Thomas J. Webster
Professor, Art Zafiropoulo Chair in Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Office
- 216 Cullinane
Lab
- 225 Egan
Research Focus
design, synthesis, and evaluation of nanomaterials for various medical applications, including self-assembled chemistries, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanostructured surfaces
About
Joined the Chemical Engineering Department in Fall 2012.
The primary focus of our research is the design, synthesis, and evaluation of nanomaterials for various medical applications. This includes self-assembled chemistries, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanostructured surfaces. Medical applications include inhibiting bacteria growth, inflammation, and promoting tissue growth. Tissues of particular interest are bone, cartilage, skin, nervous system, bladder, cardiovascular, and vascular. There is also an interest in anti-cancer applications where nanomaterials can be used to decrease cancer cell functions without the use of pharmaceutical agents. There is also a large interest in developing in situ sensors which can sense biological responses to medical devices and respond in real time to ensure implant success. Lastly, there is an interest in understanding the environmental and human health toxicity of nanomaterials.
Education
- B.S. (Chemical Engineering) University of Pittsburgh, 1995
- Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2000
Honors & Awards
- Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers
- Fellow, American Society for Nanomedicine
- Fellow, Biomaterials Science and Engineering
- Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society
- Fellow, Ernst Strungmann Foundation
- Fellow, International College of Fellows – Biomaterials Science and Engineering
Research Overview
design, synthesis, and evaluation of nanomaterials for various medical applications, including self-assembled chemistries, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanostructured surfaces
Selected Research Projects
- Development and Commercialization of Nanostructured Resorbable Urogenital Grafts
- Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
- Developing Injectable Materials for Cartilage Applications: Part 1
- Principal Investigator, Audax, Inc.
- Long-Term Prevention of Peri-Implantitis via Nano-Textured, TiO/Ag Surfaces
- Co-Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
- Nanomedicine Academy of Minority Serving Institutions
- Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- H.T. Cui, S.D. Miao, T. Esworthy, S.J. Lee, X. Zhou, S.Y. Hann, T.J. Webster, A Novel Near-Infrared Light Responsive 4D Printed Nanoarchitecture with Dynamically and Remotely Controllable Transformation, Nano Research, 12(6), 2019, 1381-1388
- D.M. Cruz, W.T. Street, B. Zhang, X. Huang, T.J. Webster, et al., Citric Juice-Mediated Synthesis of Tellurium Nanoparticles with Antimicrobial and Anticancer Properties, Green Chemistry, 21, 2019, 1982-1998
- S.M.N. Gallón, E. Alpaslan, M. Wang, P. Larese-Casanova, T.J. Webster, Characterization and Study of the Antibacterial Mechanisms of Silver Nanoparticles Prepared with Microalgal Exopolysaccharides, Materials Science and Engineering: C, 99, 2019, 685-695
Aug 17, 2020
ChE Professor and PhD Candidates Selected to Participate in MALSI+ 2020
ChE Professor Thomas Webster, PhD candidate David Medina Cruz, PhD candidate Ada Vernet Crua, and their team selected to participate in MALSI+ 2020 with one of their startups SynCell Biotechnology.
Aug 10, 2020
Webster Receives Funding with Spanish Researchers to Develop Better Implants
ChE Professor Thomas Webster and Professor Yadir Torres Hernandez from the University of Seville, Spain; PI have secured funding from the Spanish Government (via the National Research program) for a project entitled “Titanium-based implants with adapted stiffness, biofunctionalized surface and pores filled with biodegradable, antibacterial and potential therapeutic polymers”.
Aug 03, 2020
Webster Working with European Commission to Develop Strategies to Make Products Enabled by Advanced Nanomaterials
ChE Professor Thomas Webster, Art Zafiropoulo Chair, is part of a team of groups of global researchers working as part of a grant from the European Commission entitled ‘SUNSHINE’: Safe and sUstainable by desigN Strategies for HIgh performance multicomponent NanomatErials’. The main goal of SUNSHINE is to develop and implement strategies to make products enabled […]
Dec 12, 2019
Webster Awarded Patent for Bacteria-Resistant Polymers
ChE Professor Thomas Webster was awarded a patent for “nanostructured bacteria-resistant polymer materials.”
Sep 20, 2019
Treating Antibiotic-Resistant Infections
ChE Professor Thomas Webster and his colleagues are using bacteria to develop nanoparticles that will combat antibiotic-resistant infections.
Sep 12, 2019
ChE PhD students Bahram Saleh & Caterina Bartomeu Garcia are Finalists for Graduate Student Competition in Microbiointerface Research
Chemical Engineering PhD students Bahram Saleh and Caterina Bartomeu Garcia, from Professor Thomas Webster’s nanomedicine lab, have been called finalists for the upcoming AIChE 2019 annual meeting podium graduate student award competition in Microbiointerface Research. The students will be judged for the quality of the presentations and research on microbial interaction with biomedical interfaces.
Jun 10, 2019
Webster Co-Authors "Immune Aspects of BioPharmaceuticals and Nanomedicines
ChE Professor and Chair Tom Webster is a co-author of the new book “Immune Aspects of BioPharmaceuticals and Nanomedicines”.
May 08, 2019
Webster’s start up, Nanovis, Named MedTech Outlook Top 10 Orthopedic Solution Provider, 2019
Chemical Engineering Professor and Chair Tom Webster’s start up, Nanovis, Named MedTech Outlook Top 10 Orthopedic Solution Provider, 2019.
Apr 24, 2019
Webster Selected as a Fellow of the International Journal of Nanomedicine
Chemical Engineering Professor and Chair Thomas Webster was selected as a Fellow of the International Journal of Nanomedicine.
Mar 01, 2019
Fenniri and Webster Award Patent
ChE Professor & Chair Thomas Webster and Professor Hicham Fenniri received a patent entitled “Nanotubes and Compositions Thereof”, which describes their work to develop novel self-assembled materials for tissue engineering applications.