Since completing his PhD at the Max Plank Institute for Polymer Research 16 years ago, Professor Vasilev has led a team at UniSA, currently consisting of more than 20 postdocs and PhD students. His team is well connected having deep collaborative networks within Australia and internationally, and is strongly engaged with industry, end users, government agencies and community.

Professor Vasilev has attracted in >$20M in research funding from Government competitive grants and Industry, published more than 250 papers and has been awarded several prestigious Research Fellowships from ARC, NHMRC and the Humboldt Foundation, and other awards such as the John A. Brodie Medal for achievements in Chemical Engineering in 2016, and the election of a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2017.

Professor Vasilev’s research has a very strong translational focus. He works extensively with industry to translate research findings to tangible commercial products. Key examples for this are 1) recently translated technology (via the CRC-P program) for bladder cancer diagnostics to the manufacturing facility of Motherson Innovations in South Australia. The device is currently undergoing clinical trials; and 2) a project with Corin Group focussed on translation an antibacterial surface modification to the company’s hip and knee implants. His translational work involving the entire spectrum of activities from research discoveries to commercial products was a key strength allowing him to win in 2020 the prestigious and highly competitive NHMRC Investigator Award.

The College is delighted to welcome Professor Vasilev to the University, beginning in January 2022.