Schmidt, Christine E. Ph.D.
BF Goodrich Endowed Professor
| Office: | CPE 4.418 | Mailing Address: |
| Phone: | 512-471-1690 | The University of Texas at Austin |
| Fax: | 512-471-7060 | Department of Chemical Engineering |
| Email: | schmidt@che.utexas.edu | 200 E Dean Keeton St. |
| UT Mail: | C0400 | Austin, TX 78712-1589 |
Research Areas: Advanced Materials, Polymers & Nanotechnology and Biotechnology
Research Group Website
Research Presentation for Prospective Graduate Students
Educational Qualifications
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1995)
NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow, M.I.T. (1994-1996)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (1988)
Focus
Cellular and tissue engineering
Research
Damage to spinal cord and peripheral nerve tissue can have a devastating impact on the quality of life for individuals suffering from nerve injuries. Our research is focused on analyzing and designing biomaterials that can interface with neurons and specifically stimulate and guide nerves to regenerate. We are taking a unique approach to this problem – we are using electrically conducting polymers and naturally-derived materials (e.g., hyaluronic acid-based biomaterials, chemically processed nerve tissue) to create therapies that can electrically, chemically, biologically and mechanically trigger neurons, at both the macroscopic and nanometer-scales, to re-grow their damaged axons. Few engineers are working on the biological problem of neural regeneration using such a holistic approach to understand and utilize such a broad range of signals (electrical, chemical, biological, mechanical) for stimulating nerve regeneration and for neural interfacing.
Awards & Honors
- Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), 2010.
- American Competiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellow from the National Science Foundation , 2010-2012.
- Protégé, The 7th Annual Conference of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (TAMEST), attendance based on nomination by National Academy (NAE) Member, San Antonio, TX, January 2010.
- Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, 2009
- Chairmen’s Distinguished Life Sciences Award, Sponsored by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington DC, June 9, 2008.
- Protégé, The 5th Annual Conference of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (TAMEST), attendance based on nomination by National Academy (NAE) Member, Houston, TX, January 10-11, 2008.
- Whitaker Foundation Academic Leadership Program, Selected Participant, Leesburg, VA, February 27-April 2, 2003.
- El Paso Energy Foundation Faculty Award, 2002.
- College of Engineering Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor, 2000.
- James W. Vick Texas Excellence Award for Academic Advising, 1999.
- Whitaker Young Investigator Award, 1998.
- Departmental Teaching Award, 1998.
- Haliburton/Brown and Root Young Faculty Award, 1998.
- NSF CAREER Award, 1997.
- Editorial Boards: Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Journal of Biomaterials Science – Polymer Edition, International Journal of Nanomedicine, Polymers, Nanomedicine.
Selected Publications
- Seidlits, S.K., Z.Z. Khaing, R.R. Petersen, J.D. Nickels, J.D. Vanscoy, J.B. Shear, C.E. Schmidt (2010). The effect of hyaluronic acid hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties on the differentiation of neural progenitor cells. Biomaterials. 31: 3930 – 3940.
- Suri, S., C.E. Schmidt (2010). Interpenetrating Polymer Network Hydrogels of Hyaluronic acid and Collagen with Encapsulated Schwann Cells for Neural Tissue Engineering. Tissue Engineering.16(5): 1703-1716.
- Seidlits, S.K., C.E. Schmidt, J.B. Shear (2009). High-Resolution Patterning of Hydrogels in Three Dimensions using Direct-Write Photofabrication for Cell Guidance. Advanced Functional Materials. 19:3543-3551.
- Lee, J.Y., C. Bashur, A. Goldstein, C.E. Schmidt (2009). Polypyrrole-Coated Electrospun PLGA Nanofibers for Neural Tissue Applications. Biomaterials. 30(26):4325-35.
- Guimard, N.K., J.L. Sessler, C.E. Schmidt, (2009). Towards a Biocompatible, Biodegradable Copolymer Incorporating Electroactive Oligothiophene Units. Macromolecules. 42: 502-511.