Craig L. Duvall
Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Overview:
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. These delivery systems are designed to improve the therapeutic benefit and safety of existing drugs and/or to serve as enabling technologies for manipulation of intracellular targets currently considered to be “undruggable”. To achieve optimal, finely-tuned properties for these varied biomedical applications, we develop polymers that respond to one or more environmental stimuli including pH, matrix metalloproteinases, reactive oxygen species, and temperature. The disease applications of our polymeric biomaterial and drug delivery technologies are broad, including increasing longevity and function of transplanted vascular grafts and cell-based therapies, promoting healing of chronic skin wounds, and developing improved breast cancer drugs.Awards:
• Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2018
• Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow, 2018
• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2017
• China-America Frontiers of Engineering NAE Symposium Participant, 2017
• Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) CMBE Young Innovator Award, 2016
• Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award, 2015
• NSF CAREER Award, 2014