Tufts biomedical engineer and researcher is recognized for his contributions to silk-based materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Photo by: Alix Kaplan
David Kaplan, the Stern Family Professor of Engineering, a Distinguished Professor, and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his contributions to silk-based materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Election to the National Academies is one of the foremost professional recognitions available to engineers, scientists, and medical experts.
“On behalf of my past and current students and colleagues here at Tufts, it is an honor to be recognized by the National Academy of Engineering,” said Kaplan.
Kaplan is the director of the Initiative for Neural Science, Disease & Engineering. He leads the Kaplan Lab in its research on biomaterials derived from biopolymer engineering and on regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
For 15 years, he directed the National Institutes of Health P41 Tissue Engineering Resource Center as a partnership with Columbia University. He holds faculty appointments in Tufts School of Medicine, the Tufts School of Dental Medicine, the Department of Chemistry, and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Kaplan has published more than 900 peer-reviewed papers and edited eight books. He is a highly cited expert in biomaterials and biotechnology and a pioneer in the use of silk as a novel option in the field of degradable medical polymers.
In 2019, a report in Nature Biotechnology recognized him as one of the top 20 translational researchers in biotechnology worldwide. He is editor-in-chief of the journal ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering. His lab is leading academic efforts in the emerging field of cellular agriculture through the use of tissue engineering.
Kaplan is also a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering. He was recently named co-chair of the first Gordon Research Conference on silk-based materials, slated for August.
Lynne Powers can be reached at lynne.powers@tufts.edu.
