Dr Helmut Thissen

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 is now serving as a Team Leader in 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 150 peer-reviewed journal publications and book chapters, his strong translational focus is reflected by more than 10 patent families, his role as the Director of 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 is also 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. 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.