Steven R. Little | |
---|---|
Born | December 11, 1977 |
Alma mater | Youngstown State University (BS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Controlled release, Pharmaceutical science, Drug delivery systems, Immunotherapies, Biomaterials, Regenerative medicine |
Institutions | University of Pittsburgh |
Doctoral advisor | Robert Langer |
Website | www |
Steven R. Little (born 1977) is an American chemical engineer and pharmaceutical scientist. He currently holds the title of department chair, distinguished professor, George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair, and the William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. He also holds secondary appointments in bioengineering, pharmaceutical sciences, immunology, ophthalmology and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.
Little received his BS in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University, and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying under Institute Professor Robert S. Langer. His dissertation was “Poly(β-Amino Ester)s as pH Sensitive Biomaterials for Microparticulate Genetic Vaccine Delivery.” [1]
Following his PhD in 2005, Little joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh John A. Swanson School of Engineering in 2006 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to the rank of associate professor as well as chair of the department of chemical engineering in 2012; William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor in 2015; and distinguished professor by Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in 2021. [2] In 2024 he was appointed the Swanson School's George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair. [3]
His research focuses on therapies that are biomimetic and replicate the biological function and interactions of living entities using synthetic systems. Areas of study include bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, ophthalmology, and immunology, and the health issues addressed include autoimmune disease, battlefield wounds, cancer, HIV, Type I Diabetes, ocular disease, and organ transplantation.
He is the Principal Investigator of Little Lab, housed in Benedum Hall of Engineering, and the co-founder of Qrono Inc., [4] a pharmaceutical startup company based in Pittsburgh and focused on next generation cancer treatments. [5]
Little was elected as a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2015; [6] the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2016; [7] and the American Association for the Advancement of Science [8] and National Academy of Inventors [9] in 2021. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) elected him as Fellow in 2022, [10] and Little was among eight members of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) selected for elevation to Fellow status in 2024. [11]
He was elected to the board of directors of the Society for Biomaterials and served in that role from 2013-2015. [12] In June 2018 the Controlled Release Society appointed Little to its board as a director-at-large through 2021. [13]
In 2012, the Society for Biomaterials named Little as the recipient of its Young Investigator Award [14] and in 2018 the Controlled Release Society named Little the recipient of its Young Investigator Award. [15] [16] The Controlled Release Society in 2020 elected Little to its College of Fellows [17] and followed in 2021 by presenting Little with its Distinguished Service Award. [18] Little has received over 40 national and international awards including:
His teaching awards include the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award [30] and a Carnegie Science Award for Post-Secondary Education. [31] Community recognition includes Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 Under 40, [32] named a “Fast Tracker” by the Pittsburgh Business Times, [33] and one of five individuals in Pittsburgh who are “reshaping our world” by Pop City Media.
Little serves on the board of directors for EduNations, [34] an organization that establishes educational infrastructure by building schools, training teachers and providing children with free education in Sierra Leone, Africa.
Robert Samuel Langer Jr. FREng is an American biotechnologist, businessman, chemical engineer, chemist, and inventor. He is one of the nine Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Clayton Daniel Mote Jr. is the President Emeritus of the National Academy of Engineering. He served as the president of the NAE from July 2013 to June 2019. He also served as President of the University of Maryland, College Park from September 1998 until August 2010. From 1967 to 1991, Mote was a professor in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and served as Vice Chancellor at Berkeley from 1991 to 1998. Mote is a judge for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.
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Krzysztof "Kris" Matyjaszewski is a Polish-American chemist. He is the J.C. Warner Professor of the Natural Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University Matyjaszewski is best known for the discovery of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), a novel method of polymer synthesis that has revolutionized the way macromolecules are made.
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Sung Wan Kim was a South Korean-American academic who worked as a distinguished professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Utah. He is the founder and co-director of the University of Utah's Center for Controlled Chemical Delivery.
Nicholas (Nikolaos) A. Peppas is a chemical and biomedical engineer whose leadership in biomaterials science and engineering, drug delivery, bionanotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, chemical and polymer engineering has provided seminal foundations based on the physics and mathematical theories of nanoscale, macromolecular processes and drug/protein transport and has led to numerous biomedical products or devices.
Subra Suresh is an Indian-born American engineer, materials scientist, and academic leader. He is currently Professor at Large at Brown University and Vannevar Bush Professor of Engineering Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was Dean of the School of Engineering at MIT from 2007 to 2010 before being appointed as Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) by Barack Obama, where he served from 2010 to 2013. He was the president of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) from 2013 to 2017. Between 2018 and 2022, he was the fourth President of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), where he was also the inaugural Distinguished University Professor.
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Joel S. Schuman, MD, FACS is Professor of Ophthalmology, the Kenneth L. Roper Endowed Chair, Vice Chair for Research Innovation, co-director of the Glaucoma Service at Wills Eye Hospital, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Collaborative Community of Ophthalmic Imaging (CCOI) president, and American Glaucoma Society (AGS) Foundation advisory board chair. Prior to this he was the Elaine Langone Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Ophthalmology at NYU Langone Medical Center, NYU Grossman School of Medicine; Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical & Computer Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Professor of Neural Science in the Center for Neural Science at NYU College of Arts and Sciences. He chaired the ophthalmology department at NYU Langone Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine 2016–2020, and was Vice Chair for Ophthalmology Research in the department 2020–2022. Prior to arriving at NYU in 2016, he was Distinguished Professor and Chairman of Ophthalmology, Eye and Ear Foundation Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, Director of UPMC Eye Center (2003-2016) and before that was at Tufts University 1991–2003, where he was Residency Director (1991-1999) and Glaucoma and Cataract Service Chief (1991-2003). In 1998 he became Professor of Ophthalmology, and Vice Chair in 2001.
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