About

Dr. Kris Kilian

Kris Kilian

  • PhD
  • Scientia Fellow and Co-director of the ACN
  • School of Chemistry and School of Materials Science and Engineering
  • University of New South Wales
  • k.kilian@unsw.edu.au | @KrisKilian | Google Scholar

Professor Kris Kilian received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from the University of Washington in 1999 and 2003 respectively, and his PhD in Chemistry at the University of New South Wales in 2007. Kris was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago (2008-2010), Assistant Professor (2011-2017) and Associate Professor (2017-2018) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining UNSW Sydney in 2018. Kris is a recipient of the Cornforth Medal from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (2008), the NIH Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award (2008), the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award (2015), a Young Innovator of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2017), the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (2018), the Deans award for Excellence in Research (2020) and a Eureka Prize Finalist for Innovative Use of Technology (2023). His research interests include the design and development of model extracellular matrices and dynamic biomaterials for cell and tissue engineering.

Kris is currently Professor, co-Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine, Theme Lead of the Biomedical & Health Theme in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and full member of the Adult Cancer Program. He is Associate Editor of Scientific Reports and the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research A.

Research Interests

  1. My group is interested in how the chemistry of materials influence the behaviour of mammalian cells. Inspired by biological materials, we integrate nano- and micro- fabrication techniques with “hard” and “soft” materials to mimic the physical and chemical properties of the cell and tissue microenvironment. Much of our work is motivated by a dynamic model of the microenvironment where the interplay between chemical cues (extracellular matrix composition), physical cues (geometry, mechanics and topography) and biological cues (paracrine and juxtacrine signals) guides mechanochemical signalling to influence cellular identity, fate and function. Our broad aims are to:
  1. f
  1. 1) Develop synthetic model systems to address fundamental questions in cell biology.
  2. 2) Use the output from 1 to design clinically relevant biomaterials that direct a functional outcome (e.g., cell differentiation and de-differentiation)
    1. f
    1. Our work is necessarily interdisciplinary; trainees will gain practical experience in materials chemistry, fabrication (bioprinting, lithography), and characterization (SEM, XPS, etc.) Specific programs ongoing in our laboratory include:
    1. f
    • Mechanochemistry in hydrogels
    • Dynamic soft materials
    • High-throughput biomaterials discovery
    • Nano- and Micro-engineered materials
    • Model tumour microenvironments
    • Cell and tissue engineering

    Educations

    2007

    Doctor of Philosophy

    in Chemistry
    University of New South Wales

    2003

    Master of Science

    in Chemistry
    University of Washington

    1999

    Bachelor of Science

    in Chemistry
    University of Washington

    Positions

    2018

    Scientia Fellow

    in Chemistry and Materials Science
    University of New South Wales

    2017

    Associate Professor

    in Bioengineering
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    2011

    Assistant Professor

    in Material Science and Engineering
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    2008

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Chemistry
    University of Chicago

    Honors & Awards

    Kris Kilian's career accolades

    2021

    Co-director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine

    University of News South Wales

    2020

    Dean's Award for Research Excellence

    University of News South Wales

    2018

    Australian Research Council Future Fellowship

    Australian Government

    2017

    Young Innovator of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering

    Biomedical Engineering Society

    2016

    List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent in 2015 and 2016

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    2015

    National Science Foundation’s CAREER award

    National Science Foundation

    2014

    Kavli Fellow

    19th German-American Frontiers of Science

    2013

    Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising

    College of Engineering, UIUC

    2009

    NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award

    The National Institutes of Health

    U Committee Prize “Best Science PhD thesis in 2007”

    University of New South Wales

    Cornforth Medal, “Best PhD thesis submitted in a branch of chemistry, chemical science or chemical technology in Australia”

    The Royal Australian Chemical Institute