Focus Areas: Novel platforms for the delivery of molecules and cells
Professor Horst von Recum received undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and in Biochemisty from Rice University. From there, he attended the University of Utah, where he obtained his PhD in Bioengineering. As such, he has seen how the separate disciplines of biology and engineering are brought together uniquely in the education of a biomedical engineer. Professor von Recum has taught this course continuously since 2005, and there have been many refinements and updates to the curriculum as the field has evolved. The research in his laboratory focuses on novel platforms for the delivery of molecules and cells. In the molecular delivery projects, they are examining novel affinity-based systems for the delivery of therapeutic agents for HIV therapies, wound dressings, ocular disease, localized chemotherapy, and other applications. This allows for control of delivery to better match the physiological need of the drug. The cellular delivery projects are examined using directed differentiation to produce tissue-engineered constructs from stem cell sources. Better control of differentiation and selection will allow for the rapid expansion of high-purity differentiated cells suitable for tissue engineering, toxicology, and pharmacology, as well as cellular modeling, without the need for isolating cells from primary sources.