Society Professionals Honored for Outstanding Achievements MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. – January X, 2015 – The Society For Biomaterials (SFB), a professional society that promotes advances in biomedical materials research and development, proudly announces the 2015 award recipients:
• Paul Ducheyne, PhD
• Carl McMillin, PhD
• Lynne Jones, PhD
• Fredrick J. Schoen, MD, PhD
• Jennifer West, PhD
• Xingdong Zhang, PhD
• Lonnie Shea, PhD
• Craig Duvall, PhD
• Michael Mitchell, PhD
• Lindsey Sanders, graduate student
• Amanda Chen, undergraduate
These Society professionals are recognized for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the biomaterials field. Each award recipient will be honored during the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Annual Meeting and Exposition, April 15-18 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Paul Ducheyne, PhD of the University of Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2015 Founders Award for his long-term landmark contributions to the discipline of biomaterials. Professor Ducheyne’s research activities have established him as a pioneer and leader in bioengineering, orthopedic surgery research and tissue engineering.
“Throughout his career, Paul has been a highly productive and visible researcher, leader and entrepreneur in the field of biomaterials. His accomplishments are significant and considerable,” remarked nominator Michele Marcolongo, PhD.
A former President of the Society For Biomaterials, Professor Ducheyne has authored about 330 papers and chapters in a variety of international journals and books. His papers have been cited more than 10,000 times. He has also been granted more than 40 U.S. patents with international counterparts. .
Carl McMillin, PhD, Owner of Synthetic Body Parts Inc., was nominated by Nicholas P. Ziats, PhD, for the C. William Hall Award for his significant contributions to the Society For Biomaterials and outstanding record in establishing, developing, maintaining and promoting the objectives and goals of the Society.
“Dr. McMillin’s career has been varied and unique, spanning from his academic roles as a Professor at Cleveland State University and University of Akron to product design, development and commercialization in industry. His expertise in polyether ketones and polyolefins is well known. These materials have been used for many applications including use in heart assist devices to lumbar and spinal applications as well as other orthopedic devices,” remarked Nicholas P. Ziats, PhD.
Dr. McMillin has been a member of the Society For Biomaterials for the past thirty years. He previously served on the SFB Council and has held the positions of chair, vice chair and program director of the Biomaterials and Medical Products Commercialization Special Interest Group. In addition, Dr. McMillin helped develop the K-12 educational program and has presided over the student awards committees for various Special Interest Groups. Dr. McMillin routinely participates in the SFB Student Luncheons being able to offer guidance on career choices from his broad experience in academia, a research institute, an orthopedic corporation and independent consulting.
Lynne Jones, PhD of John Hopkins University, is the recipient of the Society For Biomaterials Award for Service for her significant service to the Society by establishing, developing, maintaining and promoting its objectives and goals.
“Dr. Jones has been one of the pillars of our Society since the mid-90’s and for the past twenty years she has provided extraordinary service to our Society, not only in her active duty roles, but also as an advisor to our many presidents, members and students. She is an international leader in the area of biomaterials,” commented nominator Nicholas P. Ziats, PhD.
Over the past thirty years, Dr. Jones has published a significant number of publications in biomaterials research, particularly in the area of orthopedics. She has mentored a number of students and has been involved in teaching an appreciable amount of courses in biomaterials. She has received a number of honors that recognized her work and accomplishments.
Frederick J. Schoen, MD, PhD of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is awarded the 2015 Society For Biomaterials Technology Innovation and Development Award. The award recognizes an individual or team who provided key scientific and technical innovation and leadership in a novel product in which biomaterials played an important and enabling role.
“Dr. Frederick Schoen is well recognized nationally and internationally as one of the world’s leading authorities on heart valve biomaterials and cardiovascular pathology. Throughout an extended career, he has successfully focused basic and applied biomaterials research toward the development of substitute heart valves and associated technology that significantly benefits the health of hundreds of thousands of medical and surgical patients throughout the world,” remarked colleague Larry Hench, Professor of the University of Florida and Imperial College London.
Dr. Schoen is recognized particularly for his work in heart valves; of his 265 publications in reviewed journals and nearly 200 more reviews and book chapters, more than half are focused on heart valves. Dr. Schoen has also developed rational protocols for cardiovascular implant retrieval that are now widely used.
Clemson Awards
Each year, the Society For Biomaterials solicits nominations for outstanding work in the Clemson Award categories. The history of these awards reflects the strong traditional ties between the Society For Biomatierals and Clemson University since 1974.
Jennifer West, PhD of Duke University, is awarded the 2015 Clemson Award for Basic Research for her significant utilization and application of basic knowledge in science to accomplish a significant goal in the biomaterials field.
Nominator Martine LaBerge, PhD had this to say about her colleague, “Dr. West has not only defeated the impossible; she has made a significant impact in healthcare management through innovative biomaterials technology. In the past 13 years, she has passed the torch to more than forty PhD graduates and post-doctoral fellows in addition to hundreds of undergraduate students.”
Dr. West, known for her pioneering advances in nanotechnology and tissue engineering, received numerous awards throughout her career including the 2010 Texas Inventor of the Year and the 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technology Review’s selection of 100 Top Young Innovators Award. The Society For Biomaterials recognized Dr. West as a promising scientist by awarding her its Outstanding Young Investigator Award in 2000.
