Biomaterials Science

William R. Wagner, PhD is a Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering, Surgery, and Chemical Engineering, as well as Berenfield Endowed Chair of Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as Chairman of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – Americas, the Deputy Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on “Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials” and Chief Scientific Officer of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Professor Wagner is the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of one of the leading biomaterials and biomedical engineering journals, Acta Biomaterialia, and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Organogenesis, Experimental Biology & Medicine, and the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Wagner is a past president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO; 2010-2011) and has served on the Executive Board of the International Federation of Artificial Organs (IFAO). He is a fellow and former vice president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE; 2000) and has been elected a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (2007), the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (2008), the American Heart Association (2001) and TERMIS (2015). He has served as Chairman for the Gordon Research Conference on Biomaterials: Biocompatibility & Tissue Engineering as well as for the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, ASAIO, and the First World Congress of TERMIS. He was previously recognized by selection to the “Scientific American 50”, the magazine’s annual list recognizing leaders in science and technology from the research, business and policy fields. In 2011 he was awarded the Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Applied Research, in 2012 he received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award from the University of Pittsburgh and in 2013 he received the TERMIS Senior Scientist Award. Dr. Wagner's research interests are generally in the area of cardiovascular engineering with projects that address medical device biocompatibility and design, hypothesis-driven biomaterials development, tissue engineering, and targeted imaging.

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert is Professor of Bioengineering and Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the School of Medicine at the University of Washington.
Dr. Sakiyama-Elbert's research focuses on developing biomaterials for drug delivery and cell transplantation for the treatment of peripheral nerve and spinal cord injury. She has written 5 book chapters and over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She has 8 U.S. patents and 2 patent applications submitted. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Health. Previously, she received early career awards from the Whitaker Foundation and the WH Coulter Foundation. She is currently on the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS): Americas Council and served on the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Board of Directors from 2009-2012. She joined the College of Fellows for the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2011 and was elected a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2013.

Her other professional service includes serving as an associate editor for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, a member of the Editorial Board of Acta Biomaterialia, member of the Long Range Planning Committee for the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) (2003-05), and serving as a standing member of the Biomaterials/ Biointerfaces (BMBI) study section for the NIH (2010- 2013). She served as chair for the 2013 Gordon Research Conference on Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering. She is currently the co-president of the Association of Women Faculty and served as a provost faculty fellow from 2012-2013.

Guigen Zhang, PhD
Professor, Clemson University
Dr. Zhang began his academic career at Tongji University (Shanghai, China) in 1987. After his doctoral and postdoctoral trainings, he resumed his research career at Northwestern University in Illinois. Before joining Clemson University in fall of 2008, Dr. Zhang was an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia where he pioneered a bio-micro/nanotechnology program. Dr. Zhang has served as major professor to six doctoral students and two master students. All of his doctoral graduates are pursuing research careers in academia (e.g., Stanford, UIUC) and in industries (e.g., IBM, COMSOL). He also served on graduate advisory committees for another three doctoral students and two master students. He has mentored three postdoctoral fellows and numerous undergraduate students. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Engineering and is an education editor for the Biomaterials Forum. Dr. Zhang has served as PI on several NIH and NSF grants and participated in the NIH study sessions and NSF review panels numerous times in the areas of biotechnology and nanotechnology covering topics such as chip based sensors, sensors and detectors for environmental monitoring, nanoscale drug delivery, and MEMS and NEMS devices.