Welcome! - 2026 AWTRS Conference

On behalf of the organising committee, we are delighted to invite you to the 2026 Meeting of the Australasian Wound and Tissue Repair Society (AWTRS), taking place from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 August 2026 in Adelaide, South Australia. The meeting will be hosted within the newly created Adelaide University City West Campus, a state-of-the-art precinct designed to foster innovation, collaboration, and discovery in the heart of the city.

The AWTRS is Australia’s leading scientific society dedicated to advancing our understanding of the fundamental science underpinning wound healing and tissue repair. Held biennially, the AWTRS meeting brings together researchers, clinicians, and industry partners from across Australasia and beyond to share knowledge, showcase cutting-edge research, and build meaningful interdisciplinary collaborations.

We’re delighted to announce that this year’s meeting is being held in collaboration with the Wounds Australia 2026 Conference, also in Adelaide, from 23 -26 August. Members of either Society have reciprocal rights, so can attend either event at the discounted member rates. Or come to both and save twice!

The AWTRS 2026 program will feature a dynamic mix of oral and poster presentations, highlighting contributions from investigators at all career stages—from early career researchers to internationally recognised leaders in the field. We warmly invite you to join us in Adelaide for what promises to be an inspiring and engaging meeting, set within a vibrant new academic environment and one of Australia’s most welcoming cities.

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Allison Cowin on behalf of the Organising Committee:

Professor Allison Cowin, Adelaide University (Conference Chair)
Dr Anna Antipov, Adelaide University
Dr Zlatko Kopecki, Adelaide University
Dr Stuart Mills, Adelaide University
Dr Rachael Moses, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Tony Parker, Queensland University of Technology
Dr Abbas Shafiee, University of Queensland
Dr Andrew Stevenson, University of Western Australia
Dr Xanthe Venn, Adelaide University

Quenten Schwartz
Head of the Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Centre for Cancer Biology, Adelaide University

Dr. Quenten Schwarz is a developmental neuroscientist heading the Neurovascular Research Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology. Following a PhD in Human Genetics obtained from the Univresity of Adelaide he relocated to London to undertake Postdoctoral training at University College London. In this time he investigated the molecular control of neuronal and vascular development. Since returning to Australia to establish his laboratory in 2010 he has been awarded several NHMRC project grants, an NHMRC CDA Fellowship and is a current National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow.

His work is primarily focused on understanding how interactions between neural crest cells, neurons and endothelial cells control morphogenesis of embryonic structures including the craniofacial skeleton, heart and brain. In the past 5 years he has 24 publications in high-impacting journals, including 14 as first or senior author. In recognition of his achievements he has been honoured with several prestigious awards, including the 2011 South Australia Bioinnovation Award, the 2014 AW Campbell Award by the Australasian Neuroscience Society for early career research excellence, and the 2015 South Australian ASMR Leading Light Award.

Simon Cool
Chief Executive Officer of the SMART CRC

Professor Simon Cool is Chief Executive Officer of the SMART CRC (Solutions for Manufacturing Advanced Regenerative Therapies), leading national efforts to accelerate the development and translation of regenerative therapies into tangible health solutions that improve lives. With more than three decades of experience, he is focused on forging collaborations across industry, government and academia to address critical manufacturing challenges in regenerative therapies through multidisciplinary innovation that accelerates patient access to life-changing therapies. His work in this area supports the development of the skilled workforce needed to support a rapidly growing regenerative therapies sector.

Professor Cool is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and the inaugural chair of the AusBiotech and Medicines AustraliaAdvanced Therapies Advisory Group. He is also the former director of the Advanced Cell Therapy Manufacturing Initiative at The University of Queensland (UQ).

Prior to returning to UQ in 2022, he spent nearly two decades at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR Singapore, where he progressed from Principal Investigator to Research Director.

An internationally recognised leader, Professor Cool holds over 50 granted patents and more than 150 publications, while fostering global partnerships that accelerate innovation, translation, and real-world impact.

Snehlata Kumari
Senior Research Fellow, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland

Dr Snehlata Kumari is a group leader and head of the Skin Inflammation and Immunity Laboratory at the University of Queensland, Frazer Institute in Brisbane, Australia. She is a board member and co-chair of the Scientific Program and Award Committee of the Australasian Society for Dermatology Research (ASDR), and a councillor of the International Psoriasis Council (IPC).

Her research focuses on uncovering the mechanisms of skin inflammation and paving the way for the translation of new, effective, and safe therapies for skin diseases, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. Her research findings, defining novel mechanisms of skin inflammation initiation and persistence, were published in top-tier journals, including Nature, Nature Communications, and Immunity.

