UW Bioengineering will host the Biomaterials Day event on April 11.
This student-led event, funded in part by a $5,000 grant from the Society for Biomaterials, features lead speaker Cato Laurencin, University Professor at the University of Connecticut, where he is also director of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine and former dean of the School of Medicine. Biomaterials Day will also feature invited speakers from the greater Pacific Northwest region. Additional sponsors to date include the UW Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering and School of Medicine.
This event in part recognizes the University of Washington’s history of excellence and innovation in the field of biomaterials. The university’s work in this area started in 1970 with the arrival of Prof. Allan S. Hoffman to the Department of Chemical Engineering and the former Center for Bioengineering (now Professor Emeritus). Dr. Hoffman nucleated a research and education program that has taken the University of Washington to recognition as one of the leading institutions in the world in biomaterials. The UW now conducts substantial biomaterials research in the Department of Bioengineering and other departments across the College of Engineering and the School of Medicine.