David Putnam
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering & Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
The research conducted by David Putnam is focused on the rational design and synthesis of functional biomaterials to facilitate, target, or control the delivery of drugs or therapeutic genes to the body. This work involves the engineering of high-throughput systems and methods to that will help in the discovery of new ways to deliver and stabilize pharmaceutical systems such as drugs, proteins, genes, non-viral gene vectors and viral gene vectors.
Dr. Putnam's research activities also involve combining an understanding of biological systems, including both cells and whole organisms, with engineering design principles to drive the design and synthesis of functional biomaterials. Activities involve imitating evolution in real time by conducting thousands of experiments in parallel.
A greater understanding of pharmaceutical systems can lead to the creation of new protein stabilization and gene delivery techniques. These areas of research provide needed insight into how materials interface with biological systems, and how biomaterials can be designed with specialized functionality for drug/gene delivery.
Dr. Putnam did his postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also served as a research associate. Before joining the Cornell faculty he helped found, and served as the senior scientist for TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Education
- Ph.D. 1996, University of Utah, Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- B.S. 1990, Union University, Pharmacy
Awards
- Young Investigator Award, Controlled Release Society (2007)
- NSF CAREER Award (2007)
- Top 100 publication in the field of RNA interference (Ion Channel Group) (2006)
- Member: Bausch & Lomb, Scientific Advisory Board (2006 - present)
- Keynote Speaker, Drug Delivery and Translational Research, Polytechnic University (2006)
- Editorial Advisory Board, Experimental Biology and Medicine (2006)
- Editorial Advisory Board, Analytical Biochemistry (2006)
- DuPont Science & Engineering Award (2005)
- Editorial Advisory Board, Pharmaceutical Research (2005)
- Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award (2005)
- Associate Editorial Board, Journal of Bioactive and Compatible Polymers (2005)
