Associate Professor Peta Grigsby, Animal Research Team Leader
Associate Professor Peta Grigsby leads our Animal Research Team (ART), a key capability pillar within the Bionics Institute.
ART provide husbandry, surgical and functioning testing for all the pre-clinical animal models used at the Bionics Institute.
Peta is passionate about ensuring the expert surgical support provided by the team is at a world leading standard and is continually looking for ways to develop the team’s expertise and capabilities.
With over 20 years of experience developing animal models for research working with multiple species (e.g., monkeys, sheep, cats, guinea pigs and rodents), Associate Professor Grigsby’s diverse research background has provided her with the skills and knowledge needed for complex research projects.
Peta obtained her PhD at Monash University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the USA, before working in the US in research for 17 years. While there, she completed her Certificate in clinical and Translational Research at the Oregon Health & Sciences University, plus was a member of the Oregon National Primate Research Center’s Animal Ethics Committee for 8 years.
After returning to Australia, Peta completed a subsequent Certificate in Veterinary Nursing, specialised in anaesthesia and analgesia, accredited though the Australian College of Veterinary Nursing. With this qualification, she provides guidance to all Bionics Institute researchers on safe and quality animal care. Her commitment to safety and best practices is also reflected by her appointment to the Bionics Institute’s Research Governance and OHS Committees. Peta was granted an honourary appointment as Associate Professor with the University of Melbourne in 2024.
Outside of her role at the Bionics Institute, she is a member of Animal Welfare Victoria’s Rehoming Pets Working Group – a group dedicated to assisting with the development of policies that shape and guide reforms for Victoria’s pet rehoming sector.
Her love of the outdoors means that in her spare time, Peta enjoys swimming and venturing out into nature with her dog Bailey, a southern boy born in Oklahoma USA. At home she has multiple craft projects on the go, including knitting, Sashiko and slow-stitch embroidery.
Top publications
1. “Lai, A; McLean, K; Seiderer, L; Leavens, J; Ringo, S; Heasman, J; Burns, O; Rathbone, G; Williams, C; Bulluss, K; Seneviratne, W; D’Souza, W; Murphy, M; “, An implantable sub-scalp electroencephalography device for the recording of epileptic seizures-a case study,EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY,28,,694-694,2021,”WILEY 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA”
2. “Cameron, T; Cook, M; D’Souza, W; Seiderer, L; Lai, A; Heasman, J; Leavens, J; Lampinen, A; Saldanha, A; Manouchehri, S; Timbol, G; Leer, T; Ringo, S; Burns, O; Benovitski, Y; Millard, R; McGowan, C; Harrison, M; Rathbone, G; Williams, C; Murphy, M; “,Novel Device for ultra-long-term electroencephalographic monitoring,EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY,28,,888-888,2021,”WILEY 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA”
3. “Hernandez, Damian; Millard, Rodney; Kong, Anne M; Burns, Owen; Sivakumaran, Priyadharshini; Shepherd, Robert K; Dusting, Gregory J; Lim, Shiang Y; “, A Tissue Engineering Chamber for Continuous Pulsatile Electrical Stimulation of Vascularized Cardiac Tissues In Vivo, Bioelectricity,2,4,391-398,2020,”Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 140 Huguenot Street, 3rd Floor New …”
4. “Shivdasani, Mohit N; Evans, Mihailo; Burns, Owen; Yeoh, Jonathan; Allen, Penelope J; Nayagam, David AX; Villalobos, Joel; Abbott, Carla J; Luu, Chi D; Opie, Nicholas L; “, In vivo feasibility of epiretinal stimulation using ultrananocrystalline diamond electrodes,Journal of Neural Engineering,17,4,045014,2020,IOP Publishing
5. “Abbott, Carla; Nayagam, David; Burns, Owen; Feng, Helen; McGowan, Ceara; Guymer, Robyn; Williams, Chris; Allen, Penelope; Luu, Chi; “, Preservation of photoreceptor function in a retinal degeneration model following chronic electrical stimulation with an implantable electrode,CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL OPHTHALMOLOGY,47,,151-152,2019,”WILEY 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA”
6. “Abbott, Carla J; Nayagam, David AX; Burns, Owen; Feng, Helen; McGowan, Ceara; Guymer, Robyn H; Williams, Chris E; Allen, Penelope J; Luu, Chi D; “, Effect of chronic electrical stimulation with a fully implantable electrode on photoreceptor survival in a retinal degeneration model,Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,60,9,4992-4992,2019,The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
7. “Payne, Sophie C; Furness, John B; Burns, Owen; Sedo, Alicia; Hyakumura, Tomoko; Shepherd, Robert K; Fallon, James B; “, Anti-inflammatory effects of abdominal vagus nerve stimulation on experimental intestinal inflammation,Frontiers in neuroscience,13,,418,2019,Frontiers
8. “Payne, Sophie C; Burns, Owen; Stebbing, Martin; Thomas, Ross; Silva, Angel de; Sedo, Alicia; Weissenborn, Frank; Hyakumura, Tomoko; Huynh, Mario; May, Clive N; “, “Vagus nerve stimulation to treat inflammatory bowel disease: a chronic, preclinical safety study in sheep”,Bioelectronics in Medicine,1,4,235-250,2018,”Future Medicine Ltd London, UK”
9. “Nayagam, David AX; Williams, Richard A; La-Rosa, Cesar Salinas; McGowan, Ceara; Abbott, Carla J; Epp, Stephanie; Shivdasani, Mohit Naresh; Luu, Chi D; Villalobos, Joel; Thien, Patrick; Burns, Owen; Brandli, Alice; Williams, Chris; Allen, Penelope, J; Shepherd, Robert; “, Histopathological Criteria for Evaluation of Chronically Stimulated Retina,Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science,59,9,4562-4562,2018,The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
10. “Shepherd, Robert K; Villalobos, Joel; Burns, Owen; Nayagam, David AX; “, The development of neural stimulators: a review of preclinical safety and efficacy studies,Journal of neural engineering,15,4,041004,2018,IOP Publishing
Patents
1. “Williams, Christopher Edward; Burns, Owen; “, Electrode device for monitoring and/or stimulating activity in a subject,,,,,2021,”US Patent 10,980,440”
“Williams, Christopher Edward; Villa, Joel Villalobos; Burns, Owen; “, Electrical apparatus and methods and apparatus for positioning and implanting components thereof,,,,,2021,”US Patent 10,933,232”
“Shepherd, Robert K; Furness, John; Fallon, James; Payne, Sophie; Burns, Owen; “, System and methods for identifying or assessing inflammatory bowel disease or gut inflammation,,,,,2019,”US Patent App. 16/335,907”
“Williams, Christopher Edward; Cook, Mark James; Burns, Owen; Maxim, Chua Vanessa; Lai, Alan; “, Electrode device for monitoring and/or stimulating activity in a subject,,,,,2020,”US Patent App. 16/797,315”
“Shepherd, Robert K; Fallon, James; Payne, Sophie; Burns, Owen; Furness, John Barton; “, Peripheral nerve electrode array,,,,,2020,”US Patent App. 16/844,286”
See more publications by Owen Burns in Google Scholar