She has received multiple international recognitions, including the Christina Fleishmann Award from the International Cytokine and Interferon Society (ICIS) for Young Women Investigator, and honours from the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR), the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (JSID) and the German National Academy of Sciences.

Jess Frith
Professor & Deputy Head, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Monash University

Jess is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Monash University, where she leads an interdisciplinary research group at the interface of cell biology and tissue engineering. After completing her PhD at the University of York (UK), she undertook postdoctoral research at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology before joining Monash in 2015. Her research focuses on understanding mechanobiology and developing bioengineered systems, such as hydrogels and microstructured materials, to control cell proliferation, differentiation, and function for improved tissue regeneration. Professor Frith has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (2013), a Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2017), and an ARC Future Fellowship (2024).

Khoon Lim
University of Sydney, Australia

Professor Khoon Lim is currently an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and the Co-Director of the Sydney Biomanufacturing Incubator at the University of Sydney, Australia. His research focuses on using light-activated macromolecular chemistry to design dynamic biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. These include musculoskeletal regeneration, cardiovascular health, chronic wounds and in vitro tissue models (cancer and aging). He has generated >120 journal publications and raised a total of >$13 Million research grant funding ($8 Million as CIA). He is the Past-President of the Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering, Treasurer of the International Society for Biofabrication and Committee Member of Standards Australia (HE-012 Surgical Implants). He has won >20 competitive national/international awards, included in the World’s Top 2% Scientist List by Stanford University for 2022 – 2025. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Biofabrication, Advanced Chemical Engineering, Advanced NanoBiomed Research, Tissue Engineering Part B, RSC Biomaterials Science, Macromolecular Bioscience and Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine. His research has also led to commercialisation of biomaterials licensed to a US-based company and commercial contracts with industry partners.

Email – khoon.lim@sydney.edu.au
Twitter/X – @Khoonono
LinkedIn

Joanneke Maitz
Burns Surgeon-scientist at the ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Hospital

Specialist surgeon in burns, plastics, and reconstruction, and an accomplished researcher in translational burn injury and skin tissue engineering. She leads the Burns & Reconstructive Surgery Research Group at the ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Hospital and is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney.

Dr Maitz’s research focuses on advancing bioengineered solutions for burns treatment and reconstructive surgery, with emphasis on next-generation skin substitutes and improving outcomes for patients with severe soft-tissue loss. In 2025, the Concord Hospital Burns Unit received the NSW Health Innovation Award in recognition of this landmark research program. The Unit’s pioneering 3D-bioprinted skin project, now in a first-in-human clinical trial, represents a major step forward in personalised regenerative medicine. Initially developed for burns victims, this technology has the potential to transform treatment for a wide range of soft tissue defects, offering new hope for patients who previously had limited reconstructive options.

Yiwei Wang
Distinguished Professor at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, China

Professor Yiwei Wang is a Distinguished Professor at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, China. She received her PhD from Kingston University London and completed postdoctoral training at the UK National Physical Laboratory and the University of Queensland. She previously served as Principal Research Scientist in the Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit at Concord Hospital, affiliated with the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on tissue engineering, wound healing, scar management, and drug delivery systems. Professor Wang has published over 100 SCI papers in leading journals and currently serves on the editorial boards of Burns & Trauma and Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Artur Schmidtchen
Professor and Senior Consultant in Dermatology at Lund University and Lund University Hospital, Sweden

Artur Schmidtchen, MD, PhD is Professor and Senior Consultant in Dermatology at Lund University and Lund University Hospital, Sweden, where he leads the Division of Dermatology and Venereology. His research bridges basic science and clinical innovation, focusing on the role of innate immunity in wound healing, infection, and inflammation. Applications include novel strategies for treating dysfunctional wound healing and systemic inflammatory diseases.

His work is grounded in the concept that the human body encodes innate immune regulators within its own proteins, released dynamically during proteolysis. Using an integrated approach combining mass spectrometry, computational modeling, biochemistry, microbiology, cell biology, and translational in vivo models, his lab has developed new therapeutic and diagnostic tools.

