Kristi Anseth

Kristi S. Anseth (born 1969) is the Tisone Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, an Associate Professor of Surgery, and a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her main research interests are the design of synthetic biomaterials using hydrogels, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

Anseth was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering in 2009 for pioneering the rational design of biomaterials for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biosensing applications.

Early life and education Kristi Anseth grew up in Williston, North Dakota. She played on both the volleyball and basketball teams at the University of North Dakota-Williston, earning the honor of Academic All-American in her second year.

Kristi Anseth transferred to Purdue University where she began her research career as an undergraduate student in the lab of Nicholas A. Peppas, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1992. She serves on Purdue's College of Engineering Advisory Council.

Anseth is working at the intersection of materials science, chemistry and biology, studying natural and synthetic hydrogels and using biomaterials to create an extracellular matrix to support three-dimensional cell enculturation.

Anseth is developing photopolymers that will change from soft to hard in response to cues such as ultraviolet light, and then degrade predictably over time.

She has published more than 250 papers and filed for at least 18 patents. and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. In September 2014, she was elected the Vice President/President-Elect of the Materials Research Society (MRS), serving as Vice President in 2015 and President in 2016.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Anseth was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.

Kristi Anseth was the first engineer, male or female, to be selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. and the Institute of Medicine (2009 ). She shares the distinction of being a member of all three with chemical engineers Cato Laurencin, Robert S. Langer, Nicholas A. Peppas, Frances Arnold, and Rakesh K. Jain. As of 2015, she was also named to the National Academy of Inventors. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.

Other awards and honors include: 2024, VinFuture Prize, Special Prize for Women Innovators, For Advancement in Design of Polymeric Biomaterials and Methods for Biomedical Applications 2020, L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science 2016, Honorary Doctorate, Purdue University, College of Engineering 2015, Bayer Distinguished Lectureship, University of Pittsburgh 2015, Bonfils-Stanton Awards, Science and Medicine honoree 2013, James E. Bailey Award, Society for Biological Engineering 2012, Distinguished Engineering Alumni award, Purdue University 2009, Fellow of the Materials Research Society 2008, Clemson Award for Basic Research from the Society for Biomaterials 2005, Elizabeth Gee Award, University of Colorado 2004, Alan T. Waterman Award, National Science Foundation 2001, Outstanding Young Investigator Award, Materials Research Society.