Cole DeForest has been awarded the DSM Polymer Technology Award 2011 for his PhD research in the field of responsive polymer hydrogels. A judging committee comprising experts from DSM and from the Polymer Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS POLY) chose the winner from among four candidates selected as finalists.
Cole DeForest, who did his PhD research in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO in the USA, has developed a synthetic methodology to synthesize novel hydrogel biomaterials whose biochemical and biophysical properties are independently tunable in both time and space and can be used to direct and probe fundamental cell function. The winning research will enable researchers to gain better insight into how cells receive complex information from their local native environment. This knowledge will aid in the development of next-generation biomaterials, which will be used as 3D cell culture materials to promote spatially-defined stem cell differentiation, as well as in the engineering of functional human tissue for regenerative medicine applications.
The award
The DSM Polymer Technology Award was introduced this year and forms part of DSM’s Bright Science Awards program. This award program aims to recognize and reward outstanding scientists and to strengthen DSM’s interaction with the academic world. The DSM Polymer Technology Award is granted for innovative PhD or post-doctoral research in polymer technology. It has been established in partnership with the Division of Polymer Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS POLY).