Prof. Schmidtchen’s group discovered thrombin-derived C-terminal peptides (TCPs), including TCP-25, which exert dual effects—direct antimicrobial activity and anti-inflammatory effects mediated via CD14/TLR inhibition (Nat Commun, 2018). TCP-25 has demonstrated efficacy in large animal wound models (Sci Transl Med, 2020), successfully completed Phase I clinical trials (Orphanet J Rare Dis, 2025; Clin Transl Sci, 2026), and is currently in Phase II/III clinical development for treatment of epidermolysis bullosa (EB). In 2024, TCP-25 also received FDA Orphan Drug Designation for EB. Building on the TCP structure, his team designed stapled peptide mimetics with improved systemic stability and efficacy in preclinical models of sepsis and systemic inflammation (Nat Commun, 2023). In parallel, his group has developed peptidomic methods for identifying proteolytic signatures and infection endotypes in wounds, supporting the development of precision diagnostics (eLife, 2021; Nat Commun, 2024).

Prof. Schmidtchen has held international academic roles, including Professor and Scientific Director at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Affiliated Professor at the University of Copenhagen. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and is the founder of Xinnate AB, Transient Pharma AB, and in2cure AB, which translate peptide-based discoveries into clinical applications.

Sabine Werner
Professor of Cell Biology at the Swiss Technical University (ETH) Zürich

Sabine Werner is Professor of Cell Biology at the Swiss Technical University (ETH) Zurich. She studied Biochemistry at the Universities of Tubingen and Munich, Germany, and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Munich, after having completed her dissertation at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, in the field of cancer research. As a postdoctoral researcher she worked at the University of California San Francisco, where she studied the functions and mechanisms of action of growth factors in tissue repair. After her return to Europe and until her move to Zurich, she was a group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried and Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich.

Her group studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of wound repair and the parallels to inflammatory skin diseases and cancer with a focus on the roles of growth factors and their downstream targets in these processes.

Sabine Werner is an elected member of EMBO, the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), and the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc), and the chair of the interdisciplinary skin research consortium SKINTEGRITY.CH.

Rob Fitridge
Vascular Surgeon at the Royal Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth Hospitals

Professor Rob Fitridge is a Vascular Surgeon at the Royal Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth Hospitals.

He is a member of the International Working Group for the Diabetic Foot (and co-chair of its Peripheral Arterial Disease guideline writing group which is collaborating with the European Society for Vascular Surgery [ESVS] and the Society for Vascular Surgery [SVS]). He is a member of the steering committee for the Global Guidelines for Chronic Limb-threatening Ischaemia (CLTI) and has also been an author of the ESVS Asymptomatic PAD and Claudication guideline.

He is managing editor for the fourth edition of “Mechanisms of Vascular Disease: A Textbook for Vascular Specialists”, which is a core reference for vascular traning.

Prof Fitridge has a research interest in wound healing in diabetes, assessment and management of diabetes-related foot complications and has a major interest in optimising care for rural, remote and First Nations people with DRFCs and CLTI using advanced telehealth.

Zlatko Kopecki
Industry Research Fellow, Adelaide University

Dr. Kopecki is a past NHMRC ECR Fellow, inaugural Future Industries Institute (FII) Foundation Fellow, Mid-Career Fellow in Childhood Wound Infections at University of South Australia and is a current Industry Research Fellow in Wound Healing at University of Adelaide. He is also a Principal Scientist at PolyNovo Biomaterials Pty Ltd. His research integrates cell therapy and biomaterials to develop frontier technologies for improved wound care, and management of clinical infection and wound biofilms. He leads a team focused on preclinical studies aimed at developing disruptive technologies and innovative medical devices to improve patient outcomes and reimagine the standard of care.

Susan Volk
Professor of Small Animal Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine

Susan Volk VMD, PhD, DACVS is the Corinne R and Henry Bower Endowed Professor of Small Animal Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. As a veterinary surgeon-scientist, she is interested in developing innovative translational strategies which close clinical gaps in patient care, particularly when “the scalpel doesn’t cut it.” Her research program focuses on understanding dynamic reciprocity between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix in both regenerative and tumor microenvironments. The success of her program capitalizes on her ability to lead a cross-disciplinary collaborative team capable of efficiently developing novel therapies for surgical and cancer patients, including her patented approach to reengineering the tumor microenvironment. This National Institutes of Health, private foundation, and industry-sponsored research has basic and translational components, including clinical trials in veterinary patients.

Xanthe Venn
Senior Research Fellow, Future Industries Institute

Dr Xanthe Venn is Senior Research Fellow in Regenerative Medicine at Adelaide University’s Future Industries Institute (FII) and Vice President of the Australasian Wound and Tissue Repair Society (AWTRS). Awarded her PhD from the University of South Australia for the investigation of the role of the cytoskeletal protein Flightless I in tissue regeneration in 2016, Xanthe has more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and received over $1.5 million in research income. A molecular biologist with a deep research background in impaired wound healing, her research in burns, fibrosis and chronic non-healing wounds has been recognised nationally and internationally having won Young Investigator awards from both the AWTRS and European Tissue Repair Society (ETRS) and named a South Australian Young Tall Poppy of Science. Currently, there are no effective diagnostic tools to predict whether a patient will develop a chronic non-healing wound or suffer from debilitating scar formation, nor effective treatments to prevent this. Therefore, Xanthe is working closely with both clinicians and industry to improve healing outcomes for burns patients and reduce the risk of amputation and increased mortality due to non-healing wounds for diabetic patients.

