Peter Richard Wich

Peter Wich leads the UNSW Research Lab for Functional Biopolymers. His primary research interests are in macromolecular chemistry at the interface of nanotechnology and bioorganic chemistry. His lab focuses on the chemical modification of natural biopolymers with the aim of engineering new multifunctional and biocompatible materials for applications in drug delivery, nanomedicine, and biocatalysis. In 2009, Peter Wich received his PhD in chemistry at the University of Würzburg (Germany) in the group of Prof. Carsten Schmuck. From 2010–2012 he worked as Feodor Lynen research fellow (postdoc) in the laboratory of Prof. Jean M.J. Fréchet at the University of California Berkeley (USA). From 2012–2018, he was working as Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor, W1) of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Mainz (Germany) – Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. Since 2018, he is appointed as Senior Lecturer at UNSW Chemical Engineering, Sydney (Australia) and is part of the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD) as well as the Australian Centre for Nanomedicine (ACN). In 2025, Peter Wich was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship – a prestigious 4-year fellowship funded by the Australian Research Council to support mid-career researchers with outstanding track records. Peter has been awarded more than 20 prizes and scholarships for his research, including the Innovation Prize in Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry for his work on bioinspired nanomaterials (jointly awarded by the German Chemical and the German Pharmaceutical Society) and the Galenus Technology Prize for his innovative achievements in Pharmaceutical Technology. In 2016, he was selected as “Young Member” of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz, Germany. In recognition of his achievements, he was selected in 2019 to represent the element Roentgenium in the IUPAC Periodic Table of Younger Chemists. In 2019, Peter was named Emerging Investigator of the Journal “Soft Matter”, and in 2020, he was selected as Polymer Chemistry Emerging Investigator. In 2022, he received the David Sangster Polymer Science and Technology Achievement Award, the highest recognition for a mid-career scientist in Polymer Science in Australia and New Zealand. In 2023, he joined RSC Applied Polymers as Associate Editor. Peter has been an independent group leader for the last 12 years, graduating 9 PhD students as primary supervisor, and has overall successfully attracted more than AUD $5.36 million (€3.16 million) in support packages and competitive funding as lead and co-investigator in his research career. Macromolecular and polymer chemistry at the interface between nanotechnology and bioorganic chemistry; Biopolymer-based nanomaterials for applications in nanomedicine, drug delivery and catalysis; Bioconjugation techniques for the chemical modification and functionalization of biopolymers; Protein and polysaccharide chemistry; Supramolecular chemistry / self-assembly; Biocatalytic systems / enzyme kinetics / cascade reactions; In vitro analytics using cell-based assays; 3D Bioprinting

“pH-Responsive Micellar Nanoparticles for the Delivery of a Self-Amplifying ROS-Activatable Prodrug” V. Kannaujiya, Y. Qiao, R. Sheikh, Y. Xue, T. Dargaville, K. Liang, P. R. Wich Biomacromolecules, 2024, 25, 3, 1775–1789. (DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c01240) “Enzyme Bioink for the 3D Printing of Biocatalytic Materials” L. A. Altevogt, R. H. Sheikh, T. G. Molley, J. Yong, K. Liang, P. Spicer, K. A. Kilian, P. R. Wich bioRxiv, 2024, 2024.02.04.577699. (DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.04.577699) “Dual-Responsive Enzyme–Polysaccharide Conjugate as a Nanocarrier System for Enzyme Prodrug Therapy” M. Konhäuser, V. K. Kannaujiya, J. Kaltbeitzel, P. Winterwerber, E. Böhm, B. Breitenbach, P. R. Wich Biomacromolecules, 2023, 24, 2138–2148. (DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00031) “Protein-based Nanoparticles: From Drug