Krasimir Vasilev

Matthew Flinders Professor

College of Medicine and Public Health

place Bedford Park
GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

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 positions such as Associate Head of School-Research (2012-2013) and Research Education Portfolio Leader (2014-2015). 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 been awarded research funding in excess of 25 million dollars. I have published more than 320 research papers, reviews and book chapters. I am the inventor of five patents which underpin technologies currently under translation to commercialization.

My research also results in translation of research discoveries to tangible commercial outcomes. Between 2017 and 2020, a bladder cancer diagnostic technology developed in my laboratory was translated to the manufacturing facility of the industrial partner (Motherson Innovations Pty Ltd). This commercial development is supported by a 5 million dollar (cash) CRC-P project fundend from the industrial partner and the federal government. In another large (6 million dollars) project, I am working with an Australian implant manufacturer on translating a beakthrough antibacterial technology to hip, knee and dental implants.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in Natural Science - awarded January 2005

M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering

Honours, awards and grants

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 curent research grants:

  • 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
  • The Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation “Development of an advanced wound dressing for the treatment of infected burns in children” (Kopecki, Cowin, Vasilev) $100,000 - 2021-2022
Key responsibilities

Leading the Laboratory of Biomedical Nanotechnology at the College of Medicine and Public Health and conducting leadership, administrative and teaching activities as required.