Xingdong Zhang of Sichuan University, is honored with the Clemson Award for Applied Research for his contributions to basic knowledge and understanding of the interaction of materials with tissue.
“Professor Zhang is very clearly an international giant in the field of musculoskeletal tissue engineering. He has made several seminal contributions to this field that have been hugely influential. For example, he demonstrated that porous calcium phosphates will induce bone formation without the addition of any bone cells or growth factors,” remarked Allan S. Hoffman, ScD at the University of Washington.
Professor Zhang initiated research on bioactive ceramics (1983) and plasma-sprayed coatings (1987) for orthopedic and dental applications in China. Professor Zhang is the author of over 400 journal articles, the inventor of 22 Chinese patents, and has edited and co-edited 12 books. He is also a foreign member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA).
Lonnie Shea, PhD of Northwestern University, is the recipient of the 2015 Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature for his significant contributions to the literature on the science and technology of biomaterials.
“Dr. Shea has a tremendous publication record for his career stage, and he publishes important papers. Dr. Shea has been actively involved in educational and service activities at many levels, and has made major contributions to the biomaterials field through these activities,” stated colleague David Mooney.
Dr. Shea has published over 168 papers in peer-review journals, and 11 book chapters in the biomaterials and tissue engineering fields. Dr. Shea’s awards and honors include the NSF New Century Scholar, NSF Career Award, and election as a Fellow to AIMBE in 2010.
Craig Duvall, PhD, Vanderbilt University, is the recipient of the 2015 Society For Biomaterials Young Investigator Award for his achievements in the field of biomaterials research as evidenced by the manuscript entitled, “Conjugation of Palmitic Acid Improves Potency and Longevity of siRNA Delivered via Endosomolytic Polymer Nanoparticles”. Candidates for the SFB Young Investigator Award must be within 10 years of receipt of their terminal degree (PhD or equivalent) and, if they work in an academic institution, must not be tenured at the time of nomination.
“Dr. Duvall is at the forefront of the younger —than me— generation of biomaterials scientists who are designing new biomaterials across length scales — from the nanoscopic to the macroscopic— and applying these for the synthesis of new drug delivery systems,” said nominator Ashutosh Chilkoti.
In his young career, Dr. Duvall, has published 38 journal articles (an additional 4 are in review), 4 book chapters, and 12 patents/invention disclosures. Since receiving his PhD in 2007, he has published 33 articles and 2 book chapters, 22 of which he is listed as either lead or senior author. Adding in his 12 patents/invention disclosures, results in an impressive 6.7 publications per year since receiving his PhD.
Student Awards for Outstanding Research
Student researchers who have shown outstanding achievement in biomaterials research may submit applications and a manuscript reporting their research. The manuscript must be in the style of Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.
The 2015 Student Awards for Outstanding Research recipients are:
Michael Mitchell, PhD of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In addition to Dr. Mitchell’s research qualifications and work ethic, he has shown a sustained interest in teaching and outreach as well. His outstanding research is evident in the manuscript entitled, “Surfactant Functionalization Induces Robust, Differential Adhesion of Tumor Cells and Blood Cells to Charged Nanotube-Coated Biomaterials Under Flow”.
“I see Mike as someone who could become a true leader in interdisciplinary science. He is smart, technically very skilled, dedicated, and ambitious. More critically, though, he works to pick up big picture motivations and ideas at the same time he works to get the details right. In my experience, few scientists at his career stage are so attuned to both the broader issues and the details of new things they are learning or picking up,” commented Chris B. Schaffer, Associate Professor at Cornell University.
Lindsey Sanders, Clemson University: PhD Candidate
Sanders serves as a research mentor for Clemson’s undergraduate creative inquiry program and department research honors, and is the departmental ambassador for outreach. Her outstanding research is evident in the manuscript entitled, “Mechanical Characterization of a Bifunctional Tetronic Hydrogel Adhesive for Soft Tissues”.
“Lindsey has demonstrated that she is highly motivated and engaged for biomaterials science and engineering research. She has demonstrated through her duties as a graduate research mentor and teaching assistant outstanding skills as a communicator and mentor, and is a wonderful ambassador for our program and the field of biomaterials,” commented Martine LaBerge, PhD.
Amanda Chen, University of Cambridge: Undergraduate
Chen is highly organized, articulate, and meticulous with her experiments. Her outstanding research is evident in the manuscript entitled, “Disruption of Cell-Cell Contact-mediated Notch Signaling via Hydrogel Encapsulation Reduces Mesenchymal Stem Cell Chondrogenic Potential”. She has developed so much that she is able to plan and execute experiments to test new hypotheses with little or no guidance, which is not typical of an undergraduate.
“She’s dedicated herself to research at the University of Rochester and beyond, which resulted in several conference presentations and one first-author publication. She’s the best undergraduate student I have had the pleasure of interacting with and is supremely dedicated to performing highly innovative, important, and clinically-translatable biomedical research,” explained nominator Danielle Benoit.
About the Society For Biomaterials
The Society For Biomaterials is a professional society which promotes advances in biomedical materials research and development by encouragement of cooperative educational programs, clinical applications, and professional standards in the biomaterials field. Biomaterials scientists and engineers study cells, their components, complex tissues and organs and their interactions with natural and synthetic materials and implanted prosthetic devices, as well as develop and characterize the materials used to measure, restore, and improve physiologic function, and enhance survival and quality of life.
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