Chair of biomedical engineering elected to prestigious Institute of Medicine

October 20, 2014

Mark Saltzman, the Goizueta Foundation Professor and chair of biomedical engineering, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. Election to the IOM recognizes excellence and professional achievement in a field relevant to the institute’s mission.

Saltzman’s research is motivated by the desire to create safer and more effective medical and surgical therapy. His pioneering research on drug delivery, biomaterials, nanobiotechnology, and tissue engineering has been described in more than 250 research papers, two edited books, and 15 patents, and Biomaterials named his work among the top 25 papers published by the journal over the past 25 years; he has also delivered more than 260 invited lectures throughout the world.

Applications for his research into novel polymeric materials include more effective use of chemotherapy, accelerated wound repair, and drug delivery to the brain. Additionally, his recent patented work uses polymeric nanoparticles to deliver donor DNA molecules that can induce gene expression in targeted cells; Saltzman’s delivery method significantly increases the likelihood of DNA uptake and expression.

Saltzman received the 2014 Mines Medal from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, the Allan C. Davis Medal as Maryland’s Outstanding Young Engineer, the Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Award, and the Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering from Iowa State University. Additionally, he is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the National Academy of Inventors, and the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering.

In addition to his work in the lab, Saltzman is the founding chair of Yale’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and sole author of the textbooks “Biomedical Engineering,” “Tissue Engineering,” and “Drug Delivery.” His achievements in the classroom have been recognized throughout his career with teaching awards from Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and Yale, as well as the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1970, the IOM is both an honorific body and an advisory organization concerned with the protection and advancement of the health professions and sciences, the promotion of research and development pertinent to health, and the improvement of healthcare. IOM members contribute their knowledge and professional judgment on healthcare and health policy to the development of findings and the formulation of recommendations for lawmakers, health professionals, and the public.

IOM members devote a significant amount of volunteer time to committees that engage in a broad range of studies based in the biomedical sciences and health professions, as well as related aspects of the behavioral and social sciences, administration, law, the physical sciences, and engineering. Recent studies have evaluated the health implications of the Affordable Care Act, the treatment of chronic illness in Gulf War veterans, genome-based therapeutics, weight-gain guidelines during pregnancy, and nutrition rating systems and graphics on food packaging.

Research Interests

Drug Delivery
Gene Therapy
Tissue Engineering

Contact

Department of Biomedical Engineering  |  Yale University
Malone Engineering Center (map)
55 Prospect St.  |  New Haven, CT 06511

Vascular Biology & Therapeutics Program | Yale School of Medicine
Amistad Research Building (map)
10 Amistad St.  |  New Haven, CT 06520

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