Announcing the 2025 Society Award Recipients!
Society For Biomaterials Announces its 2025 Award Recipients
SFB’s prestigious industry awards recognize outstanding achievement and
contributions to the biomaterials field.
February 12, 2025, Mt. Laurel, NJ — The Society For Biomaterials (SFB), a multidisciplinary society of academic, healthcare, governmental and business professionals who are dedicated to promoting advancements in all aspects of biomaterials science, education, and professional standards to enhance human health and quality of life, recently announced its slate of 2025 award recipients.
The Society For Biomaterials is Proud to Present their 2025 Award Winners:
FOUNDERS AWARD:
Nicholas P. Ziats, PhD, Case Western Reserve University
This is awarded to an individual who has made a long-term, landmark contribution to the biomaterials discipline.
“It is important to recognize the breadth of Nick’s work covering many disciplines including cell biology, immunology, cancer, heart disease, neural disease and wound healing and how his studies, along with his many colleagues and collaborators (including myself), have impacted the field of biomaterials at the local, regional, national and international levels. I want to especially highlight that his service to the Society is exemplary and his contributions to the biomaterial’s community through service to national and local groups has been outstanding.”
—James M. Anderson, MD, PhD, Case Western Reserve University
C. WILLIAM HALL AWARD:
Jennifer E. Woodell-May, PhD, Zimmer Biomet
This award honors an industry and government member of the Society For Biomaterials who has made a significant contribution to the Society and has an outstanding record in establishing, developing, maintaining and promoting the objectives and goals of SFB.
“The quality and significance of Dr. Woodell-May‘s impact to the field of biomaterials science and engineering and its professional society, SFB, is unique and truly exemplary. She embodies the spirit of the C. William Hall Award through unparalleled contributions, leadership, and a legacy that will continue to influence the field of biomaterials as the pillar for the medical device industry for years to come.”
—Martine LaBerge, PhD, Clemson University
SOCIETY FOR BIOMATERIALS AWARD FOR SERVICE:
Shelly E. Sakiyama-Elbert, PhD, University of Washington
This award honors significant service to the Society For Biomaterials in establishing, developing, maintaining and promoting its objectives and goals.
“Dr. Sakiyama-Elbert has provided exemplary service to SFB for over 20 years, continuously elevating our community through numerous high-impact roles. She has dedicated countless hours to service and advocacy, consistently bridging academia, industry, and professional organizations with remarkable effectiveness and vision. She has served as SFB President, Council Member, and chair of multiple committees, demonstrating steadfast dedication to the society’s success and strategic growth.”
—Ankur Singh, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT AWARD:
Ashutosh Chilkoti, PhD, Duke University
This award recognizes an individual’s (or a team’s) successful application of basic and applied biomaterials research in the development of a novel medical product or technology that significantly benefits the health and well-being of medical and surgical patients.
“Chilkoti has pioneered the development of advanced, non-fouling surface coatings based on surface-initiated polymerization and applied them to protein microarrays. He has spun off these surfaces into a company aimed at commercialization and new diagnostic devices. He has also developed simple methods to micro- and nano-pattern proteins and DNA on surfaces. Finally, he has developed label-free plasmonic biosensors. He may hold the “world effectiveness record” for low amounts of protein on protein-resistant surfaces. A driver in Dr. Chilkoti’s work is getting his ideas and developments to patients through commercialization. He is the founder of five start-up companies, one of which went public, and two that have been acquired. He has co-authored over 360 publications that have almost 49,000 citations to date and has an h-index of 116. He has 40 patents awarded and more than 60 applications pending.”
—Buddy Ratner, PhD, University of Washington
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION AWARD:
BME UNITE Future Faculty Program
This award recognizes individuals or organizations promoting anti-racism and or creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for historically excluded groups in the STEM disciplines, especially in the field of biomaterials.
“The program serves any postdoctoral fellow with historically underrepresented identity who is interested in pursuing a faculty position within biomedical engineering or bioengineering. Over the course of the program, the program has supported and amplified numerous individuals with Black/African American, LatinX/Hispanic, queer, and disabled identities to ensure these individuals make a successful transition from postdoctoral fellow to faculty member.”
—Kelly R. Stevens, PhD, University of Washington
CLEMSON AWARD FOR APPLIED RESEARCH:
Ke Cheng, PhD, Columbia University
This is awarded to an individual whose accomplishments include significant utilization or application of basic knowledge in science to achieve a specific goal in the field of biomaterials.
“Dr. Cheng is an accomplished innovator, holding 24 U.S. patents and 18 foreign patents, with 11 of these patents licensed to five biotech companies. His groundbreaking technologies have led to four products/technologies entering clinical trials. He is the co-founder of Xsome Biotech, Xollent Biotech, and BreStem Therapeutics, and licensees of his inventions include Capricor Therapeutics and Selsym Biotech. Dr. Cheng has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals, including The Lancet, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, Nature Biomedical Engineering, and Science Translational Medicine. He has also been recognized as one of Clarivate’s "Highly Cited Researchers."”
— Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD, Columbia University
CLEMSON AWARD FOR BASIC RESEARCH:
Kara Spiller, PhD, Drexel University
This is awarded to an individual who has made an original contribution to the basic knowledge and understanding of the interaction between materials and tissue.
