Mikos to Receive Outstanding Young Investigator Award for Innovative Biomaterials
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Mikos to Receive Outstanding Young Investigator Award for Innovative Biomaterials Antonios G. Mikos is the 1996 recipient of the Materials Research Society's Outstanding Young Investigator Award. The Rice University professor is cited "for the synthesis and processing of new biomaterials for tissue engineering, supports for cells, tissue-growth conduits, targeted cell-adhesion substrates, and cellularresponse stimulants." The Outstanding Young Investigator Award recognizes exceptional, interdisciplinary scientific work in materials research by a young scientist or engineer who also displays leadership in the materials area. Mikos has shown creativity in his endeavors; innovation in his work; and interdisciplinary leadership connecting engineering, materials science, and biology. He has the knowledge and expertise to take a project from polymers in a test tube to testing of polymer-cell composites in living tissue. He has been called by one of his nominators "one of the leading researchers in materials science worldwide and perhaps the most innovative and influential biomedical materials researcher of his generation." His work has focused on applications of materials science in medicine, with a concentration on degradable polymers. Mikos is well-known for his work on biodegradable polymer materials that serve as matrix systems for hybrid (cell containing) artificial organs. His research emphasizes the use of synthetic biodegradable polymers as analogs of the extracellular matrices of the body to create biological substitutes and engineer human tissues. He is a pioneer in developing systems for bone augmentation, artificial skin, and retinal epithelium repair. Mikos has developed novel processing techniques to fabricate three-dimensional scaffolds of biodegradable polymers with high porosity and large surface-to-volume ratio. These structures can provide temporary scaffolding to transplanted cells to form a completely natural tissue replacement. This differs from the more classical approach of seeking materials that are essentially inert in the body and behave invisibly. The approach of tissue engineering makes use of the natural
Antonios G. Mikos responses of the biological system to the implanted materials to dynamically create desirable implant characteristics. His work has addressed molecular behavior of polymers, diffusion and flow, mechanical behavior, and surface analysis of polymers. He has developed and studied novel bioadhesive polymers and has provided important insight into the chain interpenetration phenomenon that is responsible for the adhesion of polymers to biological surfaces. This has led to understanding processes such as targeting of controlled release systems to cancerous sites. In professional societies, he has promoted the role of biomaterials in tissue engineering and has organized or coorganized many sessions and workshops including Biomaterials for Drug and Cell Delivery (1993 MRS Fall Meeting) and Polymers in Medicine and Pharmacy (1995 MRS Spring Meeting). He leads the biomaterials group
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