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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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