Alexandru Biris, Ph.D.

Biris

Dr. Alexandru S. Biris is a Professor in the Systems Engineering Department at the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology, and is the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable Trust Nanotechnology Chair at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  He has been the Chief Scientist at the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences (CINS) since it began in 2006 and has served as Director since 2009.  Dr. Biris leads the research at CINS, exploring the science of nanostructures that can be used to alter the properties of other substances at the atomic level. The key to Dr. Biris’s vision for CINS is its aggressive outreach program to train and educate young people and other world class scientists who will serve and attract business and industry to Arkansas from the region and the nation.

Dr. Biris is also Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nushores Biosciences LLC. NuShores was founded in 2014 to commercialize patented bone and tissue regeneration technologies developed at UA-Little Rock.

Dr. Biris received his undergraduate degree in Physics and completed a master’s degree in material science from the University of Cluj and the National Center for Scientific Research in Grenoble, France in 1997. He was working as a research associate at the National Institute of Molecular and Isotopic Technology in Cluj when UA-Little Rock professor Malay K. Mazumder called him about coming to Little Rock to pursue a Ph.D. after being impressed by a scientific paper he had written. He arrived in 1999 and completed his doctorate in applied and engineering science in 2004. Dr. Biris then went to work as a research associate in nanotechnology in UA-Little Rock’s chemistry department, also serving as a visiting scientist at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Arkansas.

Dr. Biris has over one hundred fifty peer reviewed publications, 7 issued patents, and over twenty patent applications and serves as a Manager Editor and member of the Editorial Board for the Particulate Science and Technology Journal.

Research Focus

His areas of expertise include nanotechnology, Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction, planetary instrumentation (Mars dust analyzer), particulate science, nanoparticle and carbon nanotube generation, nanomedicine, nanocomposite materials for space exploration, surface technology, nano-sensors and bio nano-sensors, materials science and engineering, coating technology, hydrogen interaction with metals, alloys, and carbon nanostructures.

Current Research:

Bone & Tissue Regeneration

CINS researchers have developed nanocomposite materials that mimic bone and tissue structures needed to maximize healing. These new materials can also deliver antibiotics to fight infection and proteins to enhance bone growth. Ongoing research in bone and tissue regeneration at CINS focuses on the application of our discoveries to restore and replace damaged and lost tissue.

Dr. Biris and team at NuShores patented the NuCress™ bone scaffold technology, which has shown to promote healing of large segmental bone breaks (>2.5 cm), tested in nearly 500 large test subjects across 8 different species in addition to hundreds of rabbits and mice – with few infections, inflammation, rejection or adverse bone response.In 2019, NuShores received a $5.6 million grant awarded by the Department of Defense (DOD) for Generation 1 manufacturing of the NuCress™ bone void filler scaffold products.  In 2020, NuShores was awarded a 3-year, $2.8M contract from the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), a 501(c)(3) biomedical technology consortium associated with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.  to develop intelligent automated production of its NuCress™ bone void filler scaffold products. In 2023,  they received nearly half a million dollars to be added to their current 3-year contract awarded through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC).  This additional funding will to extend their MTEC contract for Factory in a Box (FIAB) intelligent automated biomedical device manufacturing efforts.  The Factory in a Box project is to design, develop and demonstrate several iterations of an intelligent automated production of NuShores’ NuCress™ bone void filler scaffold products.