Dr. Robin A. Ely, Clinical/Science Advisor, Director of the National Gaucher Foundation (NGF) Global Diagnostic and Treatment Initiative, and NGF Co-Founder, recently traveled to Melbourne, Australia, where she visited Monash University and Dr. Roger Zebaze. Here, she shares the work she saw and Dr. Zebaze’s current research that includes Gaucher disease.

During a recent trip to Melbourne, Australia, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Roger Zebaze, a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University. Dr. Zebaze is a physician, inventor and scientist, focusing on “studying the pathogenesis, the structural and material basis of bone diseases with the main goal of developing novel diagnostic tools.”

Dr. Zebaze holds more than 10 patents worldwide in the field of bone medicine and imaging, according to his personal profile. He is primarily focused on diagnostic technology for improving the imaging of both “hard” cortical bone and the inner “trabecular” bone structure. The latter gives the bone its flexibility and resilience and is even more important than the outer bone for fracture resistance.

In his lab, Dr. Zebaze has the most sophisticated bone imaging machine currently available. He is currently studying individuals with Gaucher disease, osteoporosis, and other conditions as part of an initiative to develop diagnostic tools targeting rare bone diseases.

This improved imaging will eventually serve as both a biomarker for disease extent as well as a measure of various therapeutic interventions.

As with so many research endeavors, he and his team are in need of funds to support his work.