Mark W. Grinstaff, PhD
William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor
Biography
Mark W. Grinstaff is a Distinguished Professor of Translational Research, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Medicine as well as the Director of the NIH T32 Program in Biomaterials and the Director of the Nanotechnology Innovation Center at Boston University.
Mark received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois under the mentorship of Professor Kenneth S. Suslick and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology with Professor Harry B. Gray. Mark’s awards include the ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award, NSF Career Award, Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Camille Dreyfus Teacher- Scholar, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, the Edward M. Kennedy Award for Health Care Innovation, and a Founding Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is an author or co-author on more than 225 peer-reviewed manuscripts, given more than 300 oral presentations, and an inventor or co- inventor on more than 200 issued patents or pending applications. His students and fellows have given more than 125 oral presentations and 350 posters at national and international meetings.
Mark’s current research activities involve the synthesis of new macromolecules and biomaterials, self-assembly chemistry, imaging contrast agents, drug delivery, and wound repair. His group pursues highly interdisciplinary research in the areas of biomedical engineering and macromolecular chemistry. The major goal in these research projects is to elucidate the underlying fundamental chemistry and engineering principles and to use that insight to direct our creative and scientific efforts. In one of their current research projects, they are designing, synthesizing, and characterizing novel dendrimers, termed “biodendrimers,” for tissue engineering and biotechnological applications. Currently, they are evaluating these novel biomaterials for the repair of corneal lacerations, for the delivery of anti-cancer drugs, for the delivery of DNA, and as temporary biodegradable scaffolds for cartilage repair. In a second project, they are creating novel polymeric coatings termed “interfacial biomaterials” that control biology on plastic, metal, and ceramic surfaces. In a third project, they are designing new polymeric films and nanoparticles loaded with anticancer drugs for the prevention of recurrent cancer after surgical resection.
Mark is a co-founder of several companies that are commercializing his ideas, and he has several products being sold and used in the clinic.
Other Positions
- Professor, Chemistry, Boston University College of Arts and Sciences
- Director, Nanotechnology Innovation Center (BUnano), Boston University
- Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Boston University College of Engineering
- Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine, Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Associate Director for Engineering & Sciences, BU-BMC Cancer Center, Boston University
- Member, Pulmonary Center, Boston University
- Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
- Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
- Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Education
- University of Illinois, PhD
- Occidental College, AB
Publications
- Published on 2/8/2025
Wang T, Maldonado CC, Huang BL, Budbazar E, Martin A, Layne MD, Murphy-Ullrich JE, Grinstaff MW, Albro MB. A Bio-inspired Latent TGF-ß Conjugated Scaffold Improves Neocartilage Development. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 08. PMID: 39975171.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/3/2025
Petcherski A, Tingley BM, Martin A, Adams S, Brownstein AJ, Steinberg RA, Shabane B, Ngo J, Osto C, Garcia G, Veliova M, Arumugaswami V, Colby AH, Shirihai OS, Grinstaff MW. Endolysosome-targeted nanoparticle delivery of antiviral therapy for coronavirus infections. Life Sci Alliance. 2025 Apr; 8(4). PMID: 39900438.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/1/2025
Luedke LK, Seabaugh KA, Cooper BG, Snyder BD, Wimmer MA, McIlwraith CW, Barrett MF, Kawcak CE, Grinstaff MW, Goodrich LR. A Safety and Efficacy Study of a Synthetic Biolubricant in an Equine Model of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis. Animals (Basel). 2025 Feb 01; 15(3). PMID: 39943174.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/27/2025
Al Subeh ZY, Pierre HC, Pearce CJ, Grinstaff MW, Colby AH, Liu K, Oberlies NH. Verticillin A-Loaded Surgical Buttresses Prevent Local Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence in a Murine Model. Mol Pharm. 2025 Mar 03; 22(3):1220-1229. PMID: 39868439.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/22/2025
Kazemi M, Yu C, Mehrotra DR, Ersland EE, Zbyn S, Korna F, Staffa SJ, Engiles JB, Li X, Schaer TP, Grinstaff MW, Bergholt MS, Snyder BD, Albro MB. Raman spectroscopic probe provides optical biomarkers of cartilage composition predictive of tissue function. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2025 Jan 22. PMID: 39855292.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/2/2024
Paakkari P, Inkinen SI, Mohammadi A, Nieminen MT, Joenathan A, Grinstaff MW, Töyräs J, Mäkelä JTA, Honkanen JTJ. Photon-counting in dual-contrast-enhanced computed tomography: a proof-of-concept quantitative biomechanical assessment of articular cartilage. Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 02; 14(1):29956. PMID: 39622931.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/1/2024
Xie L, Wu Q, Li K, Khan MAS, Zhang A, Sinha B, Li S, Chang SL, Brody DL, Grinstaff MW, Zhou S, Alterovitz G, Liu P, Wang X. Tryptophan Metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease with the Involvement of Microglia and Astrocyte Crosstalk and Gut-Brain Axis. Aging Dis. 2024 Oct 01; 15(5):2168-2190. PMID: 38916729.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/18/2024
El-Arid S, Lenihan JM, Beeler AB, Grinstaff MW. Truxinates and truxillates: building blocks for architecturally complex polymers and advanced materials. Polym Chem. 2024 Oct 08; 15(39):3935-3953. PMID: 39310896.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/19/2024
Sabatelle RC, Geller A, Li S, Van Heest A, Sachdeva UM, Bressler E, Korunes-Miller J, Tfayli B, Tal-Mason A, Kharroubi H, Colson YL, Grinstaff MW. Synthesis of Amphiphilic Amino Poly-Amido-Saccharide and Poly(lactic) Acid Block Copolymers and Fabrication of Paclitaxel-Loaded Mucoadhesive Nanoparticles. Bioconjug Chem. 2024 Sep 18; 35(9):1429-1440. PMID: 39159059.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/19/2024
Martin A, Zhang S, Williamson A, Tingley B, Pickus M, Zurakowski D, Nia HT, Shirihai O, Han X, Grinstaff MW. Dispersion indices for universal quantification of fluorescently-labelled subcellular structure spatial distributions. bioRxiv. 2024 Aug 19. PMID: 39229224.
Read at: PubMed
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