From 2003-2016 he was a tenured Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (Biomedical Engineering/Biochemistry/A*STAR Institute for Medical Biology). As council member of TERMIS-EU, he is experienced in fundamental, clinical and industrial research with accomplishments in the fields of in matrix biology (pathobiochemistry of collagens and elastic microfibrils) and skin biology (wound repair, cornification disorders). He has pioneered the systematic use of macromolecular crowding as novel technology in tissue engineering to build cell-specific and lineage-directing microenvironments.