Prashant N. Kumta, PhD

Dr. Prashant Kumta holds the Edward R. Weidlein 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 Department of Oral Biology. He is also Engineering Director of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration (CCR) and the Founding Director of the Center for Complex Engineered Multfunctional 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. 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 approaches to bioceramic and biologic biomaterials for bone tissue engineering, gene delivery, and biomineralization
• Novel low temperature approaches to smart functionalized biofunctional 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, and plasmid gene delivery applications
• Novel nano-structured materials for Li-ion batteries, direct methanol fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells and supercapacitors
• Nanostructured catalysts and supports for water electrolysis
• Novel biodegradable metals for craniofacial and orthopedic applications
• Engineering natural polymers and membrane architectures for ESC differentiation pathway assessment

Dr. Kumta is the recipient of the Research Initiation Award from the National Science Foundation in 1993 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 200 refereed journal publications and is 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 as 1 of the top 18 Indian scientists doing cutting edge work. View Dr. Kumta’s publications found on NCBI here.