Dr. Akhilesh K Gaharwar
Presidential Impact Fellow | Texas A&M University
Cain Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor | Department of Biomedical Engineering
Faculty member | Genetics and Genomics Program
Affiliated Faculty | Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Faculty member | Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems
Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University/Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. The goal of his lab is to design new biomaterials for in situ tissue regeneration. In particular, his lab is leveraging principles from materials science, stem cell biology, additive biomanufacturing, and high throughput genomics to design smart and responsive biomaterials, with wide-ranging applications in the field of regenerative medicine, therapeutic delivery and additive manufacturing. His research program is supported by NIH, NSF, and DoD that resulted in nearly $8.5 million in funding since joining Texas A&M.
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Academic Training
2011-13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA Postdoctoral Associate, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research Advisor: Prof. Robert S. Langer
2011-13 Harvard University, Boston, MA Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Materials Advisor: Prof. Ali Khademhosseini
2007-11 Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Ph.D, Biomedical Engineering Advisor: Prof. Gudrun Schmidt
2004-07 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Bombay), Mumbai, India M.Tech, Materials Science (DAAD Fellowship-Germany & MHRD Scholarship-India)
2005-06 Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen, Germany Visiting Research Fellow - Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service)
2004-05 National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Research Intern, Mechanical Engineering
1999-2003 National Institute of Technology (NIT), Nagpur, India B.E., Metallurgical Engineering
Awards
2022: American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow
2021: Presidential Impact Fellow, Texas A&M University
2021: Associate Editor, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
2021: Cain Faculty Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University
2021: Engineering Contribution Award, Texas A&M University
2020: Dean of Engineering Excellence Award, Texas A&M University
2020: Emerging Investigators, Journal of Materials Chemistry B
2019: Young Investigators Forum in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
2019: ChemComm Emerging Investigators, Royal Society of Chemistry
2019: Research Impact Award, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)
2019: TEES Young Faculty Award, Texas A&M University
2018: Engineering Genesis (EG) Award for Multidisciplinary Research, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) (Oct 2018)
2018: Dean of Excellence Award by College of Engineering, Texas A&M University
2018: Rising Star Award by Cellular & Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group of Biomedical Engineering Society
2018: Langmuir Early Career Authors in Fundamental Colloid and Interface Science
2017: NIH Director's New Innovator Award (DP2) by National Institute of Health 2017: Most Cited Article Award by Annals of Biomedical Engineering
2015: Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator Award by Biomedical Engineering Society
2015: Outstanding Young Scientists - Talent Article from Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics Talent Article
2015: Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award by Texas A&M BMES Student Organization
2013: Merit Award by Orthopedic Special Interest Group (SIG) at 2013 Society For Biomaterials Annual Meeting, Boston
2013: CMBE - BMES Rising Fellows Award by Cellular & Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group of Biomedical Engineering Society
2012: ACTA Graduate Student Award based on the quality of the paper published in ACTA journal (Gaharwar et al. Acta Biomaterialia 7 (2) (2011) 568-577) and leadership potential (Oct 2012)
2011: MRS Graduate Research Silver Award by the Materials Research Society (MRS)
2011: BMES Graduate Research Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
2010: Dimitris Chorafas Foundation Award for outstanding Ph.D dissertation
2010: Society For Biomaterials STAR (Student Travel Achievement Recognition) Honorable Mention
2011: Best Student Poster Award at 2011 Midwest Biomedical Engineering Career Conference (MBECC) at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL
2010: Purdue Graduate Student Government (PGSG) Travel Award from the Purdue University
2005: Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Fellowship for research work in RWTH-Aachen, Germany
2005: Ministry of Human Resource Development Scholarship by Govt. of India
2004: All India Rank 36 (96.1 percentile), Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering