Krasimir Vasilev
Matthew Flinders Professor
College of Medicine and Public Health
I am currently a Matthew Flinders Professor and a Professor in Biomedical Nanotechnology, and a NHMRC Leadership Fellow. I completed my PhD at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany in 2004. After a short postdoctoral stay as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Institute of Genomics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Strasbourg, France, in 2005, I accepted a research position at the University of South Australia. I was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in March 2009. In 2010, I was awarded the prestigious Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council. I was promoted to Associate Professor in January 2012. I have held leadership positions such as Associate Head of School-Research (2012-2013), Research Education Portfolio Leader (2014-2015), and Professorial Lead (2020-2021). In 2016, I was awarded two prestigious fellowships i.e. the Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Humboldt Foundation and a Research Fellowship from National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). I was promoted to Full Professor on 1st of January 2017.
I have attracted in excess of 30M dollars in research funding from Government competitive grants and Industry. I have published more than 360 research papers, reviews and book chapters. I have been named in the Stanford University World’s Top 2% Scientists list (top 0.5%) since 2020.
I am the inventor of five patents which underpin technologies currently under translation to commercialization.
My research has a strong translational focus. I have a track record of working with commercial partners to industrialise biomedical technologies. These include leading large commercial projects such as a $5M CRC-P project together with Motherson Australia Pty Ltd on a technology for bladder cancer diagnostics, a $6M IMCRC project with Corin Group on antibacterial surface modification for orthopaedic implants, and a $1.3M project with Anizop Holdings on antibacterial surface modification for dental implants. My translational work involving the entire spectrum of activities from research discoveries to commercial products was a key strength allowing me to win in 2020 (commenced in 2022) the prestigious and highly competitive NHMRC Investigator Award.
Ph.D. in Natural Science - defended in October 2004
M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering
NHMRC Investigator Award – 2022-2027 ($2,738,000) (awarded in 2020, commence in 2022)
NHMRC Career Development Fellowship – 2017-2020
Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers – 2017-2021
ARC Future Fellowship – 2011 – 2015
Awarded the John A. Brodie Medal for achievements in Chemical Engineering in 2016
Awarded the International Association of Advanced Materials Medal (IAAM medal) for contributions to the field of Advanced materials in 2017
UniSA Interdisciplinary Award winner - 2019
UniSA, Division of ITEE Research Excellence Award winner - 2018
UniSA Research Excellence Award (Mid-career category) winner - 2018
Selected by The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering to be one of the eight Australian scientists to represent Australia on the Australia China Young Scientist Exchange Program 2010.
Selected to represent the Australian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at Science meet Parliament 2009.
Major current and recent research grants:
- ARC Discovery DP260102288 “Unravelling the bactericidal biomechanics of nanoengineered surfaces” (CIs: Santos, Vasilev, Brown, Kid) $677,400 - 2026 – 2028
- ARC Discovery DP250101028 “Advanced Glucated End Products in Immune Responses to Biomaterials” (CIs: Vasilev, Hayball, Dienner, Bright) $722,523 - 2025 - 2027
- NHMRC Development Grant 2039862 “A functionalised surface device for spermatozoa selection in assisted reproductive medicine” (CIs: Robertson, Vasilev, Ghaemi, McPherson, Sharkey) $820,607 - 2025 – 2027
- Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation “Gallium-Silver Nanoparticle Formulations as A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Treating Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media in Pediatric Patients” (CIs: Troung, Vasilev, DeMaria) $100,000 - 2025
- Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation “Plasma-enhanced bioactive wound dressings for treating paediatric Epidermolysis bullosa” (CIs: Hayles, Vasilev, Kopecki) $40,000 - 2025
- NHMRC Investigator Award – 2022-2027 ($2,738,000)
- Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) – Stem Cell Therapies Mission “A Precision Medicine Based Approach to Treat Craniosynostosis in Children” (Cis: Gronthos and Vasilev), amount awarded: $441,370.75 - 2021-2024
- ARC Dicovery DP220103543 "Nanoengineering of Biomaterial Surfaces to Tailor Innate Immune Responses" (CIs: Vasilev and Hayball) $529,846 2022 - 2024
- ARC Dicovery DP180101254 “An accurate account of wetting phenomena on nano-engineered surfaces” (CIs: Vasilev (lead), MacGregor, Ostrikov et al) $380,826 2018 - 2022
- MTP Connect “A nano-optimised surface to prevent orthopaedic and dental implant infections” (CIs: Vasilev and industry partner) - $1,300,000 – 2021-2022
- IMCRC “Antimicrobial technology for hip and knee implants”(Cis: Vasilev, industry team from Coring Group, Anderson) amount awarded $6,000,000 2018-2022
Leading the Laboratory of Biomedical Nanotechnology at the College of Medicine and Public Health and conducting leadership, administrative and teaching activities as required.
Sturt Rd, Bedford Park
South Australia 5042
South Australia | Northern Territory
Global | Online
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