Wojciech Chrzanowski
Background
Regenerative medicine; Extracellular Vesicles; Multifunctional nanoparticles; Nanomedicine; Genetic Medicine
Short CV
Professor Wojciech Chrzanowski is an expert in nanomedicine, extracellular vesicles, bio-nano-characterisation, and nanosafety. He is a Professor of Nanomedicine at the University of Sydney, where established a cutting-edge research area on the programming of cells to promote functional tissue regeneration. He is also the President-elect of the Asian Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Professor Chrzanowski leads the Nanomedicine Group and the Nano-Bio-Characterisation facility, which houses unique instrumentation for the analysis of nanoparticles and extracellular vehicles, such as exosomes and microvesicles. These nanoscale particles are involved in cell-to-cell communication and have enormous potential for drug delivery, diagnostics and therapeutics. Professor Chrzanowski has made significant contributions to the understanding of the biophysical and biochemical properties of nanoparticles and extracellular vehicles, as well as their interactions with cells, tissues and biomaterials.
Professor Chrzanowski has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, which have been cited over 8,000 times. He has also received 16 inter/national awards and prizes for his excellence and innovation in extracellular vesicle science and characterisation. Some of his notable recognitions include the 2019 Barry Inglis Medal from the National Measurement Institute, the 2018 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Education, the 2018 Best Presentation Award from The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and the 2018 Outstanding Paper Award from Royal Society of Chemistry.
Professor Chrzanowski has been involved in several translational and commercialisation projects, such as the 2019 SPARK Accelerating Australia program, where he developed an aerosol device for delivering extracellular vehicles to the lungs for treating respiratory diseases.
Professor Chrzanowski is also a passionate advocate for global R&D capacity building and international networking to bring together researchers, policymakers, industry and civil society to address the challenges and opportunities of nanotechnology for sustainable development.
Research Project
The next generation multifunctional nanomaterials for personalised wound healing
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Antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation are major causes of non-healing chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). Globally bacteria-associated complications of diabetic wounds lead to one amputation every 30 seconds with high follow-up mortality rates of 39%-80% at 5 years.
The success of antimicrobial approaches is hampered by the absence of integrated strategies that synergistically (1) inhibit bacteria growth, (2) prevent biofilm formation, (3) activate the immune system, and (4) promote tissue repair. Efforts to address this challenge have failed to provide a satisfactory solution.
This research program aims to develop multifunctional systems that integrate antimicrobial compounds and cell-instructive extracellular vesicles (EVs) delivered precisely to an infected site where they synergistically abrogate bacterial growth and biofilm formation while modulating inflammation and promoting rapid tissue repair. It redefines concepts of antimicrobial treatment and wound healing by considering the simultaneous and symbiotic activation of bacteria and different cells. Our approach applies new thinking about how to design antimicrobial materials in ways that take advantage of and work synergistically with the body’s immune system to provide superior antimicrobial activity and tissue regeneration capacity.
Research Themes
The Biomedical Engineering Division's research is consolidated under four key research themes; precision medicine, sustainability, antimicrobial resistance and data driven life science. My research is focused on precision medicine, antimicrobial resistance and sustainability.
Key Competences
- Biomanufacturing
- Bioprocessing
- Organ-on-a-chip / Human pathophysiology mimicking models
- Multifunctional materials
- Extracellular vesicles
- Nanomedicine
Profiles
ORCiD: 0000-0001-8050-8821
Acknowledgements
Wenner-Gren Siftelserna