Martin Yarmush
Encyclopedia
Martin 'Maish' Yarmush
Dr. Martin Yarmush (born October 8, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York
), an American scientist, physician, and engineer, is currently the Paul and Mary Monroe Professor of Science and Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University, and the Director of the Center for Engineering in Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was formerly the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology (HST), and still maintains an appointment in HST as Senior Lecturer in Surgery and Bioengineering. He is also on the Senior Scientific Staff at the Shriners Burns Hospital in Boston, and an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. At Rutgers, Yarmush directs several interdisciplinary units including: the Center for Innovative Ventures of Emerging Technologies, the Rutgers-UMDNJ Biotechnology Training Program, and the Rutgers Institute of Bioengineering. He is one of the most widely recognized and cited researchers in bioengineering and biotechnology
, especially in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, applied immunology, and microfabrication and nanotechnology as it relates to biological systems. Yarmush also has a celebrated reputation in training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for academic careers with over 80 former fellows currently holding professorships in prestigious institutions in the US, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Finally, Yarmush has been credited with the founding and developing of several research centers and training programs dedicated to bioengineering and biotechnology.
section of Brooklyn. His family was middle class; his father was a business man and his mother was an elementary school teacher. Yarmush has two younger brothers (David, a PhD chemist, and Joel, an MD anesthesiologist and MS chemical engineer) and a younger sister (June, BA history, BS mechanical engineering, and MBA). When Yarmush was young, his family regularly attended Orthodox Jewish synagogues. Throughout his life, he has gone by the nickname, “Maish” which was given to him by his maternal grandmother. He attended the Hebrew Institute of Borough Park
(Yeshivas Eitz Chaim) from age 5 to 13, and the Brooklyn Talmudical Academy (Yeshiva University High School of Brooklyn) from age 14 to 17. In elementary school, he graduated as a valedictorian, and in high school, he also excelled in his studies, as well as in several extracurricular activities: yearbook editor, school newspaper sports editor, high school bowl team, and several sports (basketball, swimming, baseball, track, and tennis). His early summers were first spent with his family and a group called the “Country Cousins” in bungalow colonies in the Catskill region of New York State, followed by 5 years at Camp Moshava
(1963-67) and 5 years at Camp Morasha (1968-72), both Orthodox Jewish summer camps in the Pocono Mountain region of northeastern Pennsylvania. He returned to Camp Morasha in 1980 to serve as its athletic director for 17 consecutive summers (1980-97). After high school, Yarmush attended the University of Rochester
for one year, and then returned to New York City to attend Yeshiva University
from 1971-1975. He excelled academically at Yeshiva, studied Talmud under the guidance of Rabbi Hershel Schachter
, and participated early on in varsity basketball and wrestling. Always interested in music, Yarmush and several colleagues started a band called Bat Kol in 1972, which introduced a modern rock sound into Jewish music. The band performed widely and played numerous venues from 1972-1975 in the New York City and surrounding area (including a convocation for then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir), and released a record album in 1973. At the tail end of college, Yarmush was accepted into the prestigious biomedical sciences graduate program at The Rockefeller University
in New York City where he began his research career.
Yarmush is a prolific inventor and holds more than 50 granted or pending patents. He has also authored more than 400 scientific papers and has participated in the founding and advising of several advanced technology companies. He has received numerous awards, and has been a frequent invited speaker at major national and international conferences and convocations.
Dr. Yarmush received his BA degree in biology from Yeshiva University, his MD degree from Yale University, and completed PhD work at The Rockefeller University (in physical biochemistry) and MIT (in chemical engineering). He also worked as a postdoctoral fellow in immunology and immunogenetics at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Yarmush and his wife, Deborah (formerly Deborah Weisfogel), have three children: Rubin (married to Shayna), Gabriel (married to Talia) and Joshua; and three grandchildren: Azarya, Temima, and Aderet. Deborah practices family and cosmetic dentistry in Walpole, MA.
A recent award nomination effectively captures the essence of Yarmush’s accomplishments; “…..the contributions of Martin Yarmush to bioengineering are unmatched and far-reaching. He has made and continues to make innovative and trailblazing discoveries at a rate that is almost superhuman. His scholarship is unparalleled for its breadth and depth, with thousands of citations of his publications over the last thirty years as evidence that his work is both timely and timeless. His inventions have been licensed and are being practiced in research labs and industrial enterprises around the world. Bricks and mortar stand in evidence of the programs he has built, and the journals and books he has edited are a testament to the present and a guide to the future. Perhaps his most durable contributions are the people who have been touched by his teaching, his mentorship, his science, his respect for humanity, and his high ethical standards. Martin Yarmush is a man of unwavering character and out-of-the-box creativity and determination, who makes a lasting impression on every student, professional, and scholar he meets, and his body of work has had an enduring and momentous impact on the field and community of bioengineering worldwide.”
and Harvard Medical School; 5) the Rutgers Center for Innovative Ventures of Emerging Technologies; 6) and the Rutgers Institute of Bioengineering.
