Prof. Elazer R Edelman

Dr. Edelman’s research melds his clinical and medical training and interests, focusing on understanding how tissue architecture and biochemical regulation contribute to local growth control. Edelman and his students were among the first to validate the hypothesis that proliferative vascular diseases are the sum of effects from endogenous growth promoters and suppressors. Their characterization of how heparin-like compounds serve as suppressors and heparin-binding growth factors as promoters contributed to the creation of a rigorous framework by which to appreciate how these agents interact with one another in vivo. Additional studies enabled further definition of the nomenclature and kinetics for the FGF-2 receptor complex, characterization of synergy between many growth factors, and demonstration that the mode of growth factor or inhibitor delivery determines biologic effect.

The applied aspects of their work flow from the umbrella of growth modulation. They reasoned that the optimal way to control a biologic event was by recapitulating natural means of regulation. Hence, polymeric controlled drug delivery systems should mimic natural release systems, and vascular implants should be devised with an intimate knowledge of the injury they induce. The development and mathematical characterization of perivascular and stent-based drug delivery is an example of the former, and design of an endovascular stent from first principles is an example of the latter. The basic and applied aspects of his operation are intimately joined. Work with antisense oligonucleotides, HDL receptor biology and tissue engineered endothelial implants are a few examples where these two fields come together in his laboratory. Many of his findings are now in clinical trial validation. More than 300 students and postdoctoral fellows have passed through Dr. Edelman’s laboratory enabling publications of numerous papers and patents.