Dr. Nick Reynolds
Details
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College: School of Science
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Department: School of Science
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Campus: Bundoora West Australia
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nick.reynolds2@rmit.edu.au
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ORCID:
0000-0003-4360-1335
Open to
- Industry Projects
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Media enquiries
- Collaborative projects
- Mentoring (long-term)
About
Dr. Reynolds is a Vice Chancellors Senior Research Fellow in the School of Science at RMIT. He obtained his PhD in 2009 from the Chemistry & Biology departments of the University of Sheffield. Since then he has held positions at the University of Zurich, CSIRO, Swinburne University of Technology and La Trobe University.
Dr. Reynolds’ research is highly interdisciplinary and focuses on the design, discovery, characterisation and applications of self-assembled nanomaterials. These nanomaterials have applications in diverse fields including tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, sensing and understanding disease.
The goal of the self-assembled nanomaterials research group is to develop biomaterials and devices that have real and tangible benefits to communities in Australia and worldwide. For this to be possible, routes to translate our fundamental research to clinics, facilities and factories must be identified. Thus, Dr Reynolds collaborates with the MedTech industry, clinicians and government agencies to enable the translation of research outcomes into commercial devices, products and therapies. Dr Reynolds works closely with a number of commercial and clinical partners both in Australia and Oversees.
Research fields
- 310607 Nanobiotechnology
- 340305 Physical properties of materials
- 401805 Nanofabrication, growth and self assembly
UN sustainable development goals
- 3 Good Health and Well Being
- 15 Life on Land
- 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Academic positions
- Nicholas Hoogenraad Fellow
- La Trobe University
- La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science
- Melbourne, Australia
- 14 Oct 2019 – 20 Mar 2025
- Research Scientist
- Swinburne University of Technology
- ARC Training Centre for Biodevices
- Melbourne, Australia
- 1 Mar 2015 – 9 Oct 2019
- Post Doc
- The University of Zurich
- Physical Chemistry Institute
- Zurich, Switzerland
- 1 Jul 2009 – 31 Dec 2011
Non-academic positions
- Senior Research Scientist
- Enzide Technologies
- Melbourne, Australia
- 1 Oct 2024 – 1 Apr 2025
- Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow
- CSIRO Manufacturing
- Melbourne, Australia
- 2 Apr 2012 – 2 Mar 2015
Supervisor projects
- Self-Assembled Peptide Based Smart Bioinks
- 17 Jul 2025
Teaching interests
Dr. Reynolds has a wealth of experience teaching and co-ordinating undergraduate and postgraduate classes across the fields of biochemistry and chemistry.
Research interests
Dr Reynolds research focusses on the design, discovery and characterisation of self-assembling biomolecules, these fundamental studies have applications in understanding the progression of diseases, developing biomaterials for regenerative medicine and bioprinting and the development of new point of use biosensors.
Current Projects in Dr Reynolds lab include
Understanding the role of protein aggregation in viral infections: Funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project (DP250101215) Dr. Reynolds leads a team investigating how protein aggregation plays a role in a number of viral infections affecting both humans and livestock. Our research has shown that it is likely that aggregation of viral proteins from viruses including COVID-10 and influenza is contributing to some of the more severe symptoms of these infections. By understanding the molecular processes that drive viral protein aggregation in infected cells we can rationally design new therapies to treat existing and future viral threats.
Smart Materials for Bioprinting, Regenerative Medicine and Sensing: Self-assembling peptides that aggregate into nanofibrillar structures can be used to impart unique properties to soft biomaterials, for instance this allows us to develop hydrogels with tuneable mechanical properties that are also electrically responsive. By harnessing these unique properties we can design composite biomaterials that support and encourage human tissue regeneration. The developed materials will have applications in cartilage, muscle and neural tissue engineering. In addition through Dr Reynolds role as co-chief investigator in the ARC Research Hub for Molecular Biosensors at the Point of Use (MOBIUS) (IH240100013) he is working with the multinational bioprinting company CELLINK to develop new bioprintable materials with sensing capability that will allow the in situ monitoring of tissue growth and regeneration within these materials.
