Lars is a research scientist at CSIRO in Clayton and is passionate about translational science, STEM promotion, travelling, and football. He develops novel biomaterials for nerve repair and very tiny drug delivery systems to improve drugs while limiting their side effects.

Lars is originally from The Netherlands where he graduated as a biomedical engineer before travelling around the world with his backpack. He arrived in Australia in 2010 and has made Australia his home since. After working as an admin and a three-month stint as a fruit picker, he returned to his passion - science, and completed a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University in 2017 followed by a one-year postdoc. During this time, he worked on better treatments for various cancers in collaboration with ANSTO and the Children's Cancer Institute. Afterwards he joined CSIRO on a three-year fellowship specializing in brain cancer therapies, before starting his current role.

He has been fortunate to receive research support from AINSE and CASS, and has always been fascinated by science communication. This led to the organisation of various events (including a Q&A panel on vaccines at the Doherty Institute), successful participation in competitions like Falling Walls Lab (winner Victorian final 2021) and Famelab, and the organisation of almost 100 internal webinars. Lars also hosts work experience students at CSIRO and enjoys participating in the STEM in Schools Program.