Todd C. McDevitt, PhD, has been awarded the 2010 Young Investigator Award from the Society of Biomaterials (SFB).  This marks the fourth time in the past seven years that a Georgia Tech engineering faculty member has received this prestigious award:  Niren Murthy (BME) 2008, Julia Babensee (BME), 2005, and Andrés García (ME), 2004.  McDevitt is an Assistant Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Laboratory for the Engineering of Stem Cell Technologies

McDevitt’s research is centered on the engineering of stem cell technologies and looks at the development and application of engineering principles that translate the potential of stem cells into viable regenerative therapies and in vitro diagnostics.  Biomaterials-based approaches are used to engineer the microenvironment of stem cells to improve the efficiency and homogeneity of directed stem cell differentiation strategies.

Future Stem Cell Engineering Center

In addition to the being named the 2010 Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator, McDevitt was appointed  a Petit Faculty Fellow in the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience in September 2009 and named the Director of the new Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech.  The new center will bring together expertise from different engineering disciplines to address key technical challenges that currently limit the translation of stem cells and new technologies that will enhance basic stem cell research. 

SFB Young Investigator Award

The SFB Young Investigator Award recognizes an individual each year who has demonstrated outstanding achievements and leadership in the field of biomaterials research.  McDevitt will receive the award at the 2010 Annual Meeting to be held in Seattle, WA, next April.