Brendan Harley is currently a Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a research theme leader in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Harley develops biomaterials that replicate the dynamic, spatially-patterned, and heterogeneous microenvironment found in the tissues and organs of our body. He and members of his lab use this approach to generate new insight regarding how biomaterial cues can instruct cell responses in the context of development, disease, and regeneration. Harley co-authored the book ‘Cellular materials in nature and medicine’ (Cambridge University Press, 2010) along with more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Harley has received funding from the NSF, NIH, American Cancer Society, the U.S. Army, and the AO Foundation. He recognized as a 2013 recipient of a NSF CAREER award, the 2014 Young Investigator Award from the Society for Biomaterials, and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014). He co-founded UK-based Orthomimetics, Ltd. (acquired by TiGenix, Ltd.), currently performing Phase I clinical trials on a material to repair osteochondral defects in the knee. Professor Harley joined the department in 2008. He received his SB from Harvard University in 2000 and SM/ScD from MIT in 2002 and 2006. His post-doctoral studies were completed at the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.