Silviya Zustiak

Silviya Zustiak is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Saint Louis University (SLU), where she also serves as Co-Director of the Institute of Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation. She holds a joint appointment in Pharmacology and Physiology. Her research focuses on hydrogel biomaterials for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Zustiak earned a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and conducted postdoctoral studies in Biophysics at NIH. She completed her B.S./M.S. in Bioelectrical Engineering at Sofia Technical University, Bulgaria.

Her educational background includes interdisciplinary training in engineering, materials science, and biology. Research interests span biomaterials design, cell-matrix interactions, and translational applications in oncology and musculoskeletal disorders. Her lab, the Zustiak Soft Tissue Engineering Laboratory, develops injectable hydrogels and nanocomposites for therapeutic delivery and 3D cell culture platforms.

Key research trends in her articles include advancing hydrogel-based drug delivery systems (e.g., for Morquio syndrome, osteoarthritis), modeling tumor microenvironments using 3D spheroids, and optimizing biomaterial properties for clinical translation. Recent work explores super-lubricious hydrogels for joint therapy and nanosilicate composites for sustained drug release.

• Awards: 2023 SLU Women’s Commission Woman of the Year, NIH FARE Award (2011), SLU Scholarly Works Award (2018)
• Leadership: Keynote speaker at Society of Engineering Science (2019), Director of SLU’s drug innovation institute

Dr. Zustiak’s work bridges engineering and medicine, with collaborative projects in drug screening platforms, immunotherapy biomaterials, and bioreactor systems. Ongoing efforts include FDA-ready hydrogel depots for enzyme replacement therapy and microfluidic devices for high-throughput cell culture.