CREATING NEXT-GENERATION BIOMATERIALS FOR THIS GENERATION’S MOST PRESSING HEALTHCARE NEEDS Chronic diseases affect more than half of the US population. Their prevalence will only continue to rise with increasing life expectancy and sedentary lifestyles, sometimes decreasing the quality of patients’ lives for decades and putting enormous pressure on healthcare providers everywhere. Advances in biomedical engineering have delivered prominent solutions to this growing global predicament, and many chronic diseases are optimally managed using the long-term implantation of medical devices, drug delivery vehicles or engineered tissues. Our overarching goal is to create implantable and regenerative therapies by merging advances in biology, engineering, and materials sciences. Particularly, we aim to develop materials that will not only be compatible with patients, but can also direct the cellular responses of the patient in a desired manner. To achieve this, we must first develop biomaterials with the desired functionalities and capabilities, and understand their underlying mechanisms. Our materials innovations will pave the way for the design of a new generation of regenerative therapies.