“One growing area of research that Dr. Spiller started is the sequential delivery of different immunomodulatory cytokines to harness sequential and synergistic behavior of infiltrating macrophages. Her landmark paper introducing this idea was published in 2015 has now been cited more than 700 times and a recent google search for “sequential delivery of immunomodulatory cytokines” since 2015 yielded 460 results. Another advance by her lab is the proof-of-concept that biomarkers based on macrophage phenotype can be used to predict healing outcome of human diabetic foot ulcers, a major unmet clinical need. These biomarkers can be used to guide physicians in their selection of the more than 100 biomaterials that are currently on the market for diabetic wound healing. Yet another example of the impact of the basic research coming from her lab is the demonstration that macrophages can be loaded with drug-releasing micro- or nanoparticles to control their phenotype in situ. This is a completely novel approach to macrophage cell therapy with wide ranging applications from cancer to autoimmune disease and regenerative medicine”
—Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez, PhD, University of Texas at Austin
CLEMSON AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LITERATURE:
Jeremy L. Gilbert, PhD, Clemson University
This is awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the literature on the science or technology of biomaterials.
“Dr. Gilbert has led the field in advancing fundamental knowledge related to surface degradation mechanisms of passive oxide film covered alloys, publishing widely in both the biomaterials literature and the corrosion and tribology literature. His scholarship portfolio includes 211 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 18 book chapters, and 330 conference proceedings. His work has been cited more than 13,400 times according to Google Scholar with a H-index of 58. Overall, Dr. Gilbert has made seminal contributions to the study of metallic biomaterials, their application in orthopedics, the interaction of metallic biomaterials with the biological environment, cell-metal surface interactions, degradation mechanisms (corrosion and tribocorrosion) in metallic biomaterials, the study of electrochemical control of metallic biomaterials for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes including cancer therapy and infection control.”
—Martine LaBerge, PhD, Clemson University
MID-CAREER AWARD:
Cole A. DeForest, PhD, University of Washington
This award recognizes an individual SFB member who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in and / or contributions to the field of biomaterials research.
“Cole is creating the biomaterials of the future. His groundbreaking research integrates engineered biomaterials design with materials science, synthetic chemistry, protein engineering, and cell biology to create and exploit next-generation biomaterials addressing health-related problems. His biomaterials are, in fact, “exceptionally smart biomaterials.” And, in addition to research, Cole has been passionate in biomaterials education and promotion in academia and to the general public.”
—Buddy Ratner, PhD, University of Washington
YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD:
Brian Aguado, PhD, University of California San Diego
This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of biomaterials research.
“Dr. Aguado has interdisciplinary research interests aimed to resolve sex-based health disparities using biomaterials tools to understand sex differences in biology. Dr. Aguado uses his interdisciplinary training in polymer chemistry, sex chromosome biology, and bioinformatics to solve pressing questions in sex-specific biology and precision medicine for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Aguado seeks to address disparities that impact vulnerable populations experiencing cardiovascular disease both through his mentorship and research. Specifically, Dr. Aguado uses biorthogonal chemistry to engineer hydrogelbased cell culture systems that recapitulate the extracellular matrix for a wide array of applications.”
—Karen Christman, PhD, University of California San Diego
STUDENT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH | PhD CATEGORY
Nghia Le Ba Thai, Syracuse University
This is awarded to graduate and/or PhD students who have shown outstanding achievement in biomaterials research.
“He has been highly productive, with 1 published first-author paper as a Ph.D. student related to the chitosan-based materials. After completing that work, Nghia independently refined his material system to improve degradability and cell interactions, resulting in his 2nd first-author publication as a Ph.D. student, which has been submitted as part of this nomination. This work provides a unique approach to fabricate cell-laden hydrogel foams with consistent cell density throughout large hydrogel volumes. Due to the porous nature of the foams, encapsulated cells have high viability over long culture time frames. Nghia designed the system for use in chronic wound healing, but it could be broadly employed in any application wherein cell delivery within a scaffold is required, including Crohn’s fistulas or cartilage replacement.”
—Mary Beth Browning Monore, PhD, Syracuse University
C. WILLIAM HALL – UNDERGRADUATE TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
Benjamin Nachod, University of Pennsylvania
This award honors the memory of the Society's first president, Dr. C. William Hall. This student scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior undergraduate pursuing a bachelor's degree in bioengineering or a related discipline.
CATO T. LAURENCIN, MD, PHD - UNDERGRADUATE TRAVEL FELLOWSHIP
Milani Needam, North Carolina A&T State University
Named in honor of a distinguished member of the Society For Biomaterials, Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD, the travel fellowship will support undergraduate students of underrepresented minorities in the field of biomaterials to attend the 2025 Annual Meeting & Exposition.
About the Society For Biomaterials:
The Society for Biomaterials is a professional society that promotes advances in biomedical materials research and development by encouragement of cooperative educational programs, clinical applications, and professional standards in the biomaterials field. Biomaterials scientists and engineers study cells, their components, complex tissues and organs and their interactions with natural and synthetic materials and implanted prosthetic devices, as well as develop and characterize the materials used to measure, restore, and improve physiologic function, and enhance survival and quality of life. One of the defining aspects of SFB is its commitment to bridging the gap between academic research and its application within an industry setting to advance the biomaterials field and lead to innovations in research, patient care and policy.
For more information, please visit: biomaterials.org.