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Kurt
Kasper presently holds an appointment as Faculty Fellow in the
Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. He received his B.S.
in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in
Cleveland, Ohio (1999) with an emphasis on polymeric biomaterials. From
1997-1999, he studied the effects of myxomatous tissue changes on the
mechanical properties of the mitral heart valve at the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation. He earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2006 from Rice
University. In conjunction with his graduate work, Kasper served as a
visiting researcher over the summer of 2004 at the Institute for
Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. Kasper's
doctoral research involved the application of polymeric biomaterials
toward non-viral gene delivery for bone tissue engineering. His
postdoctoral training at Rice University (2006-2008) focused upon the
application of novel biomaterials and adult-derived stem cell culture
techniques for the generation of hematopoietic bone.
Kasper’s research focuses upon the development and evaluation
of novel materials and approaches for the regeneration of orthopaedic
tissues, including bone and cartilage. He is the author of over a dozen
publications and has contributed significantly to the preparation of an
undergraduate level textbook focused on biomaterials (Biomaterials: The
Intersection of Biology and Materials Science, Pearson Prentice Hall,
2008).
Kasper is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education
(ASEE), the Tissue Engineering International and Regenerative Medicine
Society (TERMIS), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the
Society for Biomaterials (SFB), and the Controlled Release Society
(CRS). He has been recognized with various fellowships and awards,
including a Nanobiology Training Fellowship through the W.M. Keck
Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training of the Gulf Coast
Consortia (2007), the Sallyport Award for University and Community
Service (Rice University, 2006), an NSF Integrative Graduate Education
and Research Traineeship (IGERT) (2001-2003), and the Jose Ricardo
Alcala Memorial Award for Biomedical Engineering Research (1999). Apart
from his professional service, Kasper remains actively engaged with
Rice University and the greater community through various leadership
positions and volunteer projects.
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