Yarmush has also received numerous awards throughout his career including: the Lucille P. Markey Scholar Award in Biomedical Science, the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award
, an NIH Research Career Development Award, Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Hoechst Celanese Innovative Research Award, the Bernard Revel Memorial Award in Arts & Sciences from Yeshiva U, Inductee into the New Jersey High Tech Hall of Fame, an NIH Career Enhancement Award for Stem Cell Research, and the AIChE Food Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award.
Dr. Yarmush has also contributed to the advancement of science and engineering through service as: (1) a member of NIH
, NSF
, FDA, and Office of Technology Assessment
review panels; (2) an advisory board member for foundations (e.g. the Whitaker Foundation
, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
, and Doris Duke Foundation), academic-based centers, and industrial firms; and 3) an editor of several science and engineering journals. Most notable in the latter category, is his founding and editorship of the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering
which in 2009 had an Impact Factor
of 11.235 placing it #1 in the category "Engineering, Biomedical," of 59 journals, and #1 among all engineering journals (840 in total). Yarmush is also credited with playing a major role in the design, fund raising, and construction of the new Biomedical Engineering building at Rutgers which opened in 2007, and earned an American Institute of Architects, New Jersey, Honor Award.
Dr. Martin Yarmush (born October 8, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
), an American scientist, physician, and engineer, is currently the Paul and Mary Monroe Professor of Science and Engineering and Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University, and the Director of the Center for Engineering in Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was formerly the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology (HST), and still maintains an appointment in HST as Senior Lecturer in Surgery and Bioengineering. He is also on the Senior Scientific Staff at the Shriners Burns Hospital in Boston, and an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. At Rutgers, Yarmush directs several interdisciplinary units including: the Center for Innovative Ventures of Emerging Technologies, the Rutgers-UMDNJ Biotechnology Training Program, and the Rutgers Institute of Bioengineering. He is one of the most widely recognized and cited researchers in bioengineering and biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, especially in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, applied immunology, and microfabrication and nanotechnology as it relates to biological systems. Yarmush also has a celebrated reputation in training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for academic careers with over 80 former fellows currently holding professorships in prestigious institutions in the US, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Finally, Yarmush has been credited with the founding and developing of several research centers and training programs dedicated to bioengineering and biotechnology.
Early Life and Education
Yarmush was born in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, NY to Rubin and Rosalyn Yarmush, and was raised in the Borough ParkBorough Park, Brooklyn
Borough Park , is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York City in the United States....
section of Brooklyn. His family was middle class; his father was a business man and his mother was an elementary school teacher. Yarmush has two younger brothers (David, a PhD chemist, and Joel, an MD anesthesiologist and MS chemical engineer) and a younger sister (June, BA history, BS mechanical engineering, and MBA). When Yarmush was young, his family regularly attended Orthodox Jewish synagogues. Throughout his life, he has gone by the nickname, “Maish” which was given to him by his maternal grandmother. He attended the Hebrew Institute of Borough Park
Hebrew Institute of Boro Park
Hebrew Institute of Boro Park Hebrew Institute of Boro Park Hebrew Institute of Boro Park (HIBP, also known as "Yeshivas Etz Chaim" was the first Jewish Day School in Boro Park.-History:It was the first yeshiva in Boro Park , located at 5000 13th Avenue ....
(Yeshivas Eitz Chaim) from age 5 to 13, and the Brooklyn Talmudical Academy (Yeshiva University High School of Brooklyn) from age 14 to 17. In elementary school, he graduated as a valedictorian, and in high school, he also excelled in his studies, as well as in several extracurricular activities: yearbook editor, school newspaper sports editor, high school bowl team, and several sports (basketball, swimming, baseball, track, and tennis). His early summers were first spent with his family and a group called the “Country Cousins” in bungalow colonies in the Catskill region of New York State, followed by 5 years at Camp Moshava
Camp Moshava (Pennsylvania)
Camp Moshava , is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox Jewish Summer Camp located in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. The camp describes its mission as; "an adventure in Religious Zionism"....
(1963-67) and 5 years at Camp Morasha (1968-72), both Orthodox Jewish summer camps in the Pocono Mountain region of northeastern Pennsylvania. He returned to Camp Morasha in 1980 to serve as its athletic director for 17 consecutive summers (1980-97). After high school, Yarmush attended the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
for one year, and then returned to New York City to attend Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
from 1971-1975. He excelled academically at Yeshiva, studied Talmud under the guidance of Rabbi Hershel Schachter
Hershel Schachter
Hershel Schachter is a rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , Yeshiva University, in New York City, and the son of the late Rabbi Melech Schachter, who was also a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University...
, and participated early on in varsity basketball and wrestling. Always interested in music, Yarmush and several colleagues started a band called Bat Kol in 1972, which introduced a modern rock sound into Jewish music. The band performed widely and played numerous venues from 1972-1975 in the New York City and surrounding area (including a convocation for then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir), and released a record album in 1973. At the tail end of college, Yarmush was accepted into the prestigious biomedical sciences graduate program at The Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
in New York City where he began his research career.
