Professor Hans Zoellner - University of Sydney Association of Professors

Brief Biography

Professor Zoellner trained originally in dentistry at the University of Sydney, and after some years of rural dental service, completed a PhD exploring vascular changes in chronic periodontitis at the Institute of Dental Research affiliated with the University of Sydney.

He had post-doctoral experience in the Department of Medicine at Royal Melbourne Hospital, and as a Lise Meitner Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Physiology in the University of Vienna. Separately, he spent one and a half years as a visiting researcher in Cell Biology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

He rose from appointment as lecturer in Oral Pathology at the University of Sydney, to holding a Personal Chair as full Professor. He has trained as a junior registrar in anatomical pathology and oral pathology at the Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, but is not a registered clinical oral pathologist.

A restructure resulted in dissolution of the Discipline of Oral Pathology in 2021, and although Professor Zoellner was declared redundant from his position at that time, he holds an honorary appointment at the School of Biomedical Engineering in the University of Sydney.

He established Strongarch Pty Ltd (https://strongarch.com) of which he is the Director and Head, as a vehicle to serve as a travelling freelance ‘Nomad Professor’.

Teaching and Research

Professor Zoellner has extensive experience at all levels of higher education teaching and has taught in the areas of: dental clinical supervision at the University of Melbourne; haematological physiology at the University of Vienna; histology; basic, systemic and oral pathology; and public health dentistry at the University of Sydney.

He has also supervised undergraduate and post-graduate research students in the Universities of Melbourne, Vienna and Sydney.

His research has been mostly in the broad areas of experimental pathology, vascular biology and cancer biology, but he has also been involved with research in: public health; clinical research; materials science; education and most recently dental robotics. Prior to founding Strongarch, he ran his own laboratory at the University of Sydney.

Discoveries of particular note include: the role of periodontal high endothelial like endothelial cells and perivascular hyaline material in periodontitis; the anti-apoptotic activity of serum albumin for endothelium; adipogenic healing; the role of follicular soft tissues in tooth eruption; and cell-projection pumping as a mechanism for syncytial function amongst mammalian cells and especially in cancer.

Some recent research can be seen at: https://strongarch.com/research/

Administration, Leadership and Service

Prof Zoellner has held senior leadership and administrative roles in the University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital. He was the Head of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, and later became the Head of the Combined Disciplines of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Diagnostics.

He was the founding Chairman of a think-tank and advocacy group for Oral Health (The Association for the Promotion of Oral Health – APOH), where he played a prominent role leading public debate via the media and the political process, and he also contributed advice to government, political parties and ministries.

His peers have recognized his abilities and contributions by invitations to serve in a wide range of administrative and academic capacities, including: as Chairman of the Westmead Hospital Scientific Advisory Committee responsible for all Human Ethics applications at that campus; as lead examiner in Pathology for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons; as a member of the Health Policy Advisory Group of the NSW Council of Social Services; and membership of the Excellence in Research Australia, Medical and Health Sciences Evaluation Committee.

He has provided expert analysis and advice on request to community groups and industry, as well as to the University of Sydney.

He has been invited to give expert testimony to Government, and to serve on request of Health Ministers.

He has been further honoured by invitation for fellowship of the International College of Dentists, and membership of the Science honour society Sigma Xi.

He currently serves: as an examiner in Pathology for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons; as a member of the NSW Australian Dental Association Advocacy Committee; as a member of the Oral Health Project for the NSW Ministerial Advisory Council on Ageing; as a Council Member of the University of Sydney Association of Professors; a participatory member of the Australian Association of University Professors; and also as a participatory supporter of Public Universities Australia.

Links for More Detail

Strongarch Website: