News Story

Fisher Named Outstanding Graduate Alumnus

Assistant Professor John Fisher.

Fischell Department of Bioengineering Assistant Professor John Fisher will receive Rice University's Department of Bioengineering's 2007 Outstanding Graduate Alumnus at a ceremony to be held April 12 in Houston, Texas.

As part of Rice University's Department of Bioengineering's 10th Anniversary Celebration, three new annual awards will be given to recognize the accomplishments of its undergraduate and graduate alumni. Nominations were submitted by fellow alumni and bioengineering faculty. Award recipients were selected based on evidence of excellence in research, teaching, service, or significant contributions to bioengineering industry, academia, or society.

In 2002, Fisher was among the first class of graduate students to receive their doctoral degree in the Bioengineering Graduate Program at Rice. Prior to that, graduate students performing research in bioengineering were awarded degrees in Chemical Engineering or Electrical and Computer Engineering, depending on their research area and affiliation of their advisor.

Fisher completed his graduate studies in the laboratory of Antonios G. Mikos, Rice's John W. Cox Professor of Bioengineering, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and director of Rice's Center of Tissue Engineering. From 2002-2003, Fisher was a postdoctoral fellow under the direction of Dr. A. Hari Reddi in the Center for Tissue Regeneration and Repair at University of California Davis Medical Center. Both his graduate experience at Rice and his postdoctoral training in a medical institution have influenced his current research program in the Biomaterials Laboratory at the University of Maryland.

"Dr. Fisher is one of the most dynamic, focused, and highly motivated assistant professors I have known." said Mikos, "He is one of the few biomaterialists who has successfully integrated materials science and engineering with molecular cell biology and implantology."

The Fisher group's research focus is on the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering applications, through polymer science, biomaterials science, and cell biology. Major research areas include the design of biomaterials for the delivery of therapeutics and as scaffolds for orthopedic tissue engineering applications; and the study of the interaction between biomaterials and tissues. Several projects are conducted in collaboration with oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the UMD Medical System.

In a relatively short time, Fisher has already been recognized for his research. He is the recipient of a NSF CAREER Award (2005), the Arthritis Foundation's Arthritis Investigator Award (2006), and the University of Maryland's Invention of the Year Award for Life Sciences (2006). He was also selected as the tissue engineering editor for the third edition of The Biomedical Engineering Handbook (CRC, 2006). Currently, he administers the Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) Program at UMD, and serves as the reviews editor of Tissue Engineering.

Learn more about Dr. Fisher:

Visit the Biomaterials Laboratory website »
Faculty Profile »
So You Want To Be A Professor: Interview with Assistant Professor John Fisher »

This story was adapted from material provided courtesy of Veronique V. Tran, Ph.D., Executive Director of Departmental Advancement, Bioengineering Department, Rice University.

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March 13, 2007