Joachim Kohn, PhD, FBSE is a research entrepreneur, a multi-disciplinary translational scientist, and a national leader in the field of biomaterials science. In 1997, Kohn founded the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (NJCBM), which has grown into a collaborative network spanning 25 institutions and 40 laboratories. Research at the NJCBM focuses on design, synthesis, characterization and fabrication of new biomaterials for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and drug delivery. Kohn has pioneered the use of combinatorial and computational methods for the optimization of biomaterials for specific medical applications. He is mostly known for his seminal work on "pseudo-poly(amino acid)s"- a new class of polymers that combine the non-toxicity of individual amino acids with the processability and strength of high-quality engineering plastics. Medical devices (a coronary stent and an antimicrobial device to prevent infections in pace maker patients) using these materials have been implanted in more than 250,000 patients and are currently approved for use in 46 countries. As a translational scientist, Kohn has 72 issued US Patents on novel biomaterials and seven companies have licensed his technologies. He is the scientific founder of three spin-off companies.