Robert J. Linhardt

Heparin is a prominent and widely used clinical anticoagulant prepared from animal tissue; a contamination crisis in 2008 led to an examination of the opportunities to use biotechnology to engineer improved heparin products. It also highlighted challenges in maintaining food and drug safety in a global marketplace. Linhardt discussed projects to better understand heparin biosynthesis using molecular biology to engineer organisms and nanotechnology to prepare devices on which biosynthesis can take place. 

Linhardt is the Ann and John H. Broadbent, Jr. ’59 Senior Constellation Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering at Rensselaer,
holding appointments in the chemistry and chemical biology, biology, chemical and biological engineering, and biomedical engineering departments. His honors include the American Chemical Society Horace S. Isbell Award. He is a fellow of the AAAS and one of the Scientific American Top 10, has published over 600 peer-
reviewed manuscripts, and holds over 50 patents.

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