Rice bioengineer Antonios
Mikos wins Society For Biomaterials’ Founders Award

BY SHAWN HUTCHINS
Special to Rice News

Rice University Professor Antonios Mikos has received
one of the highest honors in the biomaterials and tissue engineering fields: the Society For Biomaterials’ 2011 Founders
Award. The award was given for his long-term, landmark contributions to the discipline of biomaterials.

	ANTONIOS MIKOS

The award credits Mikos’ decades of
research and published studies that have produced new clinical applications in
the treatment and repair of tissue from damage due to trauma or disease. The award will be presented during the Society For Biomaterials’ annual
meeting in Orlando, Fla., in April.

Mikos is the Louis Calder
Professor of Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, director of
the John W. Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering and director of the Center
for Excellence in Tissue Engineering. His research in the synthesis, processing
and evaluation of biomaterials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, as
carriers for controlled drug delivery and as nonviral vectors for gene therapy
is well-established and has been recognized with many prestigious awards in
research and education.

Mikos has 25 patents, many of
which have been translated to commercial success. With more than 420 publications and 17,000 citations tied to his name, Mikos is one of the
top-published U.S. scientists in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He is
the editor of 14 books and co-author of the award-winning textbook Biomaterials: The Intersection of
Biology and Materials Science.

Mikos’ work in biomaterials
development has applications in orthopedic, dental, cardiovascular, neurologic
and ophthalmologic practices. His lab is known worldwide for its techniques in
the fabrication of various types of porous biodegradable scaffolds, the
exploration of cell-scaffold interactions and tactics toward controlled drug
delivery that influence cell behavior, stimulate growth and prevent infection.

”I am truly honored by the
receipt of this award,” Mikos said. “Biomaterials science has
produced enormous advances within a relatively short period of time, and I am
inspired by the role it has played in tissue engineering and regenerative
medicine.

”As technology develops, we will
continue to discover innovative ways to introduce new elements that mimic
biological structures and foster increased symbiotic relationships between
scaffolding and the seeded cells.”

Mikos’ engineering skills and
understanding of natural biological processes has led to extensive
investigations with colleagues at Rice and other institutions in the Texas Medical Center for the
translation and testing of biomaterials that are increasingly capable of
withstanding continuous mechanical movement and load conditions necessary for
complete bone and cartilage growth.

In recent years, work in his
laboratory has involved highly collaborative projects with the Armed Forces
Institute of Regenerative Medicine to develop innovative tissue engineering
strategies to rebuild wounded military personnel and to accelerate the
transition of new technologies from the laboratory bench to the clinic.

Since 1995, Mikos has served as
founding editor and editor-in-chief of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative
Medicine International Society’s (TERMIS) journals, Tissue Engineering Part A; Tissue
Engineering Part B: Reviews; and Tissue
Engineering Part C: Methods. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the
journals Advanced Drug Delivery
Reviews, Cell Transplantation, Journal of Biomaterials Science
Polymer Edition and Journal of
Biomedical Materials.

The Society For Biomaterials is
a professional society founded in 1974. It promotes advances in all phases of
materials research and development by encouragement of cooperative educational
programs, clinical applications and professional standards in the biomaterials
field.

— Shawn Hutchins is a staff writer in the
Department of Bioengineering.