Tony Weiss is the McCaughey Chair in Biochemistry, NHMRC Leadership Fellow, and Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Sydney. He leads Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine in the Charles Perkins Centre. His research is on the biochemistry, molecular and cell biology of the elastic extracellular matrix.
Tropoelastin is the protein building-block that provides human tissue with its elasticity. Tony’s work has established tropoelastin as a vital field of research in work that underpins novel applications and clinical translation in wound repair. His lab discovered how to modulate tropoelastin self-assembly and then articulated the rules governing this assembly process to give elastin, then created intricate elastin architectures tailored to elastic tissue including skin and blood vessels, where it coordinates cell growth and organised tissue repair. His scientific leadership has defined tropoelastin’s shape, elucidated how cells respond to tropoelastin through specific integrins and their binding mechanisms, defined how to modulate tropoelastin self-assembly and articulated the rules governing this assembly process to give elastin. He has created intricate elastin architectures tailored to specific healthcare applications that accelerate cell growth and enhance tissue repair.
Tony’s awards include the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, NSW Premier’s Prize for Science & Engineering Leadership in Innovation, Eureka Prize for Innovation in Medical Research, ATSE Clunies Ross Award, Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Award for Research Excellence, AAS Ian Wark Medal, ASBMB Lemberg Medal, MBSANZ Barry Preston Award, FAOBMB Entrepreneurship Award, RACI Applied Research Medal and RACI Weickhardt Medal. He was President of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), Chair of TERMIS Asia Pacific, and President of MBSANZ, and is a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
