Thomas J Webster

Title : A revolution or surrender: The success and failures of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Abstract:

In the 1990s, tissue engineering promised to change healthcare forever. Images on the cover of journals showed humans with almost every organ regenerated using tissue engineering approaches. From bone to skin to the brain to the heart, tissue engineering was destined to change the world. However, almost 30 years later, while there have been some successes in tissue engineering clinically, we are still waiting for the tissue engineering revolution. This invited talk will explore why it has been so difficult to translate advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine into real commercial products. It will highlight one key obstacle in that most of these innovations have come out of Universities, which do not have a good track record for commercialization. At the same time, industry has been slow to embrace tissue engineering, viewing it as largely an academic exercise. It will also highlight why regulatory agencies have not embraced tissue engineering including issues with biodegradable materials, the use of cells and pharmaceuticals in combined tissue engineering products, and so much more. Lastly, the presentation will end with some advice on how tissue engineering and regenerative medicine can truly revolutionize medicine.

Audience Take Away:

• The promise of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
• Why tissue engineering has not revolutionized medicine like promised.
• Problems starting companies out of Universities.     

Biography:

Thomas J. Webster’s (H index: 113; Google Scholar) degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995; USA) and in biomedical engineering from RPI (Ph.D., 2000; USA). He has served as a professor at Purdue (2000-2005), Brown (2005-2012), and Northeastern (2012-2021; serving as Chemical Engineering Department Chair from 2012 - 2019) Universities and has formed over a dozen companies who have numerous FDA approved medical products currently improving human health.  He is currently helping those companies and serves as a professor at Hebei University of Technology, Saveetha University, Vellore Institute of Technology, UFPI, and others.  Dr. Webster has numerous awards including: 2020, World Top 2% Scientist by Citations (PLOS); 2020, SCOPUS Highly Cited Research (Top 1% Materials Science and Mixed Fields); 2021, Clarivate Top 0.1% Most Influential Researchers (Pharmacology and Toxicology); 2022, Best Materials Science Scientist by Citations (Research.com); and is a fellow of over 8 societies.