Biomedical Engineering Faculty Neal K. Vail, Ph.D Director, Advanced Dressings and Materials Global Research and Concept Development Kinetic Concepts, Inc. Educational Background: B.S. New Mexico State University M.S. The University of Texas at Austin Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin Postdoctoral-Alexander von Humboldt Post-Doctoral Fellowship Areas of Research Interest: Bone Healing and Repair, and Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration. Modeling, Design, and Fabrication of Functionally Gradient Materials for Tissue Engineering. Controlled Release, Triggered, and Targeted Drug Delivery. Nanoscale Materials Engineering and Assembly. Selected Publications: J.G. Bruno, M.P. Carrillo, T. Phillips, D. Hanson, and N.K. Vail, "Competitive FRET-aptamer-based detection of methylphosphonic acid, a common nerve agent metabolite," J. Fluorescence, accepted for publication, figure accepted for cover art, (2008). N.K. Vail, "Targeted Delivery of Bioactive Factors to the Systemic Skeleton," U.S. Patent 7,381,246, June 3, 2008. G. Rossini, J. Trevino, N.K. Vail, "Controlled Release of Proteasome Inhibitor from Biodegradable Nanoparticles for Myeloma Therapies,"  34th Annual Meeting of the Controlled Release Society, Long Beach, July 2007. J.T. Persyn, J.A. McDonough, N.K. Vail, D.E. Barlow, A.M. Zwiener, E.M. Slovin, "Apparatus for Preparing Biodegradable Microparticle Formulations Containing Pharmaceutically Active Agents," U.S. Patent 7,261,529, August 28, 2007. N.K. Vail, G. Bessee, S. Hutzler, "Modeling Fuel/Water Interactions," presented to 7th International Filtration Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, May 2005, selected best technical presentation. S. Crumlett, G. Rossini, J. Trevino, and N.K. Vail, "Development of Bone-Targeting Nanoparticles for Bone Cancer Therapies," Annual Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials, Chicago, April 2007. N.K. Vail, H. Dixon, and J. Trevino, "Bone-Targeting Nanocapsules," 25th Annual Meeting of the ASBMR, Sept. 19-23, 2003. N.K. Vail and J.W. Barlow, "Binder Compositions for Laser Sintering Processes," U.S. Patent 6,048,954, April 11, 2000. N.K. Vail, L.D. Swain, W.C. Fox, T.B. Aufdemorte, G.Lee, and J.W. Barlow, "Materials for Biomedical Applications," Journal of Materials and Design, 20 [2-3], 123-132 (1999). J.W. Barlow, N.K. Vail, B. Badrinarayan, et al., "Mold Useful for Injection Molding of Plastics and Methods of Production and Uses Thereof," U.S. Patent 5,678,162, October 14, 1997. N.K. Vail, B. Badrinarayan, J.W. Barlow and H.L. Marcus, "A Thermal Model of Polymer Degradation During the Selective Laser Sintering of Polymer Coated Ceramic Powders," Rapid Prototyping Journal, 2 [3], 24-40, 1996. P.K. Subramanian, N.K. Vail, J.W. Barlow and H.L. Marcus, "Selective Laser Sintering of Alumina with Polymer Binders," Rapid Prototyping Journal, 1 [2], 24-35, 1995. J.C. Nelson, N.K. Vail, J.W. Barlow, J.J. Beaman, D.L. Bourell and H.L. Marcus, "Selective Laser Sintering of Polymer Coated Silicon Carbide Powders," Industrial & Engineering Chemical Research, 34, 1641-1651, 1995. J.W. Barlow and N.K. Vail, "A Method of Producing High-Temperature Parts by Way of Low-Temperature Sintering," U.S. Patent 5,284,695, February 8, 1994. N.K. Vail, J.W. Barlow, J.J. Beaman, H.L. Marcus and D.L. Bourell, "Development of a Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-n-butyl methacrylate) Copolymer Binder System," Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 52 [6], 789-812, 1994. Contact Information: Kinetic Concepts, Inc. 6203 Farinon Drive San Antonio, Texas 78249 Phone: 210 515 4371 Fax: 210 831 9253 neal.vail@kci1.com Return to faculty page   Return to top of page