Mark Prausnitz, Professor & the Emerson Lewis Faculty Fellow in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, was elected as one of the newest members of the College of Fellows by The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). The newly elected Fellows were nominated and approved by current Fellows of the College, consisting of more than 900 engineers and scientists.

Recipients of this honor are recognized for their outstanding achievements in medical and biological engineering. A formal induction ceremony will be held during the Institute's Annual Event at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C. on February 11-13, 2009.

ABOUT DR. MARK PRAUSNITZ
Dr. Prausnitz and his colleagues carry out research on biophysical methods of drug delivery using ultrasound, microneedles and other approaches. The success of drug and gene delivery is limited by the inability of drugs, proteins and DNA to cross biological barriers in the body. The most daunting barrier is that posed by lipid bilayers, which block transport into cells, into tissues, and into the body. The Prausnitz lab studies the effect of ultrasound and microneedles to selectively and reversibly disrupt those biological barriers and thereby deliver drugs into the body across the skin, into the eye, and into targeted cells through short-lived holes their membranes. Ultrasound studies focus on the mechanisms by which ultrasound disrupts membranes and drives intracellular delivery of molecules, as well as mechanisms of cell death. Microneedles studies address basic questions of drug transport, avoidance of pain, and insertion mechanics of microneedles in skin along with applied questions relating to drug and vaccine delivery and needle fabrication technologies. Additional studies address electroporation for drug and gene delivery, pore-forming peptides for transdermal delivery, theoretical and experimental studies of drug delivery to the eye, and enhanced transfection of plant cells for forestry biotechnology.

In addition to training graduate students in the laboratory, Dr. Prausnitz is actively involved with teaching undergraduate students in the classroom. His core courses are introductory classes on mass and energy balances and thermodynamics and the upper-division course on unit operations laboratory. An elective course developed by Dr. Prausnitz is entitled "Effective Communication for Professional Engineering," which addresses oral and written communication in the context of a case study of the nicotine patch.

Another elective course, developed in collaboration with Dr. Bommarius, is entitled "Drug Design, Development, and Delivery." This course for senior undergraduates and graduate students exposes students to the interplay between multiple technical, as well as economic and societal factors that influence the creation of a successful pharmaceutical.

Dr. Prausnitz has co-authored more than 100 research articles, given 120 invited lectures to industry and academia, published 170 conference abstracts, holds close to 20 issued or pending patents, and has served as an expert witness. Among his honors are the NSF/NIH Scholar-in-Residence at the National Institutes of Health, CAREER Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, TR100 Young Innovator Award from Technology Review and Young Investigator Award and Outstanding Pharmaceutical Paper Award from the Controlled Release Society.

ABOUT AIMBE AND THE COLLEGE OF FELLOWS
The College of Fellows leads the way in technological advancement, advocating for
public policies facilitating progress in medical and biological research and development
to benefit the public. Since 1991, AIMBE Fellows have helped to revolutionize medicine, engineering and related fields that enhance and extend the lives of people all over the
world. Counting several Nobel Prize winners among them, through their work the Fellows also help protect the environment, lead to new national security safeguards, and contribute to a better, healthier society in many other ways.

With Fellows in every U.S. state