Since 2001, Dr. Russell has been the director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC. In a series of discoveries, Dr. Russell and his team have found how to meld the synthetic and biological worlds. For more than 15 years, they have been discovering what can be achieved by exploiting the rich interface of chemistry, biology and materials. This work began with a detailed study of the relationship between structure, function and environment of biological molecules in extreme settings, such as the exploration of the use of enzymes in supercritical and ionic fluids, and it has impacted fields as diverse as chemical and polymer synthesis to tissue engineering and homeland defense. Dr. Russell has pioneered how to make polymers from enzymes and how to incorporate enzymes into bulk polymers.
From 2008 until 2010, Dr. Russell was a co-director of the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), an $85 million program to use the science of regenerative medicine to develop new treatments for wounded soldiers. AFIRM is composed of two multi-institutional consortia, one led by the University of Pittsburgh and Wake Forest University, and the other by Rutgers University and the Cleveland Clinic. The five areas of focus for the project are Compartment Syndrome, Functional Limb and Digit, Craniofacial Reconstruction, Wound Healing and Burn Repair.
He currently is the executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative Inc., director of the National Tissue Engineering Center, and a professor in the departments of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, Bioengineering, and Chemical Engineering at Pitt. In addition to his academic appointments, Dr. Russell has founded three biotechnology companies: ICX Agentase LLC, NanoSembly LLC and O2Cyte LLC, and also is the founding president of the 2,500-member Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society.
Within the scientific community, Dr. Russell currently sits on 25 advisory boards. Since the outset of his career, he has received numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to research, teaching and public service, including the R&D 100 Award in 2000 (R&D Magazine), three Carnegie Science Center Awards for Excellence, the Gilbreth lectureship from the National Academy of Engineering in 2004, the Cockroft Rutherford lectureship from the University of Manchester in 2007, the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Manchester in 2008, and #32 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 People Who Will Change America” in 2009. He received his doctorate in biological chemistry in 1987 from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London.