Katharina Richter
Theme Lead Pharmaceutical Sciences, Adelaide University

Associate Professor Katharina Richter is an enthusiastic biomedical scientist, entrepreneur, and medical innovator on a mission to outsmart superbugs and transform healthcare. With a background in pharmacy and a PhD in medicine/applied microbiology, she leads a research group at Adelaide University focused on real-world solutions to antibiotic resistance. Her innovations have already progressed to 3 clinical trials and 1 industry field trial, improving patient care and food safety.

Katharina has lived and worked in 7 countries and collaborates with scientists, clinicians and industry to push research from bench to bedside. A passionate science communicator and mentor, she champions the next generation of STEM leaders through outreach, workshops, and public engagement.

Emma Solly
Postdoctoral Research Scientist, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute

Dr Emma Solly is a postdoctoral research scientist at the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute and Adelaide University. Her research in diabetes-related vascular biology has led to first-time discoveries in diabetes-impaired angiogenesis, identifying novel molecular regulators with high translational potential to improve diabetes-related wound healing and vascular outcomes.

She completed her undergraduate degrees at Flinders University (Bachelor of Medical Science and Bachelor of Science (Hons)), where she was awarded the Flinders University Medal for academic achievement. She completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide in 2023, receiving the University Doctoral Research Medal and Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. Her leadership roles on the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Emerging Leaders Committee (2024-2025) and Director on the Australian Society for Medical Research Board (2025) underscore her growing contributions to the field.

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Fiona Wood
Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia

Prof. Dr. Fiona M. Wood has been a burns surgeon and researcher for over 30 years and is Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia. She is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital; Winthrop Professor in the School of Surgery at The University of Western Australia; and co-founder of the Fiona Wood Foundation (formerly The McComb Foundation). Professor Wood leads the Paediatric Burn Care team at Telethon Kids Institute and is Co-Head of the Perioperative Care Research Program.

Professor Wood’s has made a significant contribution with her work with co-inventor Marie Stoner, inventing the innovative ‘spray-on skin’ technique (Recell), awarded the Clunies Ross award by the ATSE.

Fiona was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2003 in recognition of the response to the Bai bombing. In 2004 she was awarded the Western Australia Citizen of the Year award for her contribution to Medicine in the field of burns research. Fiona was then named Australian of the Year for 2005. She is an Australian Living Treasure. She is a founding Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science and the 2022 Australian Society of Medical Research medallist. Her continued work has led to the being awarded an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and being inducted into the WA science hall of fame in 2024.

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Yuval Rinkevich
Director of the Helmholtz Institute of Regenerative Biology and Medicine at the Helmholtz Center, Munich, Germany

Dr. Rinkevich has been working at the cutting edge of our understanding of tissue/organ repair and regeneration for the last 20 years. The scientific focus of the Rinkevich lab lies in identifying principles of tissue/organ repair and regeneration, and developing a knowledge foundation for therapeutic strategies in clinical use. His lab explores the stem cells, cellular lineages and mechanisms by which tissues/organs repair and regenerate following injury.

His passion for healing responses and tissue rejuvenation can be traced throughout his career track, obtaining his PhD degree from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he studied whole body regeneration from single blood vessels in Protochordates. Dr Rinkevich moved to Stanford University in the US to join the renowned immunology lab of Prof. Irving L. Weissman, where he explored the cellular lineages and stem cells in mammalian tissue repair and regeneration. His work at Stanford projected Dr Rinkevich into the forefront of the tissue repair field for his pioneering work uncovering the role of fibroblast lineages in the transition from scarless to scar forming tissue responses.

Today Dr Rinkevich is the Director of the Helmholtz Institute of Regenerative Biology and Medicine at the Helmholtz Center, Munich, Germany. His lab continues to push forward our understanding of tissue/organ repair and regeneration. His latest work describing the fascia in tissue fibrosis in multiple organ systems is reinventing the way we look at tissue repair and regeneration, opening our minds to a revolution in antifibrotic therapy and the potential to prevent and potentially resolve fibrotic disease.

AWTRS 2026 Conference Updates

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