• Medicine
• Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
• Engineering
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Neuroscience
• Chemistry
• Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
• Agricultural and Biological Sciences
• Multidisciplinary
• Physics and Astronomy
• Immunology and Microbiology

Professor Ryan Gilbert is working in the area biomaterial development with emphasis on developing scaffolds and drug and gene delivery approaches to regenerate the nervous system. Working in collaboration with others, his research group has developed biomaterial scaffolds and drug and gene delivery approaches to direct the regeneration of axons within in vivo models of spinal cord injury and peripheral nerve injury, to develop unique drug and gene delivery approaches to deliver efficacious concentrations of drugs/genes locally to injured nervous tissue, to study the response of astrocytes (glial cell) to biomaterials, and to develop protocols for robust characterization of biomaterials. Such breakthroughs, based in biomedical engineering, is redefining how biomaterials might be applied to the nervous system following injury.

Professor Gilbert and his research group have published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and 120 conference proceedings in top journals including Acta Biomaterialia, Biomaterials, Nature Communications, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces and others. His work, presented in over 7 invited and contributed lectures over the past two years, has been noted as an expert in drug and gene delivery in mainstream media (AP News/local media coverage). Dr. Gilbert has generated over $6 Million in research funding as Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator from federal agencies and private foundations. He is fellow of the AIMBE and serves as Editor-in-Chief for Cells Tissues Organs.

Dr. Gilbert is a creative and extremely dedicated educator who has won awards for outstanding classroom teaching. Through his work as an educator, he has successfully participated in initiatives to promote women and underrepresented minorities to pursue STEM fields. He has created venues for graduate students to showcase their work (by initiating a graduate student symposium at Rensselaer). He is working to prepare the next generation of biomedical engineers by creating classes and research experiences for undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral associates with interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global perspective on translational scientific research.