Dr. Steven P. Schwendeman is the Ara G. Paul Professor and Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and the Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Thrust Leader of the University of Michigan Biointerfaces Institute. He received a BSE in chemical engineering (1986) and a PhD in pharmaceutics (1992) from the University of Michigan. Dr. Schwendeman continued his education as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellow from 1992–1995 in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His research has appeared in Nature Biotechnology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Macromolecules, Biomaterials, Journal of Controlled Release, Molecular Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Research, Vaccine, and many other prestigious journals.

After developing iontophoretic drug delivery implants in his PhD training, he has made significant advances in poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) controlled release systems for small and large molecules over the last two decades. His current research interests include physical chemistry and engineering of PLGA and related delivery systems, aqueous microencapsulation of large molecules in biodegradable polymers, stability of peptides and proteins, vaccine delivery, tissue engineering, and local/regional drug delivery to the eye, brain, head and neck, and diabetic wounds.