Susmita Bose facts for kids

Susmita Bose is an amazing Indian-American scientist and engineer. She is famous for her work with biomaterials and using 3D printing to create bone implants. She also researches natural medicines. Dr. Bose holds a special position as a professor at Washington State University.

Becoming a Scientist: Early Life and Education

Susmita Bose grew up in India. Her mother, a high school chemistry teacher, inspired her to love science. In 1990, she earned her first degree in chemistry from the University of Kalyani. She then completed her Master's degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Later, she moved to North America. She earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1998.

Dr. Bose's Career and Discoveries

Dr. Bose's research combines many fields. She works with chemistry, materials science, engineering, and biology. Her main goal is to improve bone scaffolds, implant materials, and ways to deliver medicine.

After finishing her Ph.D., Dr. Bose and her husband, Amit Bandyopadhyay, moved to Washington. Her husband got a job at Washington State University (WSU). Dr. Bose joined WSU as a research scientist in 1998. She quickly became an assistant professor in 2001. She was promoted to associate professor in 2006 and then to full professor in 2010.

Making Bones Stronger with 3D Printing

At WSU, Dr. Bose started researching tiny bone implant materials. She wanted to make implants that would work better with the body. Her amazing research on bone implants earned her the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

The next year, she received a large grant with her colleagues. This money helped them create a special lab at WSU for biomedical materials research. In 2009, Dr. Bose made history. She was the first person of Indian descent to win a major award from the American Ceramic Society.

A few years later, Dr. Bose and her team made an important discovery. They found that adding silica, zinc oxide, and other metal oxides could make calcium phosphate stronger. Calcium phosphate is a material found in bones.

Based on this discovery, her team began using a 3D printer. They could print custom-made scaffolds for patients. These scaffolds could help new bone cells grow. Eventually, they could even replace damaged bone tissue. In 2013, she was recognized as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

The following year, Dr. Bose and her colleagues received another big grant. This money from the National Institutes of Health helped them study bone implants inside the human body.

Fighting Cancer with Natural Medicine

Dr. Bose also has a strong interest in natural medicines. She and her students found ways to use natural compounds like curcumin. Curcumin is found in turmeric. They used it to stop bone cancer cells from growing. Importantly, these compounds did not harm healthy bone cells. In the same year, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. Bose's research has been featured by many news outlets. Her work on 3D printed bone scaffolds and natural medicines has been shared worldwide. You might have seen it on the AP, BBC, NPR, CBS News, and many other places!

Awards and Honors

Dr. Susmita Bose has received many important awards for her work:

• 2002: CAREER award
• 2004: The prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This was for her work on tiny calcium phosphates for bone implants and medicine delivery.
• 2006: Invited to the Chinese-American Kavli symposium as a "Kavli fellow" by the US National Academy of Sciences.
• 2009: First person of Indian descent to receive the Karl Schwartzwalder-Professional Achievement in Ceramic Engineering (PACE) Award from the American Ceramic Society.
• 2013: Elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
• 2014: Received the Richard M. Fulrath Award, an international award for US academics under 45 from the American Ceramic Society.
• 2015: Received a 'Women to Watch in Life Science' award from the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association.
• 2016: Received the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine research excellence award.
• 2016: Elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
• 2017: Became a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). She was also elected to the Washington State Academy of Science (WSAS).
• 2018: Became a Fellow of American Society for Materials (ASM International).
• 2018: Received the Distinguished Faculty Address Award by Washington State University (DFA).
• 2018: Elected a Fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS).
• 2019: Received the WSU Sahlin Faculty excellence award for research scholarship and arts.
• 2019: Became a Fellow in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).