Kristi S. Anseth (born 1969) is the Tisone Distinguished Professor of

Chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and

Biological Engineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

, an Associate Professor of

Surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

, and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

. Her main research interests are the design of synthetic

biomaterials A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose – either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one. The corresponding f ...

using

hydrogels A hydrogel is a biphasic material, a mixture of porous and permeable solids and at least 10% of water or other interstitial fluid. The solid phase is a water insoluble three dimensional network of polymers, having absorbed a large amount of ...

tissue engineering Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of cells, engineering, materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintain, improve, or replace different types of biolo ...

, and

regenerative medicine Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...

. Anseth was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2009 for pioneering the rational design of biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biosensing applications.

Early life and education

Kristi Anseth grew up in

Williston, North Dakota Williston is a city in and the county seat of Williams County, North Dakota, United States. The 2020 census gave its population as 29,160, making Williston the sixth-most populous city in North Dakota. The city's population nearly doubled betwe ...

. She played on both the volleyball and basketball teams at the University of North Dakota-Williston, earning the honor of Academic All-American in her second year. Kristi Anseth transferred to

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

where she began her research career as an undergraduate student in the lab of Nicholas A. Peppas, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1992. She obtained her PhD in 1994, working under

Christopher N. Bowman Christopher N. Bowman (born March 9, 1967) is an American chemical engineer, and the James and Catherine Patten Endowed Chair at University of Colorado Boulder. He earned a bachelor's degree and doctorate from Purdue University. Bowman began teach ...

, himself a former graduate student of Nicholas Peppas, at the University of Colorado.

Career

After post-doctoral work with

Robert Langer Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng (born August 29, 1948) is an American biotechnologist, businessman, chemical engineer, chemist, and inventor. He is one of the nine Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was fo ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and

Thomas Cech Thomas Robert Cech (born 8 December 1947) is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of R ...

, Anseth became an assistant professor at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1996. She currently leads the Anseth Research Group as the Tisone Distinguished Professor of

and

. She serves on Purdue's College of Engineering Advisory Council. Anseth is working at the intersection of

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, studying natural and synthetic

and using

to create an

extracellular matrix In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix (ICM), is a network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide structural and bio ...

to support three-dimensional cell enculturation. Anseth is developing photopolymers that will change from soft to hard in response to cues such as

ultraviolet light Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of th ...

, and then degrade predictably over time. Such materials could be used to for orthopedic repairs, functioning as a replacement for damaged areas of bone and then slowly being replaced by regrowth of natural material as the body heals. Her pioneering approach applies

photopolymerization In polymer chemistry, polymerization (American English), or polymerisation (British English), is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many form ...

and

photodegradation Photodegradation is the alteration of materials by light. Commonly, the term is used loosely to refer to the combined action of sunlight and air, which cause oxidation and hydrolysis. Often photodegradation is intentionally avoided, since it dest ...

to enable precise control in space and time of hydrogels' structure and composition. This research involves fundamental investigations into the molecular dynamics of processes at the cell-biomaterial interface. Anseth is also working on the

of biomaterials for the replacement of cartilage and heart valves. By combining photopolymers and lab-grown cartilage her lab is creating living replacements for worn-out joints. The problem is more difficult than replacing bone because the cartilage in joints, unlike bone, does not have the ability to regrow. She has published more than 250 papers and filed for at least 18 patents. She has been involved in editorial activities of journals including ''

Biomacromolecules ''Biomacromolecules'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 2000 by the American Chemical Society. It is abstracted and indexed in Chemical Abstracts Service, Scopus, EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Science Citation Index Expanded. The cur ...

'', ''Journal of Biomedical Materials Research — Part A'', '' Acta Biomaterialia'', ''

Progress in Materials Science ''Progress in Materials Science'' is a journal publishing review articles covering most areas of materials science, published by the Pergamon imprint of Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, ...

'', ''

Biotechnology and Bioengineering ''Biotechnology and Bioengineering'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering biochemical engineering that was established in 1959. In 2009, the BioMedical & Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Association listed ''Biotec ...

'' and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. In September 2014, she was elected the Vice President/President-Elect of the

Materials Research Society The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 13,000 materials researchers from academi ...

(MRS), serving as Vice President in 2015 and President in 2016.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Anseth was named to the

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Technology Review ''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "''The''" in its name on April 23, 1998, under then pu ...

TR100 The Innovators Under 35 is a peer-reviewed annual award and listicle published by ''MIT Technology Review'' magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35. at ''Technology Review'' with lists of winners at technologyreview.com ...

as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35. Kristi Anseth was the first engineer, male or female, to be selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. At age 40, she was the youngest member ever to be elected to both the

(2009) and the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

(2009). In 2013, she was also elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. She shares the distinction of being a member of all three with chemical engineers Cato Laurencin, Robert S. Langer, Nicholas A. Peppas,

Frances Arnold Frances Hamilton Arnold (born July 25, 1956) is an American chemical engineer and Nobel Laureate. She is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). I ...

, and Rakesh K. Jain. As of 2015, she was also named to the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

. She was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 2019. Other awards and honors include: * 2024,

VinFuture Prize The VinFuture Prize is an international award established in Vietnam in 2020 to recognize achievements in science and technology. It is presented annually by the VinFuture Foundation. According to the Foundation, the prize aims to support resear ...

, Special Prize for Women Innovators, For Advancement in Design of Polymeric Biomaterials and Methods for Biomedical Applications * 2020, L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science * 2016, Honorary Doctorate, Purdue University, College of Engineering * 2015, Bayer Distinguished Lectureship,

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

* 2015, Bonfils-Stanton Awards, Science and Medicine honoree * 2013, James E. Bailey Award, Society for Biological Engineering * 2012,

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the ...

* 2012, Distinguished Engineering Alumni award, Purdue University * 2009, Fellow of the

* 2008, Clemson Award for Basic Research from the Society for Biomaterials * 2005, Elizabeth Gee Award, University of Colorado * 2004, Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science Foundation * 2001, Outstanding Young Investigator Award,

References

External links

Anseth Research Group
University of Colorado Boulder
Colorado Women's Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anseth, Kristi Living people 21st-century American chemists Howard Hughes Medical Investigators 1969 births Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Members of the National Academy of Medicine Place of birth missing (living people) People from Williston, North Dakota Purdue University College of Engineering alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Scientists from North Dakota L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates