Kathryn Uhrich

Kathryn Uhrich (born 1965) is Dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, at The University of California, Riverside, and founder of Polymerix Corporation. She has received many awards for her research and work including the ACS Buck-Whitney Award and the Sioux Award. She was a fellow at both the National Academy of Inventors and the American Chemical Society in 2014. Research Her research mainly focuses on biodegradable polymers for use in dental and medical applications. These polymers consist of esters, amides and anhydrides, all of which are susceptible to hydrolysis, thus ensuring the breakdown of the polymer in the body's watery milieu. The oldest version of aspirin came from Hippocrates in the fifth century BC, while the latest version, PolyAspirin, comes from Uhrich's lab at Rutgers University. Polyaspirine consists of anhydrides and esters that hydrolytically degrade into the active ingredient in aspirin (salicylic acid). Her research was highlighted in "Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug" by Diarmuid Jeffreys. Although the polymer was originally designed for biodegradable sutures, PolyAspirin is now undergoing clinical trials as a material for a new type of cardiac stent. This biodegradable stent controls the inflammation effects occurring after angioplasty, called restenosis and disappears when no longer needed.