Current|Fellow|
Dr Jessica Kretzmann
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how vulnerable we are as a society to new diseases, and how quickly and completely our lives can be upended. Our future needs sensors that are not only able to detect a positive or negative viral infection, but which can detect and alert us to new viruses and variants – sensors which are adaptable. As a Forrest Fellow, I aim to develop a rapid, sensitive, and broad-spectrum viral diagnostic sensor.

Dr Jessica Kretzmann is working within the School of Molecular Sciences, and the ARC Training Centre for Biomedical Analysis, at the University of Western Australia. Jessica’s research is at the interface of multiple disciplines, bridging chemistry, engineering and biology.

Jessica completed her PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of Western Australia, spending part of her doctoral studies as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2018). Her PhD focused on the design and evaluation of new materials for the delivery of gene therapies. From there, Jessica was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Technical University of Munich, where she worked on the design and implementation of DNA origami for biotechnological applications (2020 – 2022). Through the Forrest Fellowship, Jessica aims to bring DNA origami as a new field of research to Western Australia. Specifically, Jessica will aim to develop broad-spectrum viral diagnostic sensors using DNA origami.

ResearchingDNA origami, biosensors, disease, virus
AffiliatedUniversity of Western Australia|
Appointed2022
CountryAustralia
Focus areaHealth, Technology