George Truskey Named Chair of Department of Biomedical Engineering | Duke Pratt School of Engineering
George Truskey Named Chair of Department of Biomedical Engineering
Professor George A. Truskey, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Dukes Pratt School of Engineering, has been named chair of the department, Dean Kristina Johnson announced July 1.Truskey succeeds Professor Morton Friedman, who is returning to full-time teaching and research in the department."Dr. Truskey is a world class researcher who also is one of our most gifted teachers, Johnson said. His role in shaping the department, which will be expanding its space considerably and adding new faculty, will be crucial to achieving our collective goal of becoming a truly distinguished school of engineering."Johnson praised Friedman for guiding the department during the past two years and described him as a statesman, scholar and wonderful colleague. I look forward to having Dr. Friedman lead some of our international collaborations and the new Master's in Engineering/Biomedical Engineering Leadership program.Truskey, 46, has been at Duke University since joining the biomedical engineering faculty as an assistant professor in 1987. He was promoted to associate professor in 1994 and a full professor in 2000. He also has been an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University since 1999.He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985. Prior to joining the faculty at Duke, he was a research fellow in experimental pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and an assistant professor in chemical engineering at Tufts University.Truskeys research interests are in cardiovascular engineering, tissue engineering, cell-material interactions and cell adhesion. He is the author of 60 research papers, four book chapters, over 90 research abstracts and presentations, and a forthcoming book on transport in biological systems.Truskey is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and of the American Heart Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Whitaker Foundation, American Heart Association and Medtronic Corp. Truskey is also a member of the scientific advisory board of Living Microsystems.