Kurt Kasper

Faculty Fellow, Bioengineering

Ph.D., Bioengineering, Rice University (2006)
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University (1999)

Bio Sketch

Kurt Kasper's doctoral research involved the application of polymeric biomaterials toward non-viral gene delivery for bone tissue engineering. His postdoctoral training at Rice University has focused on the application of novel biomaterials and adult-derived stem cell culture techniques for the generation of hematopoietic bone.

In conjunction with his graduate work, Kasper served as a visiting researcher over the summer of 2004 at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan.

During his undergraduate education at Case Western Reserve, he studied the effects of myxomatous tissue changes on the mechanical properties of the mitral heart valve with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Kasper has been recognized with various fellowships and awards, including a Nanobiology Training Fellowship through the W.M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training of the Gulf Coast Consortia (2007), the Sallyport Award for University and Community Service (Rice University, 2006), an NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) (2001-2003), and the Jose Ricardo Alcala Memorial Award for Biomedical Engineering Research (1999).

Research Statement

Kasper’s current research efforts include the development and evaluation of novel materials and approaches for the regeneration of orthopaedic tissues, especially bone and cartilage. 

Kasper is the author of over a dozen research manuscripts and book chapters, and he contributed significantly to the preparation of an undergraduate level textbook Biomaterials: The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science, published by Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.