Paulette Spencer

Dr. Paulette Spencer, is known as a pioneer in molecular-level investigations of material/tissue interfaces. Supported by NIH and armed with an understanding of material/tissue interfacial phenomena, Dr. Spencer works with a diverse, interdisciplinary research team to design and develop a new generation of biomaterials. Her research is represented in 200 publications, 400 presentations, over 10,000 citations, and H-index 58.  In 2017, she co-edited a book titled, “Material-Tissue Interfacial Phenomena”. Building on her education and experience, she leads a research program that is driven by clinical need, and integrates engineering principles with the clinical practice of dentistry.  Dr. Spencer is among the pioneers in the development of non-destructive techniques for in situ characterization of structure/property relationships at tissue/tissue and material/tissue interfaces. She has developed a unique research program based on “practice-inspired advances in understanding tissue-material interfaces,” to drive biomaterials discovery. It has been recognized for decades that the failure of reconstructed tissues and joints using synthetic and/or tissue-engineered materials starts at the interface.  In spite of this history, mechanistic evaluation of interfacial failure remains limited. My research team uses multi-scale structure/property imaging and modeling to provide insight into mechanistic behavior of reconstructed tissue/material interfaces.  The experimental tools are state-of-the-art, while the modeling and analytical techniques bridge scales from molecules to meters.  Unique capabilities for understanding biomaterials, tissues, and biomaterial/tissue interfaces are brought together in the IBER― knowledge of interfacial phenomena is used to rationally design and develop new biomaterials.