Gabor Forgacs

Gabor Forgacs is a theoretical physicist turned bioengineer turned innovator-entrepreneur. He is the George H. Vineyard Professor of Biological Physics at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Executive and Scientific Director of the Shipley Center for Innovation at Clarkson University. He was trained as a theoretical physicist at the Roland Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary and the Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics, Moscow, USSR. He also has a degree in biology. His research interests span from topics in theoretical physics to physical mechanisms in early embryonic development. He is the co-author of the celebrated text in the field, “Biological Physics of the Developing Embryo” (Cambridge University Press, 2005). He is applying these mechanisms to building living structures of prescribed shape and functionality using bioprinting, a novel tissue engineering technology he pioneered. He is the author of more than 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 5 books. He has been recognized by numerous awards and citations. In particular, he was named as one of the “100 most innovative people in business in 2010” by FastCompany. In addition to his scientific and business pursuits, he is actively involved in policy issues on translational research in particular in modernizing the US university innovation and technology transfer system.