HTL’s team of Scientific Advisors is composed of scientists, medical and industry experts who are international key opinion leaders in their relevant fields. Combining permanent members and guests, our ad-hoc Scientific Advisory boards are specific to different therapeutic areas:
Aesthetics and dermatology
Ophthalmology
Rheumatology
The insight and guidance of our Scientific Advisors are invaluable assets to help HTL direct its innovation and development strategy and decisions.
Our permanent advisors include the following:
GLENN D. PRESTWICH, PhD
Glenn D. Prestwich, PhD, is the President’s Distinguished Professor at Washington State University and Presidential Professor of Medicinal Chemistry (Emeritus) at the University of Utah. Dr. Prestwich has worked on chemical modifications of glycosaminoglycans for over 25 years, and has created hyaluronan (HA)-based semi-synthetic extracellular matrices for use in regenerative medicine. He has co-founded nine companies based on chemically-modified HA, including Sentrx Surgical, Glycosan Biosystems/BioTime, Sentrx Animal Care, GlycoMira Therapeutics, Deuteria Biomaterials, and Matrix Diagnostics Biosystems. His HA technologies have 36 issued patents, and over 165 scholarly papers and chapters, covering topics ranging from basic studies of glycosaminoglycan chemistry to applied studies in 3-D cell culture, bioprinting, drug evaluation, regenerative medicine, wound healing and surgical adhesion prevention, drug release, cell therapy, and new inflammation-modulating therapeutics. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for Advancement of Science, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Prestwich is the Science and Innovation Advisor for HTL and drives the innovation effort in the US.
PROF. PASCAL RICHETTE
Professor Pascal Richette received a PhD from Université Paris V in 2003. He has been Head of the Rheumatology Department at Lariboisière Hospital, Paris, since 2016, and a Professor of Rheumatology at University Paris 7 since 2011. Prof. Pascal Richette is a researcher in clinical and basic research in osteoarthritis. He is a member of INSERM unit U1132 (Lariboisière Hospital), working on signalling pathways and effects of inhibition of IL-6 in cartilage. He was a lead researcher in RC trials on hand osteoarthritis, and Lead Researcher for the European Recommendation for the treatment (2018) and diagnosis of gout disease (2020). Prof. Pascal Richette was president of the osteoarthritis section of the SFR (French Society of Rheumatology), from 2013 to 2017, and has been Chairman of the Research Innovation Strategy Commission at University of GH Lrb-St Louis-FW since 2016.
PROF. PIERRE WEISS
Professor Pierre Weiss, PhD, DDS, received a dental doctorate in 1989, a Master of Science in biomaterials in 1993 and a PhD in biomaterials in 1997. He is Professor in biomaterials of the University of Nantes in the dental surgery department and hospital. He was the Head of the INSERM / Nantes University Unit 791, Centre for osteoarticular and dental tissue engineering, INSERM, UMRS 791LIOAD. Prof. Pierre Weiss is now Head of REGOS team in UMRS 1229 RMeS Unit. His scientific activities are skeletal tissue engineering, bone substitutes and hydrogels for synthetic extra cellular matrix. He has two main fields of research in biomaterials: injectable bone substitutes and hydrogels for tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. He managed clinical research in Odontology. He is currently the scientific director of the Bioregate regenerative medicine cluster created in 2015. He is also the president of the Society for Biohydrogels, the vice dean of the Nantes dental school and a member of the scientific council of Nantes University. For his high achievements in the field of biomaterials science and engineering, Professor Weiss was nominated Fellow, Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) at the World Biomaterials Congress WBC 2020.
PROF. JEROME GUICHEUX
Professor Jérôme Guicheux received a PhD in cell biology and health sciences in 1997 at the Nantes University School of dental medicine. He was a research associate in the internal medicine and rheumatology department of the University Medical Center of Geneva (Switzerland) from 1997 to 2001. Prof. Guicheux was appointed junior Research Director / full professor at INSERM in 2008 and senior Research Director / full professor in 2019. He is currently director of the research Centre RMeS ”Regenerative Medicine and Skeleton” (INSERM UMRS 1229) and the scientific director of the SC3M core facility (electron Microscopy, Microcharacterization and functional Morpho-histology and imaging) of the François Bonamy Health Federative Research Institute. Prof. Jérôme Guicheux is the President of the French society of mineralized tissue biology (SFBTM) and the national coordinator of the INSERM French network dedicated to peripheral and spine OA (netwOArk). He is also a member of the board of directors of OARSI and Regenerate-Biospine. His research focuses on the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis and disc degenerative disease and the regenerative medicine of skeletal tissues including bone, articular cartilage and intervertebral disc. Jérôme Guicheux has notably contributed to strengthen the relevance of stem cells and biomaterials for the regeneration of osteoarticular tissues.
“The next decade will see native HA become important as a biomarker in oncology, inflammation, and liver disease. Chemically-modified HA will take center stage in translational medicine in many new areas including cancer prodrug local activation, drug discovery, antibacterial, immune modulatory, and anti-inflammatory formulations, API delivery, tissue repair, 3D printing for body-on-a-chip models, and much more.
HA materials will be solutions, gels, lyophilized sponges, nanoparticles, thick or thin films, aerosolized powders or solutions, and surface adsorbed or surface-attached coatings. Many will be regulated as drugs; some as biologics; some as devices; some as combination products.”
DR GLENN D. PRESTWICH
