Richard A. Gemeinhart, Ph.D.

Professor Gemeinhart earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Purdue University from the Department of Interdisciplinary Engineering in May of 1994. His focus was on biotechnology and engineering (biochemical, genetic, and biomedical); he culminated this research working in the Laboratory of Renewable Resource Engineering for class credit and as a laboratory technician.

He continued his academic career in the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy at Purdue University. He joined the group of Kinam Park; his thesis work was on the use of a novel, highly porous hydrogel for oral drug delivery. He also conducted research on degradable polyesters, polyurethanes, protein-surface interactions, and surface analysis with atomic force microscopy.

After attaining his Ph.D. in 1999, he joined W. Mark Saltzman in the School of Chemical Engineering at Cornell University. He conducted collaborative research with researchers in his group and in other departments, including Materials Science, Chemistry, and Veterinary Medicine. His research focused on ocular delivery using degradable microspheres, but also included hydrogels for bone initiation, microparticles for DNA transfection, and neural tissue engineering.

Dr. Gemeinhart was hired as an Assistant Professor Pharmaceutics and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Illinois Chicago in August 2001. He was named Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences in August of 2005 a position he held until 2011 and returned to in 2017. He was promoted to Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics and Bioengineering and Assistant Head for Graduate Programs in August of 2007. Following his return from writing sabbatical in January 2012, Dr. Gemeinhart was appointed Director of Graduate Education in the College of Pharmacy a position he held until August of 2014. In December of 2014, Dr. Gemeinhart was appointed UIC Research Integrity Officer. In August of 2017, Dr. Gemeinhart was promoted to Professor. In 2020, Dr. Gemeinhart became Associate Vice Chancellor for Research.

Dr. Gemeinhart has been recognized for excellence in several aspects of his work. As a student, Dr. Gemeinhart was inducted into Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society and awarded a NIH Chemical Pharmacology Fellowship. Dr. Gemeinhart was also a Controlled Release Society Student Chapter President. Dr. Gemeinhart has continued to be interested in student organizations as advisor for the AAPS and CRS student chapters at UIC. For his research, Dr. Gemeinhart has been recognized as American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, New Investigator (2002-2003), Society For Biomaterials Young Investigator (2006), and Hans W. Vahlteich Scholar (2006-2007). Dr. Gemeinhart is Editor of Pharmaceutical Research and has been on the Editorial Boards of several peer-reviewed journals: The Open Organic Chemistry Journal (2007-2010), Recent Patents on Drug Delivery and Formulation (2009-current), Journal of Drug Delivery (2010-current), Journal of Pharmaceutics & Drug Delivery Research (2011-current). Dr. Gemeinhart has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute and National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, The National Science Foundation, Directorate for Engineering, Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) section, Department of Defense, Milheim Foundation. American Brain Tumor Association, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Charles E. Culpepper Pilot Initiative. Dr. Gemeinhart has also been an active review of UIC, local, national and international research grants, and Dr. Gemeinhart is now permanent member of the Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences (BTSS) Study Section of the NIH.