Associate Professor
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Vivek Kumar received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University in 2006, and doctorate degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011. He did post-doctoral work at BIDMC, Harvard Medical School, and Rice University. He has honed his expertise is in the area of tissue engineering, drug development and delivery, and specific research interests are in the area of inflammation modulation and angiogenesis, especially in understanding the role of small growth factor or cytokine mimics’ ability to signal biological processes. He is the co-author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, over 5 dozen abstracts, an inventor on a dozen patents/applications, and serial entrepreneur (4 startups to-date).
Vivek currently serves at the New Jersey Institute of Technology as an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Materials Engineering, Biology and (by courtesy) Endodontics at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (tenure in 2022). Vivek teaches Biomaterials and Biomedical Translation and Entrepreneurship. As a pre-health advisor and a member of the BME Faculty search committee, University IP committee, and endowed fellow of the Albert Dorman Honors College, Vivek strives to encourage research involvement with undergraduates, graduates and post-doctoral scientists. Research in the KumarLab (kumarlab.njit.edu) aims at translating technologies in startups (NangioTx.com / SAPHTx.com) towards treating a wide array of pathologies. To this end, Vivek is a frequent member of SBIR/STTR and NIH study sections, and serves as a reviewer for over a dozen peer-reviewed journals.