Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation

2008 Life Sciences Awards

2008 Life Sciences Chairmen's Distinguished Award

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are honored to have awarded the achievements of the 2008 $25,000 Life Sciences Chairmen's Distinguished Award Columbus Scholar:

Christine E. Schmidt, Ph.D.

Laurence E. McMakin Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Schmidt is conducting research in neural cell and tissue engineering, a subfield within bioengineering. Dr. Schmidt has invented a chemical process to modify human nerve tissue so it may be utilized for patients with nerve damage. In particular, she works on engineering advanced biomaterials and therapeutic devices to stimulate damaged peripheral and spinal neurons to regenerate to promote healing of damaged nerve tissue due to traumatic injuries, cancer and other diseases.

As one of her advocates stated, �Few engineers are working on the problem of neural regeneration (much of the research is strictly biological), and there are not other researchers utilizing a holistic approach to understand and stylize such a broad range of signals (electrical, chemical, biological, mechanical) for stimulating nerve regeneration.�

Currently, there is no adequate off-the-shelf option for nerve injuries suffered by over 10,000 people annually. One of Dr. Schmidt�s technologies was licensed to AxoGen Inc., which initiated clinical trials last year. To date, over 100 of AxoGen�s AVANCE nerve grafts have been successfully implanted into patients with peripheral nerve injuries. She is also developing other advanced biomaterials, based on hyaluronic acid nature biopolymers and synthetic electrically conducting polymers, for both peripheral and spinal cord nerve regeneration.

Dr. Schmidt is world-known for her expertise and contributions in neural engineering. She is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences and workshops and has written extensively on the subject in the highest quality of journals. She currently serves on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, International Journal of Nanomedicine, and the Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Schmidt received a B.S. in chemical engineering from UT Austin and a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was an NIH postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT for 18 months, during which time she collaborated with surgeons at Harvard Medical School in the area of nerve regeneration.

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation is honored to have had the assistance of the following distinguished individuals serving on the 2008 Life Sciences Awards Evaluation Committee:

Russel A. Bantham, Esquire
Dr. Diane Bunce
Department of Chemistry
The Catholic University of America
Dr. Patrick Clemins
Division of Biological Infrastructure
National Science Foundation
Dr. Edward Eisenstein
Director & Associate Professor
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
Dr. Brent Miller
Directorate for Biosciences
National Science Foundation
Dr. Venigalla Rao
Department of Biology
The Catholic University of America
Dr. Reid Schwebach
Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings
National Science Foundation
Dr. Phillip A. Singerman
Senior Vice President
B&D Consulting
Dr. John Trant
Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute