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Justin Saul
Professor
Cell, Molecular and Structural Biology Graduate Program, Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, Assistive Technology Center

Justin Saul, Ph.D.

Contact Info

513-529-0769
Engineering Building 64 L

Education

  • Postdoctoral Training, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering September, 2005–August, 2007
  • Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University January, 2006
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, 1999 (with Honors)

Research Interests

  • Controlled release and delivery of therapeutic agents including chemotherapy drugs, small molecule/peptide therapeutics, antibiotics, and nucleotides.
  • The role of physical guidance cues in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
  • Application of drug delivery systems to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Research Bio

Justin Saul earned a B.S. in 1999 from Purdue University and served as a co-op engineer at SC Johnson Polymer (Racine, WI) as an undergraduate. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2006 and served as a “visiting scientist” at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 2003 – 2005 under the direction of Dr. Ravi Bellamkonda. His Ph.D. dissertation was related to the development of chemotherapy-loaded nanoparticles targeted to surface receptors in cancer cells.

Following his Ph.D. he worked for two years as a senior fellow in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington with Dr. Suzie Pun. His research efforts were directed toward non-viral gene carriers and their application to tissue engineering constructs (specifically, tissue engineered esophagus) to promote expression of transgenes involved in vascularization, such as vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF).

Before joining Miami in 2011, Dr. Saul was on faculty at Wake Forest University Health Sciences from 2007-2011.

Dr. Saul has continued his work in drug and cell delivery from biomaterial constructs since joining Miami.

His current research includes biomaterials to support cells for retinal regeneration, delivery of growth factors to promote bone regeneration, cell delivery strategies for skeletal muscle, and tissue engineering strategies for hormone replacement.

He is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and serves as a Professor in the Department of Chemical, Paper and Biomedical Engineering.

Research Projects

  • Drug delivery systems

Interests

  • Controlled release and delivery of therapeutic agents including chemotherapy drugs, small molecule/peptide therapeutics, antibiotics, and nucleotides.
  • The role of physical guidance cues in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
  • Application of drug delivery systems to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Experience

Academic Experience

  • Associate Professor of Chemical, Paper Biomedical Engineering, 黑料社区, 2011–present
  • Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering. Wake Forest University School of Health Sciences and Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC. November, 2007–2011. 
  • Assistant Professor, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. November, 2007–2011. 

Professional Experience

  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Institute for Regenerative Medicine. November, 2007–2011
  • Senior Fellow. University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering. September, 2005–August, 2007.  
  • Graduate Research Assistant in PhD Program. Case Western Reserve University, Department of Biomedical Engineering. September, 1999–September, 2005. 
  • Co-op Engineer – Polymer Process Development. SC Johnson Polymer, Racine, Wisconsin. January–August, 1998.
  • Co-op Engineer - Manufacturing. SC Johnson Polymer, Racine, Wisconsin. August–December, 1996; May–August, 1997. Rodger Kruse, group leader. 

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  1. Saul, JM;† O’Brien, M., Alnuami, S. Carnwath, T., Dunivan, Q., Nchinda, A., Smith, TL. Effect of Tunable Keratin Biomaterials on Bone Regeneration in a Critically-Sized Rat Femur Defect Model.  Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-025-00747-4
  2. Sparks, J; Ehlert, KM; Davis, KC; Saul, JM; Kirkmeyer, BP; Fox, DJ; Nguyen, T; Hughes, M.  Investigating the Impact of First-Year Course Activities on Students’ Identity and Sense of Belonging in Engineering and Computing.  ASEE Conference and Exposition, 2024.
  3. Duke, RE; Stanich, NJ; Sivanandane, S; Opara, EC; Berberich, JA†; Saul, JM†.  A Simple Mathematical Model Demonstrates the Potential for Cell-Based Hormone Therapy to Address Dysregulation of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovary Axis in Females with Loss of Ovarian Function. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 52 (1894-1907), 2024.
  4. Todd, M., Liu, L; Saul, JM; Yazdani, SK. Pre-clinical investigation of liquid sirolimus for local drug delivery. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, September, 2023. PMC10540618
  5. Brodin, E.; Boehmer, M.; Prentice, A.; Neff, E.; McCoy, K.; Mueller, J.; Saul, J.; Sparks, J.L.  Extrusion 3D printing of keratin protein hydrogels free of exogenous chemical agents.  Biomedical Materials, 17, 2022.
  6. Zeng, Z.; Phuong, L; Robinson, ML; Del Rio-Tsonis, K; Saul, JM†.  Design and Characterization of biomimetic kerateine aerogel-electrospun poly(caprolactone) scaffolds for retinal cell culture.  Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 49 (1633-1644), 2021. 
  7. Goel, E.; Erwin, M.; Cawthon, CV; Schaff, C; Fedor, N; Rayl, T; Wilson, O; Christians, U; Register, TC; Geary, RL, Saul J; Yazdani, SK. Pre-clinical investigation of keratose as an excipient of drug coated balloons. Molecules, 2020. 
  8. Sittadjody, S; Enck, KM; Wells, A; Yoo, JJ; Atala, A; Saul, JM†; Opara, EC.  Encapsulation of mesenchymal stem cells in 3D ovarian cell constructs promotes stable and long-term hormone secretion with improved physiological outcomes in a syngeneic rat model.  Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 48(3), 1058-1070, 2020.
  9. Turner, E; Erwin, M; Atigh, M; Christians, U; Saul, J; Yazdani, SK.  In vitro and in vivo assessment of keratose as a novel excipient of paclitaxel coated balloons.  Frontiers in Pharmacology, July 30, 2018.
  10. Cohen, DJ; Hyzy, SL; Haque, S; Olson, LC; Boyan, BD; Saul, JM†; Schwartz, S.  Effects of Tunable Keratin Hydrogel Erosion on rhBMP-2 Release, Bioactivity, and Bone Induction.  Tissue Engineering, 24(21-22): 1616-1630, 2018.
  11. Kowalczewski, CJ and Saul, JM†.  Biomaterials for the Delivery of Growth Factors and Other Therapeutic Agents in Tissue Engineering Approaches to Bone Regeneration.  Frontiers in Pharmacology, May 29, 2018.
  12. Sittadjody, S; Saul, JM; McQuilling, JP; Joo, S; Register, TC; Yoo, JJ; Atala, A; Opara, EC.  In vivo transplantation of 3D encapsulated ovarian constructs in rats corrects abnormalities of ovarian failure.  Nature Communications, 8(1): 1858, 2018.
  13. Passipieri, JA; Baker, HB; Siriwardane, M; Ellenburg, MD; Vadhakvar, M; Saul, JM; Tomblyn, S; Burnett, L; Christ, GJ.  Keratin hydrogel enhances in vivo skeletal muscle function in a rat model of volumetric muscle loss. Tissue Engineering, 23 (11-12): 556-571, 2017. 
  14. Baker, HB; Passipieri, JA; Siriwardane, M; Ellenburg, MD; Vadhakvar, M; Bergman, CR; Saul, JM; Tomblyn, S; Burnett, L; Christ, GJ.  Cell and growth factor loaded keratin hydrogels for treatment of volumetric muscle loss (VML) in a mouse model. Tissue Engineering, 23(11-12), 572-584, 2017.
  15. Scott, JB; Corona, BT; Ward, CL; Harrison, BS; Saul, JM†; Christ, GJ.  Achieving acetylcholine receptor clustering in tissue-engineered skeletal muscle constructs in vitro through a materials-directed agrin delivery approach. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 7:508, January 11, 2017.
  16. Seyler, TM; Plate, JF; Lively MO; Mannava, S; Smith, TL; Saul, JM; Poehling, GG; Van Dyke, ME; Whitlock, PW; Bracey, D.  The development of a xenogaft-derived scaffold for tendon and ligament reconstruction using a novel decellularization and oxidation protocol. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, 33(2): 374-386, 2017.
  17. Sittadjody, S; Saul, JM; Opara, EC.  Compartmentalization of two cell types in multi-layered alginate microcapsules. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1479: 225-235, 2017. 
  18. Zhang, B; Digby, Z; Flum, JA; Chakma, P; Saul, JM; Sparks, JL; Konkolewicz, D. Dynamic thiol-Michael chemistry for thermo-responsive self-healing and malleable networks. Macromolecules, 49(18): 6871-6878, 2016. 
  19. Tomblyn, S; Kneller EP; Walker, SJ; Ellenburg, MD; Kowalczewski, CJ; Van Dyke, M; Burnett, L; Saul, JM†.  Keratin hydrogel carrier system for simultaneous delivery of exogenous growth factors and muscle progenitor cells.  Journal of Biomedical Materials Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 104(5): 864-879, 2016.
