National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award

美国国家科学基金会（NSF）提名35岁的克里斯蒂·安塞斯（Kristi Anseth）获得艾伦·t·沃特曼奖（Alan T. Waterman Award），这是该基金会授予年轻研究人员的最高荣誉。该奖项包括一枚奖章和一笔50万美元的资助，用于在她选择的领域和机构进行研究或高级学习。安赛斯的奖项是基于在新型生物材料方面的开创性工作，这些材料被设计成帮助身体自愈。与合成身体部位不同，这种新材料可能会为受损的膝盖、臀部甚至心脏结构带来新的治疗方法，这将有助于更快地愈合，更快地恢复到更好的生活质量。安塞思开始走上了攻读博士学位的快车道，从那以后她就没有放慢过自己的步伐。作为一名有能力、专注的学生，她在1994年获得了加州大学博尔德分校的博士学位，仅仅两年后，她就在普渡大学获得了学士学位。作为一名积极进取的研究人员，她是霍华德休斯医学研究所第一位也是唯一一位成为研究员的女工程师。作为一名富有创造力的科学家，她将自己在生物学、化学和工程学方面的知识结合起来，专注于组织工程的跨学科研究，这使她能够找到开发新的合成“支架”或模板的方法，以调节细胞的行为和功能，并促进细胞增殖和形成自然的、新的、活的组织。安塞思解释说，支架实际上只是重新创造的组织，如果你把它想象成一栋建筑，它是一个框架，其他结构可以从这个框架中形成。支架本身被设计成以液体形式注入体内。但是，当分子被引入并被光激活时，一种凝胶状材料就形成了，当注入时，这种材料为受影响的区域提供了强度、稳定性和柔韧性。Anseth的实验室是第一个开发光激活生物材料的实验室，这种材料可以降解并与细胞相互作用，同时促进组织再生。研究人员希望，这些可生物降解的柔性材料可以在十年内用于医疗程序，从而允许将新的身体部位“注射”到患有使人衰弱的损伤或疾病的人身上，而无需进行大手术的创伤。我们仍然需要回答一些问题，比如如何使支架在结构上和机械上能够产生功能性软骨，如何加速软骨的形成和控制支架的降解，然后以一种最小化手术侵入性的方式制造支架，同时在手术过程中促进支架的放置，Anseth说。沃特曼奖创立于1975年，以美国国家科学基金会首任主任艾伦·t·沃特曼（Alan T. Waterman）的名字命名，旨在表彰在科学或工程研究方面取得杰出成就的个人，这些成就使获奖者站在同龄人的前列。标准包括原创性、创新性和对个人科学或工程领域的重大影响。候选人必须是美国公民或永久居民，在提名当年年底不得超过35岁，或获得博士学位后不得超过7年。50万美元的奖金将在三年期间发放，主任办公室提供第一年的资金（166,667美元），工程理事会的工程教育和中心司在第二年提供166,667美元，在第三年提供166,666美元。

The National Science Foundation (NSF) named Kristi Anseth, 35, to receive the Alan T. Waterman Award, the foundation's most prestigious for a young researcher. The award includes a medal and a $500,000 grant over a three-year period to carry out research or advanced study in the field and institution of her choosing. Anseth's award is based on groundbreaking work in new biomaterials that are engineered to help the body heal itself. Unlike synthetic body parts, such new materials may lead to new treatments for damaged knees, hips and even heart structures that will contribute to faster healing and a quicker return to a better quality of life. Anseth started on a fast track toward her Ph.D., and she hasn't slowed her pace since. An able and focused student, she achieved a doctorate at CU-Boulder in 1994, just two years after completing her bachelor's degree at Purdue. A driven researcher, she was the first engineer and the only woman engineer to become an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A creative scientist, she combined her knowledge of biology, chemistry and engineering into an interdisciplinary focus on tissue engineering, allowing her to find ways to develop new synthetic "scaffolds," or templates to regulate cell behavior and function, and to promote ways for cells to proliferate and form natural, but new, living tissues.The scaffold is really just re-created tissues, and if you think of it like a building, this is a framework from which other structures can be formed, Anseth explains. The scaffold itself is designed to be injected into the body in liquid form. But when molecules are introduced and then light-activated, a gel-like material is formed that, when injected, provides the affected area with strength, stability and flexibility. Anseth's lab was the first to develop light-activated biomaterials that would degrade and interact with cells, while promoting tissue regrowth. The hope is that these biodegradable, flexible materials may be available within a decade for medical procedures that will allow the "injection" of new body parts into people who suffer from debilitating injuries or diseases -- without the trauma of major surgery. We still have to answer some questions about how to make a scaffold structurally and mechanically able to produce functional cartilage, how to accelerate cartilage formation and control degradation of the scaffolds, and then fabricate the scaffolds in such a way as to minimize surgical invasiveness while facilitating their placement during a procedure, Anseth says. The Waterman Award, created in 1975, is named for NSF's first director, Alan T. Waterman, and recognizes demonstrated individual achievements in scientific or engineering research that place the awardee at the forefront of his or her peers. Criteria include originality, innovation and significant impact on the individual's field of science or engineering. Candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and may not be more than 35 years old, or seven years beyond receiving a Ph.D., by the end of the year in which nominated. The $500,000 prize money is disbursed over a three-year period, with the Director's Office providing the first year of funding ($166,667) and the Engineering Education and Centers Division of the Directorate for Engineering providing $166, 667 in year two and $166,666 in year three.