Alvaro Mata PhD
Alvaro Mata is Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials in the School of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham. He is also Chief Innovation Officer of Ourobionics, Vice-President of the Mineralized Tissue Group of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), Co-Chair of the Manufacturing and Regulatory Committee of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP2) – Smart Materials Hub, and Head of the Division of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapies in the School of Pharmacy.
Alvaro is originally from San Jose, Costa Rica. He holds a BSc. from the University of Kansas, an MSc. from the University of Strathclyde, and a DEng. from Cleveland State University working with Prof. Shuvo Roy at the Cleveland Clinic. He conducted his postdoctoral training with Prof. Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University from 2005-2008.
He started his independent research career as Head of the Nanotechnology Platform at Parc Científic de Barcelona in 2009 and moved to Queen Mary University of London in 2013 where he was Director of the Institute of Bioengineering at QMUL from 2014-2017.
His work has led to over 75 peer reviewed articles, 8 patents or patent applications; publications in leading journals such as Science, Nature Materials, Nature Chemistry, Nature Communications, and Science Advances; and awards such as a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (2012), a Wellcome Trust Frontiers Innovator (2015), an ERC Starting Grant (2013), and 3 ERC Proof-of-Concept grants (2016, 2017, 2018).
His work on innovative biomaterial and biofabrication methods has received extensive media coverage including Sky News, The Times, The Times of India, The Telegraph, BBC radio, and the European Research Council; as well as scientific media outlets such as Chemistry World, Physics News, and Nature Chemistry News & Views.
Honours and awards
- 2022 – present, Head of the Division of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapies, University of Nottingham.
- 2021 – present, Chief Innovation Officer, Ourobionics.
- 2021 – present, Vice-President of the Mineralized Tissue Group of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).
- 2020 – present, Co-Chair of the Manufacturing Commercial and Regulatory Committee of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform (UKRMP2) – Smart Materials Hub.
- 2021 – present, Associate Editor of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.
- 2021 – present, Editorial Board of JADA Foundational Science.
- 2020 – present, Editorial Board of Nanomaterials.
- 2018 – present, Editorial Board of International Materials Reviews.
- 2018 – present, Editorial Board of Regenerative Biomaterials.
- 2018 – present, Editorial Board of Methods and Protocols.
- 2017 – present, Strategic Alliance Committee of TERMIS-EU.
- 2016 – present, Member of the Board of the Biomedical Engineering Division (BmED) at IMechE.
- 2015, Frontiers Innovator Award, Wellcome Trust.
- 2012, ERC Starting Grant, European Research Council.
- 2010, Ramon y Cajal Award, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Government of Spain.
- 2009, Torres Quevedo Award, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Government of Spain.
- 2006, Baxter Early Career Development Award in Bioengineering.
- 2005, Costa Rican National Technology Award Clodomiro Picado Twight.
- 2004, Graduate Student Award for Applied Science at The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
- 2002, Graduate Student Award for Applied Science at The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.