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Dr Helmut Thissen

Team Leader

https://people.csiro.au/T/H/Helmut-Thissen

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Biography

Helmut Thissen obtained his PhD in Chemistry from RWTH Aachen University in Germany, where he also started to translate biomedical research into the clinic while working at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research. He then moved to Melbourne, Australia to join the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), where he currently contributes to the Biomedical Manufacturing Program within the Manufacturing Business Unit. His main interests are the interdisciplinary topics of Biomaterials, Regenerative Medicine and Biosensors, with a focus on the control of interactions between material surfaces and biomolecules, cells and tissues. While he has published more than 180 peer-reviewed journal publications and book chapters, his strong translational focus is reflected by more than 10 patent families, his role in establishing and directing CSIRO’s Biomedical Materials Translational Facility (BMTF) and the translation of research results into multiple successful biomedical products. Apart from frequently serving as an expert evaluator for multiple national and international institutions, ranging from the NHMRC to the European Commission, he has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Monash University in Melbourne and National Taiwan University in Taipei. Prestigious awards for his interdisciplinary research include the CSIRO Medal for Research Achievement and the Newton Turner Award for exceptional senior scientists. Importantly, he has served his scientific community in many different roles, including President of the Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE), Program Leader of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Polymers, chair of multiple national and international conferences and symposia and mentor of many early career scientists.