Traian V. Chirilă (born 14 February 1948 in Arad,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) is a Romanian-Australian

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

and

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

who is the inventor of AlphaCor, an artificial cornea in current clinical use throughout the world. His past and current research has contributed in several areas of

biomaterial A biomaterial is a substance that has been Biological engineering, engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose – either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a Medical diag ...

polymer science Polymer science or macromolecular science is a subfield of materials science concerned with polymers, primarily synthetic polymers such as plastics and elastomers. The field of polymer science includes researchers in multiple disciplines inclu ...

and

bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

, especially in the understanding of biomaterials and

biocompatibility Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of biomaterials in various contexts. The term refers to the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific situation. The ambiguity of the term reflects the ongoin ...

, in the development of

s, hydrophilic sponges, artificial cornea, artificial vitreous substitutes and in topics such as interaction of laser radiation with polymers, photoresponsive polymers, supramolecular polymers, sustained release of bioactive agents, tissue engineering and the use of polymers in genetic therapies.

Education

Chirilă was born and educated in Romania, where he obtained a

BEng A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

polymer technology A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

(1972) and a PhD in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

(1981) from the

Polytechnic University of Timișoara A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...

. After ten years of research in polymers and organic chemistry, he relocated to Australia. During 1984 he was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the Curtin School of Applied Chemistry. In 1986 he joined Lions Eye Institute in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

as a senior scientist with the task of establishing a department for research and development of polymeric

s for

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

. In 2005, he joined the newly founded Queensland Eye Institute in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, where he was offered a position of senior scientist to continue his research and to establish a department of ophthalmic

. He was made a fellow of

Royal Australian Chemical Institute The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is both the qualifying body in Australia for professional chemists and a learned society promoting the science and practice of chemistry in all its branches. The RACI hosts conferences, seminars and ...

(RACI) in 1992. Currently, he holds three adjunct professorships at the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences of

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology of

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, and Faculty of Health Sciences of University of Queensland.

Research

* Contributions to the synthetic and structural chemistry of acetals, especially cyclic acetals. * Studies of hydrogels containing UV-absorbing agents. Correlating the concentration, absorptive properties and extractability of the agents. * Interaction of polymers with IR laser radiation – demonstrating that the monomer release following the irradiation of IOL materials with surgical IR lasers is too low to cause deleterious effects in the eye. * First investigation of interaction between poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and UV laser radiation. First use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the process of ablation of ophthalmic hydrogels with excimer lasers. General studies on the interaction between high-energy laser radiation and polymers. * Invention and development of melanin-containing synthetic hydrogels able to absorb UV and blue radiation and their application as IOL materials. First polymer-biopolymer combinations to be reported as interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). * Invention and development of an artificial cornea. Initially known as "Chirila keratoprosthesis", this device has been commercially developed as AlphaCor and received approvals from FDA and other regulatory bodies and is used in human patients. * Development of hydrogels with very high water content as potential substitutes for the vitreous body, including a methodology for their evaluation in vitro. * Evaluation of porous hydrogel scaffolds for nerve repair. * Development and study of polymer matrices for the sustained release of bioactive agents, including therapeutic oligonucleotides. * Development of an orbital implant, currently commercialised as AlphaSphere. * Contributions to the history of ophthalmology and biomaterials. * Development of tissue-engineered corneal constructs for the restoration of ocular surface. His research has resulted to date in 175 journal publications and 13 patents. He has contributed over 175 presentations at scientific meetings and he has been invited to present lectures in China, the United States, Japan, Romania, Italy, France, Switzerland, Korea, Germany and The Netherlands.

Awards

* 1993 RACI Polymer Division Citation * 1999 Applied Research Award and Don Rivett Medal of RACI * 2002 Euro-Asia Promotion and Cultural Foundation (Romanian Branch)Diploma of Excellence * 2003

Corresponding Member The corresponding member is one of the possible membership types in some organizations, especially in the learned societies and scientific academies. This title existed or exist in the Soviet Union, GDR, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovak S ...

of the Romanian Academy of Scientists * 2014 SRB Excellence Award of the Romanian Society for Biomaterials * 2014 Emeritus Member of Politehnica Foundation, Timișoara, Romania

Grants

Since 1987, he has. Retrieved 30 research grants totalling over A$ 12 million.

Memberships

* Romanian Academy of Scientists * Romanian Academy of Scientists (American Branch) *

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

* Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering * KPro Study Group

Personal life

He spent his childhood in a small town in Transylvania,

Chișineu-Criș Chișineu-Criș ( Hungarian: ''Kisjenő'') is a town in Arad County, Crișana, Romania. Geography The town is situated on the north-western side of the county, at a distance from Arad, the county seat. The administrative territory stretches over ...

, graduating from the local high school in 1966. He is nicknamed "Tanu". His mother died in 2019 while still living in Timisoara, Romania where he graduated from the university. Traian is married to Mika, who is from Japan, and they have a son, Sebastian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chirila, Traian V. 1948 births People from Arad, Romania Organic chemists Australian chemists 20th-century Australian inventors Romanian chemists Romanian inventors Politehnica University of Timișoara alumni Academic staff of the Politehnica University of Timișoara Polymer scientists and engineers Naturalised citizens of Australia Romanian expatriates in Libya Living people