chemistry

Traian V. Chirilă

Traian V. Chirilă is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Traian V. Chirilă rather than just read about it. In short: Traian V. Chirilă (born 14 February 1948 in Arad, Romania) is a Romanian-Australian polymer and organic chemist who is the inventor of AlphaCor, an artificial cornea in current clinical use throughout the world.

Key takeaways

Traian V. Chirilă belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Traian V. Chirilă to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Traian V. Chirilă from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Traian V. Chirilă (born 14 February 1948 in Arad, Romania) is a Romanian-Australian polymer and organic chemist who is the inventor of AlphaCor, an artificial cornea in current clinical use throughout the world. His past and current research has contributed in several areas of biomaterials, polymer science and bioengineering, especially in the understanding of biomaterials and biocompatibility, in the development of polymers, hydrophilic sponges, artificial cornea, artificial vitreous substitutes and in topics such as interaction of laser radiation with polymers, photoresponsive polymers, supramolecular polymers, sustained release of bioactive agents, tissue engineering and the use of polymers in genetic therapies.

Education Chirilă was born and educated in Romania, where he obtained a BEng in polymer technology (1972) and a PhD in organic chemistry (1981) from the Polytechnic University of Timișoara. After ten years of research in polymers and organic chemistry, he relocated to Australia. During 1984 he was a research fellow at the Curtin School of Applied Chemistry. In 1986 he joined Lions Eye Institute in Perth as a senior scientist with the task of establishing a department for research and development of polymeric biomaterials for ophthalmology. In 2005, he joined the newly founded Queensland Eye Institute in Brisbane, where he was offered a position of senior scientist to continue his research and to establish a department of ophthalmic bioengineering. He was made a fellow of Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in 1992. Currently, he holds three adjunct professorships at the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences of Queensland University of Technology, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology of University of Queensland, and Faculty of Health Sciences of University of Queensland.

Research Contributions to the synthetic and structural chemistry of acetals, especially cyclic acetals. Studies of hydrogels containing UV-absorbing agents. Correlating the concentration, absorptive properties and extractability of the agents. Interaction of polymers with IR laser radiation – demonstrating that the monomer release following the irradiation of IOL materials with surgical IR lasers is too low to cause deleterious effects in the eye. First investigation of interaction between poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and UV laser radiation. First use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the process of ablation of ophthalmic hydrogels with excimer lasers. General studies on the interaction between high-energy laser radiation and polymers. Invention and development of melanin-containing synthetic hydrogels able to absorb UV and blue radiation and their application as IOL materials. First polymer-biopolymer combinations to be reported as interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). Invention and development of an artificial cornea. Initially known as "Chirila keratoprosthesis", this device has been commercially developed as AlphaCor and received approvals from FDA and other regulatory bodies and is used in human patients. Development of hydrogels with very high water content as potential substitutes for the vitreous body, including a methodology for their evaluation in vitro. Evaluation of porous hydrogel scaffolds for nerve repair. Development and study of polymer matrices for the sustained release of bioactive agents, including therapeutic oligonucleotides. Development of an orbital implant, currently commercialised as AlphaSphere. Contributions to the history of ophthalmology and biomaterials. Development of tissue-engineered corneal constructs for the restoration of ocular surface. His research has resulted to date in 175 journal publications and 13 patents. He has contributed over 175 presentations at scientific meetings and he has been invited to present lectures in China, the United States, Japan, Romania, Italy, France, Switzerland, Korea, Germany and The Netherlands.

Memberships Romanian Academy of Scientists Romanian Academy of Scientists (American Branch) New York Academy of Sciences American Chemical Society Royal Australian Chemical Institute Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering KPro Study Group

Personal life He spent his childhood in a small town in Transylvania, Chișineu-Criș, graduating from the local high school in 1966. He is nicknamed "Tanu". His mother died in 2019 while still living in Timisoara, Romania where he graduated from the university. Traian is married to Mika, who is from Japan, and they have a son, Sebastian.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Traian V. Chirilă

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Traian V. Chirilă claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Traian V. Chirilă before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Traian V. Chirilă ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Traian V. Chirilă

In research: Traian V. Chirilă appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Traian V. Chirilă in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Traian V. Chirilă is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1948 births, 20th-century Australian inventors, Academic staff of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Traian V. Chirilă outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Traian V. Chirilă in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Traian V. Chirilă means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Traian V. Chirilă out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Traian V. Chirilă in simple terms?

Why does Traian V. Chirilă matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Traian V. Chirilă?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Traian V. Chirilă.