Graduate Training for Rationally Designed, Integrative Biomaterials: GTauBioMAT

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The field of Biomaterials significantly impacts the quality of life of thousands of people. Biomaterials have traditionally been used in medical devices such as hip implants, vascular grafts, and stents with new evolving applications in scaffolds/drug delivery devices for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, significant challenges remain with the ability of Biomaterials to integrate seamlessly with the body, to respond and remodel with time in vivo. The full potential of Biomaterials has not yet been realized, in part, because most materials that are used today are by-products of other processes, not rationally designed with the specific medical requirements in mind. Biomedical engineering as a discipline offers a unique opportunity to address this shortcoming. Georgia Institute of Technology has had an excellent, interdisciplinary graduate program in Bioengineering for 15 years with a high quality of pre-doctoral students. The goal of GTBioMAT (Graduate Training for Rationally Designed, Integrative Biomaterials) is to leverage the existing inter-departmental and inter-university ties and provide a structured, focused, integrative training for the rational design and application of the next generation of biomimetic, integrative materials. The GTBioMAT training program will focus on integrating four important skill sets that are critical to training the future leaders in Biomaterials science and engineering: 1) the ability to elucidate Biomaterials design criteria through strong clinical interactions; 2) the ability to synthesize and characterize new materials whose design is driven by an understanding of the underlying clinical and basic science issues; 3) the ability to functionalize and apply these materials such that they integrate appropriately into living systems; and 4) develop leadership skills in the trainees such that they lead the next generation of Biomaterials Science and Engineering research through their innovation and research. The GTBioMAT training program proposes to introduce novel problem based learning approaches that promote self-directed inquiry and collaborative problem solving of complex but authentic biomaterials related problems. It leverages the strong research strength of the faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University and will significantly impact the training of the future leaders in Biomaterials.