Jason Burdick

Jason A. Burdick earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2002, followed by postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. He joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 as Wilf Family Term Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, advancing to Associate Professor with tenure in 2010, full Professor in 2013, and Robert D. Bent Professor of Bioengineering in 2018. Since January 2022, he has served as Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania while holding the Bowman Endowed Professorship in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Burdick's research centers on designing polymeric biomaterials, particularly degradable hydrogels and elastomers derived from biopolymers such as hyaluronic acid, for applications in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. His laboratory develops cytocompatible, cell-instructive materials with shear-thinning and self-healing properties, processed via techniques including electrospinning, microfluidics, and 3D printing to create structures for biomedical uses. Key projects include injectable hydrogels to mitigate adverse remodeling after myocardial infarction through localized delivery of therapeutics like TIMP-3; bioprinted cardiac tissue models for drug screening; fibrous scaffolds for fibrocartilage repair, such as meniscus tissue; and hydrogels promoting mesenchymal stromal cell chondrogenesis for cartilage regeneration. Notable publications encompass 'Photoencapsulation of Osteoblasts in Injectable RGD-Modified PEG Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Engineering' (Biomaterials, 2002), 'Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel for Controlled Self-Renewal and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells' (PNAS, 2007), 'Engineering Cartilage Tissue' (Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2008), 'Acellular Biomaterials: An Evolving Alternative to Cell-Based Therapies' (Science Translational Medicine, 2013), and 'Local Nascent Protein Deposition and Remodeling Guide Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Mechanosensing and Fate in Three-Dimensional Hydrogels' (Nature Materials, 2019). Burdick has received the Packard Foundation Fellowship (2007), NSF CAREER Award (2009), AIMBE Fellowship (2011), George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award (2018), Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award (2018), Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal (2019), and Biomedical Engineering Society Fellowship (2019), among others. He has held editorial roles, including Associate Editor for ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, and contributed to committees such as chairing the Bioengineering Graduate Group at Penn.

Professional Email: burdick2@seas.upenn.edu