Rate My Professor Tim Woodfield

Professor Tim Woodfield is a Research Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Otago Christchurch, Faculty of Medicine. He earned a BE (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Canterbury (1993-1997), an MASc in Biomaterials Science and Tissue Engineering from the University of Toronto (1997-1999), and a PhD in Regenerative Medicine from the University of Twente (2000-2004). Joining the University of Otago in 2005 as Associate Professor, he was promoted to Full Professor in December 2019. Woodfield established and leads the Christchurch Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering (CReaTE) Group since 2009, focusing on engineered tissue technologies to enhance healing in cartilage, bone, and joints. He serves as Director and Regenerative Medicine Theme Leader of the University of Otago Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine. Additional roles include Adjunct Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Adjunct Senior Fellow in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Principal Investigator for the Centre of Research Excellence in Medical Technologies, and Associate Investigator at the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Diversity. In 2021, he delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled "Let’s get personal: orchestrating tissue development in personalised and regenerative medicine."

Woodfield's research centers on orthopaedic tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, encompassing stem cell and scaffold-based regeneration of cartilage and bone, biofabrication using advanced bio-inks and bio-resins, 3D printing of medical devices, and vascularisation strategies for osteoarthritis, cartilage repair, bone regeneration, and total joint replacement. The CReaTE Group collaborates with clinicians at Canterbury District Health Board and commercial partners such as ENZTEC and Ossis Ltd for clinical translation. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and proceedings, with an h-index of 30. Key publications include "Rational design, bio-functionalization and biological performance of hybrid additive manufactured titanium implants for orthopaedic applications: A review" (2020), "Fundamentals and Applications of Photo-Cross-Linking in Bioprinting" (2020), "Probing Multicellular Tissue Fusion of Cocultured Spheroids - A 3D-Bioassembly Model" (2021), "Next Evolution in Organ-Scale Biofabrication: Bioresin Design for Rapid High-Resolution Vat Polymerization" (2022), and "Spatial Patterning of Modular Gelatin-Peroxide Microspheres in Melt-Electrowritten Scaffolds Provides Controlled Oxygen Generation and Mitigates Hypoxia and Cytotoxicity" (2025). His contributions have earned the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Gold Research Medal from University of Otago Christchurch in 2021 for leading high-impact research, the Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Award in 2020, and Fellowship of the International Society for Biofabrication.