Elliot L. Chaikof
Dr. Chaikof is Chairman of the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the Johnson and Johnson Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and is a member of the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering. In all of these roles, he promotes alliances of clinicians, engineers, chemists, and biologists. His leadership contributes to public policies that improve the quality of care of the surgical patient and develops biologically inspired materials, devices, and pharmacotherapeutics based upon the principles of molecular engineering and nanofabrication technologies. His endeavors have enabled advances in cell-based therapies, artificial organs, and engineered living tissues, which define the evolving field of Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Chaikof's translational clinical research investigations have been supported by grants from industry and the NIH and reported in major surgical journals. He has been the PI for over 30 clinical trial protocols directed at endovascular therapies for aortic aneurysms, carotid disease, and peripheral arterial disease, as well as novel biologics, gene therapy, and tissue engineered products for the cure of venous and arterial disease. Significantly, he has either Chaired or has been a major participant on multiple national and international committees that have published clinical practice guidelines that impact the care of patients with vascular disease. His research has been published in over 250 publications in high-impact journals in the fields of chemistry and materials science, including Macromolecules, Langmuir, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Biomacromolecules, Angewandte Chemie, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Approximately 20 patents have been filed or issued based on these studies. Dr. Chaikof is the scientific founder of Ontogenesys, Inc., which is focused on the development of engineered tissue and regenerative technologies.
Dr. Chaikof received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University and completed a residency in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital. While a surgical resident, he obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subsequently completed additional training in Vascular Surgery at the Emory University.