Dr. Joel Schneider received his B.Sc. in chemistry at the University of Akron in 1991 before moving to Texas A&M University for a Ph.D. in chemistry developing beta-sheet peptide mimetics to study the mechanisms leading to amyloid formation. He then pursued post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of William DeGrado at the University of Pennsylvania where he applied the principles of protein de novo design to study helical ion channels, coiled coils and bundles. He started his independent career at the University of Delaware in 1999 in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and later took a secondary appointment in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. He rose through the ranks to full professor and was then recruited in 2009 to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to build their newly formed Chemical Biology Laboratory. Currently, he serves as the Chief of Chemical Biology and Deputy Director of Basic Science in the Center for Cancer Research, NCI

Dr. Schneider's lab develops injectable hydrogel materials, bioadhesives, and cellular delivery vehicles capable of administering therapeutics locally to tissue. He is particularly interested in peptide and protein-based hydrogel materials formed by self-assembly mechanisms. His work spans molecular design, materials synthesis, nano- and bulk mechanical materials characterization, cell-material interactions, biocompatibility, and assessment of performance efficacy. In addition to developing materials towards clinical applications, his group studies the mechanisms by which materials form, their structures at all length-scales and determines how their molecule structure influences their mechanical and biological properties. His basic research establishes how material composition and structure influences material function.