Dr. Kathryn Uhrich

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Co-Director, IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship)

"Biomedical research isn't important for improving human health, it's critical. Without understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease, how can treatments be investigated? Without understanding the clinical and commercial shortcomings of current therapies, how can new therapies be developed? I'm driven to perform research that will ultimately help humanity. I need to feel that I'm not only contributing to scientific progress, but also to scientific literacy in the classroom and the board room."

Dr. Kathryn Uhrich, an acclaimed researcher and inventor, is a sought after commentator on critical scientific issues, a dedicated mentor to her students, an enthusiastic teacher and a guiding force behind Polymerix Corporation, a company she founded. Dr. Uhrich's basic research program at Rutgers centers on creating biodegradable polymers (e.g., PolyAspirin) for biomedical applications. All of her inventions were licensed to Polymerix Corporation, which is developing biodegradable polymerized drugs for more efficient delivery to targeted areas such as coronary stents, orthopedic implants and arthritic joints.

Dr. Uhrich received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Cornell University, then completed postdoctoral research at Bell Laboratories and MIT before arriving at Rutgers. As Co-Director of IGERT, an NSF-funded graduate training program designed to produce experts in the integrative synthesis and analysis of biological interfaces, she guides graduates towards the multidisciplinary technologies that under biosensors, cell-therapies, implant materials, and gene engineering.