Professor Thomas J. Webster

Thomas J. Webster, Ph.D. is Associate Professor for the Divisions of Engineering and Orthopedic Surgery at Brown University. He is also co-director of the Indo-U.S. Center for Biomaterials for Healthcare, a new U.S.-India partnership.
 
Tom directs the Nanomedicine Laboratory which designs, synthesizes, and evaluates nanomaterials for various implant applications. Nanomaterials are central to the field of nanotechnology and are materials with one dimension less than 100 nm. Tissues investigated include bone, bladder, vascular, cartilage, dental, and the nervous system.
 
His lab group has generated 4 books, 33 book chapters, 85 invited presentations (including tutorials), 215 literature articles and/or conference proceedings, 245 conference presentations, and 15 provisional or full patents. His technology has resulted in one startup company.
 
Tom is the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Nanomedicine and is on the editorial board of 10 other journals. He has organized over 25 symposia at academic conferences. He was the 2002 recipient of the Biomedical Engineering Society Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award, the 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Young Investigator Award for the Schools of Engineering at Purdue University, the 2004 Finalist for the Young Investigator Award of the American Society for Nanomedicine, and the 2005 recipient of the Wallace Coulter Foundation Early Career Award.
 
He edited Nanotechnology for the Regeneration of Hard and Soft Tissues, Safety of Nanoparticles: From Manufacturing to Medical Applications, and Nanotechnology Enabled In situ Sensors for Monitoring Health. His papers include Increased osteoblast adhesion on nanophase metals: Ti, Ti6Al4V, and CoCrMo, Enhanced osteoclast-like cell functions on nanophase ceramics, and Nano-structured polymers enhance bladder smooth muscle cell function.
 
His patents include Nanostructured ceramics and composite materials for orthopaedic-dental implants, PLGA substrate with aligned and nano-sized surface structures and associated method, and Nano-structured polymers for use as implants.
 
Tom’s degrees are in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1995) and in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (M.S., 1997; Ph.D., 2000). His Ph.D. dissertation was “Design, synthesis, and evaluation of nanophase ceramics for orthopaedic/dental applications”.
 
Watch Dr. Thomas Webster – Orthopedic Biofilms, Thomas Webster Research Talk part 1, and Thomas Webster Research Talk part 2. Read Artificial Joints That Talk: Smart technology could reduce risks of hip and knee replacement surgery, Brown researchers work toward ending cartilage loss, and Implant bacteria, beware: Researchers create nano-sized assassins.