  20. Ham, TR; Lee RT; Han, S; Haque, S; Vodovotz, Y; Gu, J; Burnett, L; Tomblyn, S; Saul, JM†. Tunable Keratin Hydrogels for Controlled Eorsion and Growth Factor Delivery. Biomacromolecules, 17(1): 225 – 236, 2016.
  21. Kowalczewski, CJ; Saul, JM†.  Knockdown of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Binding Antagonist Noggin by Delivery of siRNA from Fibrin Hydrogels.  Acta Biomaterialia, 25: 109-120, 2015.
  22. Han, S; Ham, TR; Saul, JM†.  Alkylation of Human Hair Keratin for Tunable Hydrogel Erosion and Drug Delivery in Tissue Engineering Applications. Acta Biomaterialia, 23: 201 – 213, 2015.
  23. Roy, DC; Burmeister, DM; Wrice, NL; Becerra, SC; Tombyln, S; Burnett, L; Saul, JM; Christy, RJ.  Ciprofoxacin-loaded keratin gels prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and support healing in a porcine full-thickness excisional wound.  Advances in Wound Care, 4(8): 457-468, 2015.
  24. Kowalczewski, CJ; Tomblyn, S; Wasnick, DC; Ellenburg, M; Callahan, M; Smith, T; Van Dyke, M; Burnett, L; Saul, JM†.  Kerateine biomaterials bridge critically-sized rat mandibular defects with minimal ectopic bone growth through controlled release of recombinant human bone morphogenic protein-2.  Biomaterials, 35(10): 3220-3228, 2014.
  25. Cheng, X; Tsao, C; Saul, JM; Sylvia, V; Cornet, D; Christy, R.  Comparison of two nanoparticle formulations for localized delivery of PDGF from aligned collagen fibers. Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, 1(1): 1-10, 2013. 
  26. Christ, GJ; Saul, JM; Furth, M; Andersson, K-E.  The Pharmacology of Regenerative Medicine (Review).  Pharmacological Reviews, 65(3): 1091-1133, 2013.  
  27. Sittadjody, S; Saul, JM; Joo, S; Yoo, JJ; Atala, A; Opara, EC.  In vitro functions of bio-artificial endocrine ovary designed as multi-layered microcapsules using encapsulation techniques.  Biomaterials, 34(10): 2412-2420, 2013. 
  28. De Guzman, RC; Saul, JM; Ellenburg, MD; Merrill, MR; Coan, HB; Smith, TL; Van Dyke, ME.  Bone regeneration with BMP-2 delivered from keratose scaffolds.  Biomaterials, 34(6): 1644 – 1656, 2013. 
  29. Tendulkar, ST; Mirmalek-Sani, S-H; Childers, C.; Saul, J; Opara, EC; Ramasubramanian, MK.  A three-dimensional microfluidic approach to scaling up microencapsulation of cells.  Biomedical Microdevices, 14(3): 461-469, 2012. 
  30. Saul, JM†; Clarke, JB.  (Invited, peer-reviewed).  Recent advances and patents in the local delivery of nucleic acids by non-viral means in neural applications (Review).  Recent Patents on Biomedical Engineering 5(1): 78-82, 2012. 
  31. Orlando, G; Wood, KJ, Baptista, P; Binder, KW; Bitar, KN; Breuer, C; Burnett, L; Christ, G; De Coppi, P; Farney, A; Figliuzzi, M; Holmes, J; Koch, K; Macciarini, P; Mirmalek Sani, S-H; Opara, E; Remuzzi, A; Rogers, J; Saul, JM, Seliktar, D; Shapira-Schweitzer, K; Smith, T; Solomon, D; Van Dyke, M; Yoo, J.; Zhang, Y; Atala, A; Stratta, RJ; Soker, S.  Regenerative medicine as applied to general surgery.  Annals of Surgery, 255(5): 867-880, 2012. 
  32. Saul, JM†; Ellenburg, MD; de Guzman, R.; Van Dyke, ME.  Sustained release of bioactive ciprofloxacin from keratin hydrogels.  Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 98(4): 544-553, 2011.
  33. Scott, JB; Afshari, M; Kotek, R; Saul, JM†.  Polymer templated fibrin scaffolds promote axon extension in vitro.  Biomaterials, 32(21): 4830-4839, 2011. 
  34. Saul, JM; Wang, CK; Ng, CP; Pun, SH.  Multilayer nanocomplexes of polymer and DNA exhibit enhanced gene delivery.  Advanced Materials, 20(1): 19-25, 2008.
  35. Saul, JM; Linnes, MP; Ratner, BD; Giachelli, CM; Pun, SH.  Two-stage delivery of non-viral gene carriers from sphere-templated fibrin scaffolds for sustained transgene expression.  Biomaterials, 28(31), 4705-4716, 2007.
  36. Saul, JM; Annapragada, AV; Bellamkonda, RV.  A dual ligand approach for enhancing selectivity of tumor-targeted drug delivery vehicles.  Journal of Controlled Release, 114(3), 277-287, 2006.
  37. Ghaghada, KB; Saul, J; Natarajan, JV; Bellamkonda, RV; Annapragada, AV.  Folate targeting of drug carriers: A mathematical model.  Journal of Controlled Release, 104(1):113-128, 2005. 
  38. Saul, JM; Annapragada, A; Natarajan, JV; Bellamkonda, RV.  Controlled targeting of liposomal doxorubicin via the folate receptor in vitro.  Journal of Controlled Release, 92(1-2), 49-67, 2003. 
  39. Kader, KN; Moore, LR; Saul, JM; Zborowski, M; Ziats, NP; Bellamkonda, RV.  Isolation and purification of canine adipose microvascular endothelial cells.  Microvascular Research, 61(2), 220-226, 2001.

Chapters

  • Saul, JM and Williams, DF. Chapter 35: Hydrogels. In “Principles of Regenerative Medicine” (Editors: Atala, Lanza, Thomson, and Nerem), pages 637 – 662. Academic Press, Elsevier, NY, 2011. 
  • Saul, JM and Harrison, BS. Micro- and nano-scale delivery of therapeutic agents for Regenerative Therapy. In “Regenerative Pharmacology (Editors: Christ and Andersson). Cambridge Press, NY. Submitted.