Dr Diyana Hassanel

Dr Diyana Hassanel is a Research Officer at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, where she leads the mRNA cancer vaccine project in the Sharma Lab. Her PhD research focused on synthesising and identifying novel hydrophilic polymer-lipids to stabilise mRNA lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations. This work improved gene expression and reduced nanoparticle clearance in vivo, and was published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics and Nanoscale Horizons.

With expertise in mRNA LNP technology, Dr Hassanel is dedicated to advancing the development and optimisation of mRNA vaccine delivery systems for cancer applications. Within her first year as a postdoctoral researcher, she was awarded the competitive Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA) Pipeline Accelerator Scheme, which provides up to $50,000 in funding to support the progression of her preclinical research.