Matthew Griffith

A/Prof Matthew Griffith is an ARC Future Fellow and Research Leader within UniSA’s Future Industries Institute, where he focuses on developing innovative new polymer materials that solve some of the biggest challenges facing humanity in the areas of Health and Energy. He is also the host of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute's official podcast, Chemically Speaking, and the Facility Director for the Microscopy Australia activities at UniSA. Before joining UniSA, A/Prof Griffith completed a PhD at the University of Wollongong, before working as a NEDO Fellow at Shinshu University in Japan, a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Newcastle, and a Senior Researcher in Engineering at the University of Sydney.

Matthew's current research focuses on communicating with the human body using electronic devices to enable new ways to treat incurable diseases or create implants that allow the deaf to hear and the blind to see again. Hard, inflexible electronic materials like metals and silicon have problems communicating with the soft, flexible nerve cells in our bodies. Matthew's research overcomes this gap between the electronic and the biological worlds by combining soft carbon-based organic semiconductors with nanotechnology. His team manipulate the chemical and mechanical properties of these materials to create electronically active bio-inks that they can print into soft and flexible interfaces that mimic the natural environment in the body – all using openly available technology developed as part of the Australian National Fabrication Facility. His research has also had substantial cross-discplinary impact, with the materials and devices he develops having strong impact via printed solar cells and radiation detectors that are revolutonising treatment processes for cancer during radiotherapy.