Clemens A. van Blitterswijk (1957, The Hague) is a Dutch tissue engineer who contributed to the use of biomaterials to heal bone injuries, especially using osteoinductive ceramics. In collaboration with Jan de Boer and others, he has contributed to screening microtextures to study cell-biomaterial interactions, an approach termed materiomics.

Contents

• 1 Career
• 2 Valorization
• 3 Teaching
• 4 Awards
• 5 Ten outstanding publications as a co-author or corresponding author
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Career

Blitterswijk graduated from a bachelor in cell biology at Leiden University and defended his PhD thesis in 1985 at the same university on artificial ceramic middle ear implants under the supervision of Professor Jan Grote and Klaas de Groot, for which he was awarded the Jean Leray young scientist award from the European Society for Biomaterials in 1987. From 1985 to 1996, he worked on hydroxyapa*e biomaterials for middle ear implants under the mentorship of Jan Grote and Klaas De Groot at Leiden University.

In 1996, he left Leiden University and co-founded, together with Klaas De Groot, IsoTis BV, a life sciences company focused on bone biomaterials and tissue engineering.

In 1997, he became a professor at University of Twente. Later, he was appointed director of the University of Twente’s MIRA Ins*ute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine ins*ute (the ins*ute no longer exists). In collaboration with Jan de Boer, Hemant Unadkat, and Dimitri Stamatialis, he contributed to the development of a high-throughput *ay to design and select micrometer-scale surface textures that could enhance specific biological functions (TopoChip).

In 2012, he became a partner of the Life Science Partner (LSP) private investment firm where he invests in private companies and start ups related to healthcare innovations.

In 2014, he became a distinguished professor at Maastricht University. Until 2018, he was the director and department chair at the MERLN Ins*ute at Maastricht University. In 2015, he was awarded an ERC Advanced grant that aimed at developing microfabricated and microfluidic cell culture platforms for improving organoids. The conception of this grant application and the research relative to it were done by several principal investigators at Maastricht University.

Valorization

He has served as CEO of IsoTis., a company that underwent an Initial Public Offering and was subsequently acquired by Integra LifeSciences. In 2018, he became the chairman of the board of directors of Kuros Biosciences.

Teaching

Blitterswijk has been the official supervisor of over 80 PhD candidates who, in their large majority, have worked in the laboratories of other faculty members. He has participated as an editor of four textbooks, including one dedicated to tissue engineering.

Awards

• Jean Leray award in 1989 for the work in his PhD thesis
• Professor de Kleijn award in 1989 for the work in his PhD thesis
• George Winter senior scientist award in 1997
• Federa award in 2012
• "Most entrepreneurial scientist" award in 2012
• Career Achievement award of the EU Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society in 2013
• Huibregtsen award in 2015
• ESB Klaas de Groot award in 2021

Ten outstanding publications as a co-author or corresponding author

• Levenberg S, Rouwkema J, Macdonald M, Garfein ES, Kohane DS, Darland DC, Marini R, van Blitterswijk CA, Mulligan RC, D'Amore PA, Langer R (July 2005). "Engineering vascularized skeletal muscle tissue". Nature Biotechnology. 23 (7): 879–84. doi:10.1038/nbt1109. PMID:15965465. S2CID:28136064.
• Moroni L, de Wijn JR, van Blitterswijk CA (March 2006). "3D fiber-deposited scaffolds for tissue engineering: influence of pores geometry and architecture on dynamic mechanical properties". Biomaterials. 27 (7): 974–85. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.07.023. PMID:16055183.
• Rouwkema J, de Boer J, Van Blitterswijk CA (September 2006). "Endothelial cells *emble into a 3-dimensional prevascular network in a bone tissue engineering construct". Tissue Engineering. 12 (9): 2685–93. doi:10.1089/ten.2006.12.2685. PMID:16995802.
• Meijer GJ, de Bruijn JD, Koole R, van Blitterswijk CA (February 2007). "Cell-based bone tissue engineering". PLOS Medicine. 4 (2): e9. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040009. PMC:1800310. PMID:17311467.
• Jukes JM, Both SK, Leusink A, Sterk LM, van Blitterswijk CA, de Boer J (May 2008). "Endochondral bone tissue engineering using embryonic stem cells". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (19): 6840–5. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711662105. PMC:2374550. PMID:18467492.
• Yuan H, Fernandes H, Habibovic P, de Boer J, Barradas AM, de Ruiter A, Walsh WR, van Blitterswijk CA, de Bruijn JD (August 2010). "Osteoinductive ceramics as a synthetic alternative to autologous bone grafting". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (31): 13614–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.1003600107. PMC:2922269. PMID:20643969.
• Unadkat HV, Hulsman M, Cornelissen K, Papenburg BJ, Truckenmüller RK, Carpenter AE, Wessling M, Post GF, Uetz M, Reinders MJ, Stamatialis D, van Blitterswijk CA, de Boer J (October 2011). "An algorithm-based topographical biomaterials library to instruct cell fate". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 108 (40): 16565–70. doi:10.1073/pnas.1109861108. PMC:3189082. PMID:21949368.
• Rivron NC, Vrij EJ, Rouwkema J, Le Gac S, van den Berg A, Truckenmüller RK, van Blitterswijk CA (May 2012). "Tissue deformation spatially modulates VEGF signaling and angiogenesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 109 (18): 6886–91. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201626109. PMC:3344996. PMID:22511716.
• Danoux C, Sun L, Koçer G, Birgani ZT, Barata D, Barralet J, van Blitterswijk C, Truckenmüller R, Habibovic P (March 2016). "Development of Highly Functional Biomaterials by Decoupling and Recombining Material Properties". Advanced Materials. 28 (9): 1803–8. doi:10.1002/adma.201504589. PMID:26689847.
• Rivron NC, Frias-Aldeguer J, Vrij EJ, Boisset JC, Korving J, Vivié J, Truckenmüller RK, van Oudenaarden A, van Blitterswijk CA, Geijsen N (May 2018). "Blastocyst-like structures generated solely from stem cells" (PDF). Nature. 557 (7703): 106–11. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0051-0. PMID:29720634. S2CID:13749109.

References

External links

• Introduction to Professor van Blitterswijk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjYBwYS1eI0
• TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR9oAyVldl0