Jennifer Elisseeff

JENNIFER ELISSEEFF, PhD, is a professor and the director of the Translational Tissue Engineering Center at the Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Wilmer Eye Institute with appointments in chemical and biological engineering, materials science, and orthopedic surgery.

Dr. Elisseeff received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD in medical engineering from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. After her doctoral studies, Dr. Elisseeff served as a Fellow at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Pharmacology Research Associate Program, where she worked in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. In 2001, Dr. Elisseeff became an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

In July 2010, the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Wilmer Eye Institute teamed up to create the Translational Tissue Engineering Center (TTEC) located in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Building. The lab comprises surgical fellows, biologists, chemists, and engineers who work together to develop new biomaterials, study stem cells, and design new technologies for regenerative medicine.

Dr. Elisseeff ’s research focuses on the development of biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications in orthopedics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and ophthalmology. She has also begun investigating the role of biomaterials-directed regenerative immunology and the role of the adaptive immune system in tissue repair. Committed to the translation of regenerative biomaterials from the lab to the patient, Dr. Elisseeff has founded two companies, Cartilix and Aegeria, and served on a number of industry advisory boards, including those of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, Bausch and Lomb, Histogenics, and Cellular Bioengineering.

She has published a combined total of more than 200 papers, book chapters, and patent applications, and has received a number of awards, including the Carnegie Young Alumni Award. In 2002, she was named by MIT Technology Review as a top innovator under 35. She was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and of the National Academy of Inventors, as well as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.