Academic Career
Yarmush is widely regarded for his contributions to science and medicine and several emerging fields of biotechnology and bioengineering. He is considered an incomparable innovator and trailblazer of many new techniques and technologies, including industrially and clinically relevant cell culture systems, bioartificial organ devices, genetically modified skin substitutes, dynamic cell and tissue-based microfabricated systems, numerous applications of monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments for medical and industrial applications, metabolic engineering tools for understanding tissue responses in disease, recellularized organs, nanoparticles for therapeutic purposes, new biomaterials, and stem cell bioreactors for treatment of organ failure.Yarmush is a prolific inventor and holds more than 50 granted or pending patents. He has also authored more than 400 scientific papers and has participated in the founding and advising of several advanced technology companies. He has received numerous awards, and has been a frequent invited speaker at major national and international conferences and convocations.
Dr. Yarmush received his BA degree in biology from Yeshiva University, his MD degree from Yale University, and completed PhD work at The Rockefeller University (in physical biochemistry) and MIT (in chemical engineering). He also worked as a postdoctoral fellow in immunology and immunogenetics at the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Yarmush and his wife, Deborah (formerly Deborah Weisfogel), have three children: Rubin (married to Shayna), Gabriel (married to Talia) and Joshua; and three grandchildren: Azarya, Temima, and Aderet. Deborah practices family and cosmetic dentistry in Walpole, MA.
A recent award nomination effectively captures the essence of Yarmush’s accomplishments; “…..the contributions of Martin Yarmush to bioengineering are unmatched and far-reaching. He has made and continues to make innovative and trailblazing discoveries at a rate that is almost superhuman. His scholarship is unparalleled for its breadth and depth, with thousands of citations of his publications over the last thirty years as evidence that his work is both timely and timeless. His inventions have been licensed and are being practiced in research labs and industrial enterprises around the world. Bricks and mortar stand in evidence of the programs he has built, and the journals and books he has edited are a testament to the present and a guide to the future. Perhaps his most durable contributions are the people who have been touched by his teaching, his mentorship, his science, his respect for humanity, and his high ethical standards. Martin Yarmush is a man of unwavering character and out-of-the-box creativity and determination, who makes a lasting impression on every student, professional, and scholar he meets, and his body of work has had an enduring and momentous impact on the field and community of bioengineering worldwide.”
Experience and Awards
Dr. Yarmush has founded and directed many Centers and Training Programs. These include: 1) the Rutgers-UMDNJ Biotechnology Training Program; 2) the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials and Medical Devices; 3) the MGH Biomedical Engineering Program for Physician Fellows; 4) the Center for Engineering in Medicine at MGHMassachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
and Harvard Medical School; 5) the Rutgers Center for Innovative Ventures of Emerging Technologies; 6) and the Rutgers Institute of Bioengineering.
Yarmush has also received numerous awards throughout his career including: the Lucille P. Markey Scholar Award in Biomedical Science, the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award
Presidential Young Investigator Award
The Presidential Young Investigator Award was awarded by the National Science Foundation. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator Awards and Presidential Faculty Fellows Program...
, an NIH Research Career Development Award, Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Hoechst Celanese Innovative Research Award, the Bernard Revel Memorial Award in Arts & Sciences from Yeshiva U, Inductee into the New Jersey High Tech Hall of Fame, an NIH Career Enhancement Award for Stem Cell Research, and the AIChE Food Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Award.
Dr. Yarmush has also contributed to the advancement of science and engineering through service as: (1) a member of NIH
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
, NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, FDA, and Office of Technology Assessment
Office of Technology Assessment
The Office of Technology Assessment was an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology...
review panels; (2) an advisory board member for foundations (e.g. the Whitaker Foundation
Whitaker Foundation
The Whitaker Foundation was based in Arlington, Virginia and was an organization that primarily supported biomedical engineering education and research, but also supported other forms of medical research. It was founded and funded by U. A. Whitaker in 1975 upon his death with additional support...
, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes research. Driven by volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research...
, and Doris Duke Foundation), academic-based centers, and industrial firms; and 3) an editor of several science and engineering journals. Most notable in the latter category, is his founding and editorship of the Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering
Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering
The Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering is an academic journal started by Martin Yarmush in an effort to document cutting edge research in the areas of molecular, cellular, and bioengineering.The journal is published by the nonprofit Annual Reviews....
which in 2009 had an Impact Factor
Impact factor
The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed...
of 11.235 placing it #1 in the category "Engineering, Biomedical," of 59 journals, and #1 among all engineering journals (840 in total). Yarmush is also credited with playing a major role in the design, fund raising, and construction of the new Biomedical Engineering building at Rutgers which opened in 2007, and earned an American Institute of Architects, New Jersey, Honor Award.
External links
- Center for Engineering in Medicine
- Shriners Burns Hospital, Boston
- MGH Burn Research Center
- Rutgers University Department of Biomedical Engineering
- CIVET
- Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering
- Biotechnology Training Program
- Artech House - Methods in Bioengineering
- Rutgers Institute of Bioengineering
- Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology
- Harvard Catalyst
- Rutgers IGERT Stem Cells
- MGH BioMEMS Resource Center