Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University in 2011 and completed his postdoctoral training from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. The goal of his lab is to understand the cell-nanomaterials interactions and to develop nanoengineered strategies for modulating stem cell behavior for repair and regeneration of damaged tissue. In particular, his lab is leveraging principles from materials science, stem cell biology, additive biomanufacturing and high throughput genomics to design nanoengineered biomaterials, with wide-ranging applications in the field of regenerative medicine. His lab has developed approaches to direct stem cells differentiation by modulating the biophysical and biochemical characteristics of nanoengineered biomaterials.