, specialising in the applications of synchrotron radiation techniques to biomedical research. In particular, she focuses on phase contrast x-ray imaging of the lungs for the detection and assessment of airway disease. Key achievements in this area are the first direct in vivo observation of the airway suface liquid layer and mucociliary transit rates and patterns, outcomes directed towards providing new measures of airway health suitable for cystic fibrosis therapy assessments. Dr Siu's expertise in synchrotron imaging was recognised by her current secondment (50%) to the Imaging and Therapy Beamline of the Australian Synchrotron, for the commissioning phase of the facility. This is one of only 3 beamlines worldwide to be actively pursuing both animal and clinical programs of research. She also uses synchrotron x-ray diffraction methods to investigate the structural changes underlying malignancy, demonstrating the first use of Small Angle X-ray Scattering to distinguish benign and malignant lesions of the brain, and subsequently found novel markers of invasive disease in the breast in advance of conventional histological markers.

Dr Siu has worked at extensively at synchrotrons in Europe, Japan, the UK and the USA. She is the Monash University representative on the Australian Synchrotron Foundation Investor Liaison Committee, a member of the Australian Synchrotron International Proposal Advisory Committee, and a member of the proposed Micro-Computed Tomography Beamline Scoping Group.