Tissue Engineering: Current Status and Challenges

Dr. Chandra P. Sharma is an Adjunct Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, and Hon. Emeritus Professor, College of Biomedical Engineering & Applied Sciences, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu, Nepal. Dr. Sharma is a Solid-State Physicist from IIT Delhi and received his training in Biomaterials area in the University of Utah with Prof. D.J. Lyman as a graduate student and in the University of Liverpool, England with Prof. D.F. Williams as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. Dr. Sharma has been awarded FBSE (Fellow Biomaterials Science & Engineering) by The International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science & Engineering (IUS-BSE) in 2008 and FBAO (Fellow Biomaterials and Artificial Organs) by Society for Biomaterials & Artificial Organs (India) (SBAOI) in 2011 and shares Whitaker and National Science Foundation Award – International Society for Artificial Organs (ISAO) USA, invited member ACS (2015-2018).

Dr. Thomas Chandy is a biomaterial expert with unique combination of medical device and technical knowledge. He has strong academic credentials in human physiology and bio-compatible materials with test methods and model development. Dr. Chandy has published over 80 scientific papers in international Journals and 3 patents in the medical device and drug delivery area. Reviewer to 7+ international journals of repute in Drug delivery and Biomedical Research. Twenty-Five years of experience as a project lead in medical device and technology development. Strong experience with broad range of medical products including polymeric and tissue-based implantable, site specific drug delivery, medical diagnostics and combination devices. Product/process development skills with demonstrated success from concept through commercialization involving selection of materials, characterization, biological evaluation of materials, bench, feasibility tests and pre-clinical (animal) testing.

Dr. Vinoy Thomas is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with secondary appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Physics, and Environmental Science & Health. He's also an Associate Scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration and the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Following his PhD in Biomaterials & Technology, he completed postdoctoral training at Friedrich-Schiller University, Germany, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), USA. His research focuses on biomaterials processing–property relationships and nanomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Dr. Thomas has published over 120 articles and co-edited two books on tissue engineering and AI in regenerative medicine. He serves as Associate Editor of Heliyon (Engineering) and has received multiple honors, including FBAO, FAAS, and the IAAM Scientist Medal. He currently leads several professional organizations in biomaterials and materials science.

Dr. Finosh Thankam is an assistant professor and researcher in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, in the Department of Translational Research, at the Western University of Health Sciences, in Pomona, CA. His undergraduate studies were in Biochemistry, before completing his post-graduate degree in Medical Biochemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, in India. As a research fellow he was exposed to the new world of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and published many original articles on various aspects of cardiac tissue engineering. His current research interests include investigating the pathogenesis of various musculoskeletal disorders, and cardiovascular diseases, and applying the knowledge and principles of tissue engineering to develop artificial tissue constructs to improve the care for the sufferers.