Bill J. Tawil
Associate Professor
University of California, Los Angeles
USA
Biography
Dr. Bill Tawil obtained his Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He then completed his Master and Doctorate degrees in Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal studying the expression and function of adhesion cell surface receptors (integrins) in the Central Nervous System and during tumor metastasis. Subsequently, he spent four years of postdoctoral training at the Center for Cancer Research at MIT under the supervision of Dr. Richard Hynes investigating cell adhesion during the cell cycle. As a Scientist and a Senior Scientist at U.S. Surgical Corporation and at Baxter BioSurgery, he worked in the field of Tissue Regeneration examining products (synthetic and biologics) that successfully deliver bioactive substances and cells to enhance healing in soft and hard tissue defects. He, then, acted as a director of global expansion at Baxter BioSurgery responsible for scientific initiatives related to tissue engineering establishing collaborations between Baxter and other companies and academic institutions. Presently, Bill is a Director of R&D at CR Bard. Bill is also an adjunct professor in the Bioengineering Department at UCLA where he is continuing his research in Tissue Engineering, specifically on 3D constructs. He is on council for the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (TERMIS) – North America society and on the Executive Editorial Board for the Tissue Engineering Journal. Bill was the co – Chair for TERMIS 2008 meeting and the Co – Chair for 2016 meeting. He has been the treasurer for TERMIS since 2009. Bill served on the BOD for the Wound Healing Society (WHS) from 2000 to 2005 and he was the treasurer from 2002 to 2005. He was on the Program Committee for the WHS from 1998 – 2000 and again from 2005 – 2008 including the co – chair for the 2007 meeting. Bill believes strongly that the interaction between academia and industry is an expedient and successful way to get products to the patients.
Research Interest
Use of biomaterials to deliver cells such as fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and stem cells