Joseph W. Freeman, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ. He earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in Princeton, NJ and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University and The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in Piscataway, NJ. There, in the laboratory of Dr. Frederick H. Silver, he studied type I collagen mineralization and its effects on elastic and viscoelastic properties through in vitro studies and molecular modeling. Dr. Freeman also studied tendon development, the structure and mechanics of type I collagen, the effect of strain on type I collagen mineralization, and skin mechanical properties.
Following his doctoral work, Dr. Freeman went to the University of Virginia (UVA) as a Research Associate in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery under Dr. Cato T. Laurencin. At UVA, Dr. Freeman worked on the use of novel biomaterials in bone regeneration, the development of new scaffolds for ligament repair, the use of hydrogels for ligament repair, and the design and construction of a braiding machine for ligament graft construction.
As a professor at Virginia Tech, Dr.Freeman’s research interests were the development of new biomaterials for tissue engineering and the construction of novel, functional scaffolds for the repair of musculoskeletal tissues.
At Rutgers University, Dr. Freeman is developing new implantable scaffolds for the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues, using molecular modeling to investigate collagen structure and function, and developing tumor engineering models.
Awards & Distinctions
- 3/21 American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow
- 8/20 Outstanding Engineering Faculty Award
- 6/20 Selected as one of the “100 more inspiring Black scientists in America” by Cell Mentor/CrossTalk
- 6/15 Rutgers Chancellor’s Scholar Award
- 3/12 Visiting Associate Professor at African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, Nigeria
- 9/05 – 9/06 Ford Foundation Fellow
- 8/01 – 7/02 Virginia Tech ABD Fellow
- 9/98 – 9/01 NIH Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Ph.D. Training Program Fellow
- 9/97 - 5/98 New Jersey Center for Biomaterials Fellow
- PATENTS “THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRE-VASCULARIZED SCAFFOLD FOR BONE REGENERATION” (RU Docket # 2015-001) United States Patent No. 10,524,915 First Named Inventor: Freeman, J.
Courses
- Fall: Biomaterials and Biomechanics
- Spring: Tissue Engineering II