Dr Edgar Wong

Dr. Edgar Wong is an independent research group leader, ARC Future Fellow and UNSW Scientia Senior Lecturer at the School of Chemical Engineering. He is a multidisciplinary researcher whose work span across several disciplines including synthetic (polymer) chemistry, materials science, (micro)biology and nanotechnology. His research interest in particular is on developing new functional molecules or polymeric materials for a range of targeted applications, including antimicrobial, anticancer and antiviral applications. Group website: https://www.edgarwonglab.com/

*Key Stats: Career total of 78 journal publications, ~5200 citations, h-index 36, ~ $1.3 million funding received as lead investigator and another ~$2 million as co-investigator

Education and Employment History: 

Dr. Wong graduated with a BE in Chemical Engineering (2007) and a PhD (2011) from UNSW. His PhD involved the development of new polymer synthesis and functionalization methods under the supervision of Prof. Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Prof. Tanja Junkers and Prof. Martina Stenzel. During his PhD, he has spent a total of 8 months at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, for joint collaborative projects. Immediately after his thesis submission, Edgar worked as a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Melbourne with Prof. Greg Qiao and Prof. Frank Caruso till 2015 where he worked on the development of functional polymer materials (nanoparticles, thin films and coatings) for various (bio)applications. He returned to UNSW as a Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow on Jan 2016 and has recently successfully obtained the ARC Future Fellowship in late 2021. He was also recently appointed as a UNSW Scientia Fellow in early 2022.

Current Research Projects: 

1. Development of new smart responsive peptide-mimicking antimicrobial (macro)molecules
2. Reviving 'resisted' antibiotics using antimicrobial (macro)molecules as synergists/adjuvants
3. Fabrication of novel antimicrobial coatings and materials
4. Development of new peptide-mimicking anticancer (macro)molecules
5. Development of new antiviral (macro)molecules and materials

*Note: Prospective students are encouraged to contact me (edgar.wong@unsw.edu.au) regarding any of the listed projects above, whether its for PhD studies, final year honours or summer research work. I am also open to new ideas and if you have some interesting ones, feel free to discuss with me to explore research opportunities.

Key External Grants:

1. ARC Future Fellowship, "Nanoengineering Smart and Precise Antimicrobial Polymers" (lead investigator)
2. NHMRC Ideas Grant, "Tackling Hospital Acquired Infections with Peptide Mimics" (co-investigator)
3. DFAT Australia-India Council Project Grant, "Disinfecting Indian Waters with Novel Antimicrobial Polymer Membranes" (lead investigator)

Recent Awards and Honours:

1. Awarded the UNSW Scientia Fellowship in 2022
2. Awarded the ARC Future Fellowship in 2021
3. Invited speaker for the ACS Biomacromolecules Forum at the Symposium on Innovative Polymers for Controlled Delivery (SIPCD) conference in 2018
4. Listed as a '2018 Emerging Investigator' by RSC Polymer Chemistry
5. Selected for the UNSW team to showcase research at India and Indonesia Research Roadshows in 2017
6. Nature Microbiology work on 'Structurally Nanoengineered Antimicrobial Peptide Polymers (SNAPPs)' was an exhibit at the London Science Museum in 2017-2019.
7. Awarded the UNSW Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellowship in 2016

Teaching Experiences:

1. CEIC4002 - Thesis A
2. CEIC4003 - Thesis B
3. CEIC9002 - Advanced Thesis A
4. CEIC9003 - Advanced Thesis B
5. CEIC2000 - Material and Energy Systems
6. CEIC2009 - Material and Energy Balances
7. CEIC6712 - Pharmaceutical Engineering (guest lecture)
8. CEIC4001 - Process Design Project

Postgraduate Students:

1. Mr Hao Luo (PhD) - started in 2023 (Edgar Wong main supervisor)
2. Mr. Zeyu Ethan Shao (PhD) - started in 2022 (Edgar Wong main supervisor)
3. Mr. Zeyu Ethan Shao (Masters) - started in 2020 - graduated 2022 (Edgar Wong main supervisor)
4. Ms. Manjulatha Sara (PhD) - started in 2020 (Mark Willcox main supervisor)
5. Mr. Shyam Mishra (PhD) - started in 2019 (Mark Willcox main supervisor)
6. Ms. Erna Wulandari (PhD) - started in 2018 - graduated 2022 (Edgar Wong main supervisor)
7. Mr. Peter Judzewitsch (PhD) - started in 2017 - graduated 2021 (Cyrille Boyer main supervisor)
8. Ms. Rashin Namivandi-Zangeneh (PhD) - started in 2017 - graduated 2020 (Cyrille Boyer main supervisor)
9. Ms. Zahra Sadrearhami (PhD) - started in 2016 - graduated 2019 (Cyrille Boyer main supervisor)
10. Ms. Thuy-Khanh Nguyen (PhD) - started in 2014 - graduated 2017 (Cyrille Boyer main supervisor)