Thomas J. Webster

Thomas J. Webster is an American biomedical engineer, researcher, and entrepreneur. Throughout his over 25-year academic career, his research group has produced several books and book chapters. He has over 1350 publications and has an H-index of 118. This high H-index places him amongst the top 1% of researchers in his field.

Education
Thomas J. Webster holds a BSc degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 1995), and an MSc and PhD (2000) in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY, USA). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is the oldest engineering school in the U.S.

Research
The research of Professor Webster examines the multiple uses of nanotechnology. His study focuses on the development, production, and assessment of nanophase materials as superior biomedical materials. Professor Webster has conducted in-depth research on the application of nanophase materials for tissue regeneration. His research has focussed on hydroxyapatite, the major inorganic component to bone. In contrast to hydroxyapatite that had not been doped, Professor Webster's research on osteoblast (bone-forming cells) response to hydroxyapatite doped with divalent and trivalent cations showed that osteoblast adherence and differentiation on the doped HA were boosted. In other research, he creates surfaces with nanostructures that have been FDA-approved for implantation in tissues like bone, the spine, and dental applications.

In addition, he is particularly involved in creating nanoparticles that may enter biofilms, lessen inflammation, and specifically target cancer cells. Dr. Webster was the first to identify improved tissue growth on nanomaterials. He was the first to identify decreased bacteria functions on nanomaterials. Dr. Webster was the first to establish a mathematical equation that can be used to predict nanoscale surface features to improve tissue growth, reduce infection, and limit infection. He trademarked this process as “Nano-Optimized”, 2008.

Career
With more than 25 years of professional experience, Webster is presently the chief nano scientific officer at PrinterPrezz in Fremont, California, and serves as the chief scientific officer of his numerous start-up companies. He started his career as an assistant professor at the Purdue University. His research on nanomedicine has received attention in media including MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, PBS DragonFly TV, ABC Nightly News via the Ivanhoe Medical Breakthrough Segment, Fox News, the Weather Channel, NBC Today Show, National Geographic 's TV series on the future of medicine, ABC Boston, Discovery Channel, and OpenAccess Government. His work has been on display at the London and Boston Science Museums.

Awards and honors
Thomas J. Webster has been honored with many awards including the


 * BMES Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award (2002),

Prof. Webster has received numerous honors including, but not limited to:
 * Coulter Foundation Early Career Award (2005)
 * Acta Biomaterialia Silver Award (2017)
 * Clarivate’s Most Distinguished Researcher recognition (Top 0.1% Citations in Pharmacology and Toxicology).


 * 2002, Biomedical Engineering Society Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award;
 * 2003, Outstanding Young Investigator Award Purdue University College of Engineering;
 * 2005, American Association of Nanomedicine Young Investigator Award;
 * 2005, Coulter Foundation Young Investigator Award;
 * 2006, Fellow, American Association of Nanomedicine;
 * 2010, Distinguished Lecturer in Nanomedicine, University of South Florida;
 * 2011, Outstanding Leadership Award for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES);
 * 2012, Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, representing the top 2% of all medical and biological engineers);
 * 2013, Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society;
 * 2014, Fellow, Ernst Strugmann;
 * 2016, Fellow, College of Fellows of the International Union of Biomaterials Sciences and Engineering;
 * 2016, SCOPUS Highly Cited Research (Top 1% Materials Science);
 * 2017, Fellow, National Associate of Inventors;
 * 2017, Acta Biomaterialia Silver Award (given to researchers under the age of 45);
 * 2019, Overseas Fellow, Royal Society for Medicine;
 * 2000, SCOPUS Top 1% citations for materials science research and mixed fields;
 * 2021, PLOS Top 2% All World Scientist Citations;
 * 2022, Clarivate Most Distinguished Researcher Top 0.1% Citations in Pharmacology and Toxicology;
 * 2022, Fellow, International Association for Advanced Materials; and
 * 2023, Research.com Best Materials Science Scientist by Citations.

Editorships
Thomas J. Webster is serving as the Editor-in-chief of the Research Journal of Medical and Health Sciences and was the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Nanomedicine pioneering the open-access format.

Patents
Thomas J. Webster has obtained many patents for his inventions and his patents including


 * Nanotubes as carriers of nucleic acids into cells (US10344300B2)
 * System and method for attaching soft tissue to an implant (US8945601B2)
 * Nanofibers as a neural biomaterial (US7993412B2)
 * Nanotubes and compositions thereof (US10201634B2)
 * Implantable cellular and biotherapeutic agent delivery canister (US10751280B2)
 * Method for producing nanostructures on a surface of a medical implant (US20110125263A1)
 * Nanostructured surfaces (US11560014B2),
 * Tellurium Nanostructures with antimicrobial and anticancer properties synthesized by aloe vera–Mediated green chemistry (US20220071919A1)
 * Metallic nanoparticles as orthopedic biomaterial (EP1613248B1)
 * Antipathogenic surfaces having selenium nanoclusters (WO2012009433A1)

These patents have formed many companies who have commercial products including but not limited to Audax, NanoVis, NanoVis Spine, Perios, Dental Regen, Quarksen, SynCell, Novaraum, AKiCept, Zeda, MetaFree, Interstellar Therapeutics, etc.

Publications
Prof. Webster and his team have published over 1350 peer-reviewed publications: This high H-index places him in the top 1% of cited articles by researchers in Materials Science.

An example of these articles appear below:


 * Thomas J Webster, Celaletdin Ergun, Robert H Doremus, Richard W Siegel, Rena Bizios; Enhanced functions of osteoblasts on nanophase ceramics. Biomaterials.


 * Thomas J Webster, Celaletdin Ergun, Robert H Doremus, Richard W Siegel, Rena Bizios. Specific proteins mediate enhanced osteoblast adhesion on nanophase ceramics. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.


 * Thomas J Webster, Jeremiah U Ejiofor. Increased osteoblast adhesion on nanophase metals: Ti, Ti6Al4V, and CoCrMo. Biomaterials.


 * Thomas J Webster, Celaletdin Ergun, Robert H Doremus, Richard W Siegel, Rena Bizios. Enhanced osteoclast-like cell functions on nanophase ceramics. Biomaterials.
 * Thomas J Webster, Linda S Schadler, Richard W Siegel, Rena Bizios. Mechanisms of enhanced osteoblast adhesion on nanophase alumina involve vitronectin. Tissue engineering.