CUSE BioInspired Biomaterials Distinguished Speaker: Dr. Craig Duvall

Craig L. Duvall, Ph.D., Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University

ROS Responsive Biomaterials for Drug Delivery and Tissue Repair

Abstract: The Duvall Advanced Therapeutics Laboratory (ATL) specializes in design and application of smart polymer-based technologies for: (1) intracellular delivery of biological drugs such as peptides and nucleic acids, (2) proximity-activated targeting of drugs to sites of inflammation and matrix remodeling, and (3) long-term, “on-demand” drug release from localized depots using materials that synergize with drug activity to promote therapeutic effects. The ATL has more recently established strengths in molecular design and chemistry of RNA therapeutics towards enabling manipulation of disease-causing targets currently considered to be “undruggable”. This talk will discuss design and chemical characterization / optimization of polymeric biomaterials with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent mechanisms of degradation. Polythioketal and polysulfide materials will be discussed, and their broad applicability in tissue repair and drug delivery demonstrated.

Biosketch: Craig L. Duvall is Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He earned his B.S. in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at University of Kentucky in 2001 before completing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University in 2007. His postdoctoral training was in Bioengineering at the University of Washington prior to starting the Duvall Advanced Therapeutics Laboratory (ATL) at Vanderbilt in 2010. Dr. Duvall was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016, Professor in 2019, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor in 2019. He has won awards such as the PECASE (Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers), National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award, Controlled Release Society Gene Delivery and Gene Editing Focus Group Young Investigator Award, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator Award, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society Fellow, and standing membership on the Gene and Drug Delivery National Institutes of Health Study Section.