Over the last decade Professor Hutmacher has gained a worldwide reputation in the field of tissue engineering& regenerative medicine (TE&RM), and his track record illustrates successful mastery of a major challenge in biomedical sciences: the ability to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, and initiate and nurture research and educational programs across different disciplines. This success has been achieved through a concerted and integrated leadership effort including contributions from colleagues in engineering (tissue engineering, biomaterials science, computational modelling, chemistry, nanotechnology), the life science disciplines (molecular cell and developmental biology, medicine, stem cell research, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics), and applied clinical research (orthopaedics, craniofacial &plastic surgery, oncology, radiology).