The University of Otago (Christchurch) orthopaedic surgery and musculoskeletal medicine Associate Professor has been awarded the 2022 Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERM-IS) Asia Pacific Region Young Investigator Award.
The award recognises a young researcher in the Asia-Pacific region who has made significant and consistent achievements in the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field, showing clear evidence of their potential to excel.
Prof Lim directs the university’s internationally recognised Light Activated Biomaterials group.
His research aims to overcome the barriers of engineering living tissues in a lab and growing organs to alleviate the world’s shortage of transplant organs.
He said he was honoured to receive the award, especially from a society of this calibre.
"The core value of this award resonates with my overall leadership vision — to provide and create opportunity for a better tomorrow.
"I am motivated to help further the convergence of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with other fields, such as biomaterials and biofabrication, through enduring partnership and collaboration.
"It's through these collaborative efforts with other disciplines that advances in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine can be translated into human patients, to treat specific diseases and improve quality of life," he said.
The award is just the latest to be bestowed on Prof Lim.
Late last year he was awarded the Royal Society Te Aparangi Rutherford Discovery Fellowship — one of three University of Otago researchers to receive the $800,000 fellowship over five years.
Prof Lim received the Asia Pacific Region Young Investigator Award at the recent TERM-IS annual conference in Jeju, South Korea.
While there, he presented the research he has led over the past eight years.
