Dr. Prashant Kumta holds the Edward R. Weidlein Endowed Chair Professor with Tenure at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering and School of Dental Medicine and is a professor in the Departments of BioEngineering, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Oral Biology.  He was also the Engineering Director of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration (CCR) and is the Founding Director of the Center for Complex Engineered Multi-Functional Materials (CCEMM), both at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Kumta joined the University in 2007, coming from Carnegie Mellon University where he spent 17 years in the Biomedical and Materials Science and Engineering Departments and is credited with initiating new programs in ceramics and electrochemically active systems as well as the tissue engineering initiative which led to the Bone Tissue Engineering Center (BTEC) and ultimately, the Biomedical Engineering Department. He obtained his MS in Materials Science and Engineering in 1987 and his PhD in 1990, both from the University of Arizona.

Professor Kumta’s research interests include:

• Novel synthesis and characterization of advanced nano-structured materials
• Novel non-oxide sol-gel synthesis, colloidal processing, high-energy mechanical milling, mechanochemical synthesis, microstructure, and properties of novel electronic and electrochemically active materials
• Novel low temperature physiologically compatible and additive manufacturing bio-printing approaches to bioceramic, biocomposites and biologic biomaterials for tissue engineering, gene delivery, and biomineralization
• Novel low temperature approaches to smart functionalized biofunctional and bioresorbable bone cements and polymer-ceramic hybrid structures for craniofacial and orthopedic applications
• Innovative processing of nanostructured ceramics, metals, semiconductors and biomaterials, structure-property relationships for electronic, electrochemical, bone tissue engineering, drugs/antibiotics, and plasmid gene delivery applications
• Novel nano-structured materials for Li-ion batteries, direct methanol fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells, water electrolysis, photoelectrocatalysis, and supercapacitors
• Nanostructured catalysts and supports for acid mediated water electrolysis
• Novel biodegradable metals for cardiovascular, tracheal, craniofacial, and orthopedic applications
• Engineering natural polymers and membrane architectures for ESC differentiation pathway assessment
• Novel impedimetric biosensors for detection of cardiovascular, traumatic brain injury, mitochondrial disease conditions and immunosuppression agents for vascular composite allotransplant recipients

Dr. Kumta is the recipient of the Research Initiation Award from the National Science Foundation in 1993, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers and has been continuously listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering and Who’s Who in America among other prestigious publications.  He is the author or co-author of more than 333 refereed journal publications with a Google H-index of 70 and was the editor-in-chief of Materials Science and Engineering B Advanced Solid-State Functional Materials, an international journal.  In 2012, Dr. Kumta was listed in Forbes India [http://forbesindia.com/article/innovation-special/18-indian-minds-who-are-doing-cutting-edge-work/32312/0] as 1 of the top 18 Indian scientists doing cutting edge work.

View Dr. Kumta’s publications found on NCBI here.