Sharon Gerecht, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been named the first Kent Gordon Croft Investment Management Faculty Scholar.
This named award is given to a senior assistant or associate professor to recognize accomplishment and to promote professional development. It recognizes Sharon’s groundbreaking research into the mechanisms underlying cell fate and morphology. Using principles from both engineering and the physical sciences, Sharon develops translational model systems that are identifying new therapeutic targets, and which likely will result in important new therapies for diseases, including cancer. A pioneer in her field, Sharon is the first-ever investigator to regulate tissue morphogenesis in a completely synthetic biomaterial, and her development of a new class of oxygen-controlling hydrogels has potential applications ranging from energy to biomedical uses.
Sharon also is a member of the university’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology and lead investigator in the National Cancer Institute-funded Physical Sciences-Oncology Center.
Faculty Scholar status is awarded for a three-year term to provide select faculty with flexible financial support to promote their innovative research, teaching activities, and entrepreneurial thinking.
L. Gordon Croft ’56 made a generous gift to establish this award. A leader in the investment field and founder of Baltimore-based Croft Leominster Investment Management, Croft has a long history of dedication to Hopkins.