Research Team Member
Glenn Prestwich
University of Utah-Salt Lake City
The Co-PI is an organic chemist, who holds concurrent appointments in the
Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering. He has both academic
and industrial expertise; he is the founder of several companies (e.g., Echelon
Biosciences, Inc., a drug discovery company for molecular targets in lipid
signaling in cancer; Sentrx Surgical, Inc., a new startup in 2003 dedicated to
developing clinically useful materials for scar-free wound repair and tissue
engineering). His past academic research programs have included insect natural
products chemistry and biochemistry and the design and evaluation of inhibitors of
vertebrate steroid metabolism. His contribution to the project will involve the
novel biomaterials/hydrogels for wound repair, drug delivery and tissue
engineering, based on new chemical modifications of hyaluronan and other
glycosaminoglycans, to create a variety of ECM-like scaffolds. In this arena a
breakthrough was achieved in his labs in 2002 when his team developed a
biocompatible and in situ crosslinkable covalent mimic of the extracellular matrix
that can be seeded with cells prior to gelation.
The Co-PI's industrial expertise may help in the broader application of the results of the proposed project. Dr. Prestwich is Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Glycosan Biosystems, which provides a readily-customized source of biopaper products based on research licensed from his Center for Therapeutic Biomaterials. Creating public access to research information and research materials are both important components of NSF-supported research.