The New Frontiers in Biomedical Research lecture series will kick-off its second year at Louisiana Tech University with a presentation by Dr. Nicholas Peppas, the Fletcher Pratt Chair of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacy at The University of Texas at Austin. Peppas’ presentation titled, “Intelligent and Recognitive Nanoscale Systems for New Therapeutic Applications,” will take place at 3:30 p.m., September 15 at University Hall on the Louisiana Tech campus. The event is free to attend and open to the public. A special lecture to the community called “Confronting Personal Medical Problems with Advanced Biomedical Research: Development of Insulin Oral Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Diabetes” will begin at 6:00 p.m., also in University Hall. “It is truly a great honor to have Dr. Peppas visit Louisiana Tech,” said Louisiana Tech President Les Guice. “He is a distinguished scholar, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering, a member of the U.S. Institute of Medicine and the winner of numerous international awards. Our students and faculty will have the opportunity to interact with one of the giants in the engineering field.” A pioneer in the synthesis, characterization and dynamic behavior of polymer networks, Peppas has been one of the nation’s most influential scientists in his field. He is also the leading researcher, inventor and pacesetter in the field of drug delivery and controlled release – a field that he developed into a mature area of scholarly and applied research. Peppas, who also serves as chair of the biomedical engineering department at UT-Austin, has set the fundamentals and has been at the forefront of the design of drug delivery systems and biomaterials over the past forty years. He was the first to develop theories and equations that led to the design of a wide range of new delivery systems. Peppas is recognized as one of the most cited scientists in the world with more than 66,000 citations. The New Frontiers in Biomedical Research lecture series at Louisiana Tech is a year-long, multidisciplinary program that focuses on advancements in the fields of biomedical engineering, biology, physics, and chemistry in an effort to promote understanding of human health and disease. By interacting with leaders in these research fields, the series seeks to expose Louisiana Tech students to growing areas of research and enhance Louisiana Tech’s own impacts in biomedical research. “The series started last year as a way to introduce students, faculty and the community to ongoing research in the broad area of biomedical research and its clinical potential,” said Dr. Jamie Newman, assistant professor of biological sciences and organizer of the event. “We strive to bring in leading biologists, engineers and chemists to expose Louisiana Tech students to additional areas of research and foster collaborations for our faculty. By the end of last year’s series, we were filling University Hall with faculty, students, staff, and members of the Ruston, Monroe and Shreveport communities.” Lectures throughout the series are sponsored by the Lincoln Health Foundation, ADVANCEing Women in Science, Sigma Xi, Louisiana Tech’s Center for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Science (CBERS), the College of Applied and Natural Sciences, the College of Engineering and Science, and the School of Biological Sciences. For more information on the New Frontiers in Biomedical Research series and access to recordings of all of the lectures, please visit http://coes.latech.edu/about-the-college/events.php or contact Dr. Jamie Newman at jjnewman@latech.edu or Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore at mcmoore@latech.edu.