"Webster's Matthew MacEwan Leads Award-Winning Biomedical Company," By Jo Beck, Webster-Kirkwood Times
Working on the cutting edge of biomedical engineering as an award-winning scientist and entrepreneur, Webster Groves resident Matthew MacEwan has a well-deserved reputation in the field.
At 32-years old, he has already invented two medical devices and owns a company fabricating a new class of implantable material for use in surgical repair of damaged tissues. He has multiple patents pending for the nanofiber surgical mesh and for implantable electrodes designed to communicate with the human nervous system. He is a Washington University doctoral candidate and medical student, scheduled to graduate in 2014.
Scientific and academic achievements aside, MacEwan is a likeable fellow – someone who is easy to talk to. He's definitely a family man, equally happy enjoying his Webster Groves neighborhood or helping his daughter find bird feathers, bugs or rocks for a school science project.
"We absolutely love our neighborhood," said MacEwan. "Growing up in Sacramento and Cleveland, my family lived in 'drive-around' kind of suburbs. It's so delightful here to see kids walking by on their way to school. We love the turn-of-the-century architecture and quiet streets, the mix of young families and older couples. It's just what we envisioned – a great place to raise our children."
MacEwan and his wife, Sarah, have two girls, 4-year-old Ava, and 1-year-old Felicity.
"We love walking to restaurants or to the ice cream shop. It feels great to enjoy these simple pleasures," he added.
MacEwan graduated summa cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 2004 with a degree in biomedical engineering. His professors would not be surprised to hear of his success since he excelled all throughout school due to his natural curiosity and academic ability.
His parents, a civil engineer and school administrator, continually encouraged their son's ability by working with him on hands-on projects, ranging from the construction of a solar car to the creation of artwork for annual parades at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
"If I was curious about something, my parents would always find resources to help me learn more about it," he said. "I remember one day we ran all over town searching for an archery set because I was interested in that at the time."
MacEwan's interests continued to grow more complex. In high school, he worked at the local university, growing and characterizing cells in a study of Prion's Disease.
"I felt like I was part of the scientific process, working on a solution to this problem," he said. "That job helped spark my continued interest in biomedical research."
MacEwan visited Eureka High School recently as part of a career development initiative by Rockwood School District's Partners in Education department. He spoke to biomedical and engineering classes.
"I really enjoyed visiting with the teachers and students," said MacEwan. "Students sometimes see career paths in science and medicine as daunting, but I want to show that they can also be rewarding, exciting and impactful in that results may directly affect patient care and human health. There are so many different paths to explore with a biomedical degree – academic research, health care, industry – it's a big field with lots of opportunity."
MacEwan had difficulty picking a major because of his wide-ranging interests, but finally settled on a joint-degree program that would allow him to get a medical degree and a doctorate focusing on basic science research. He found that one of the best programs of this type was at Washington University. He said St. Louis is the ideal location to start a biotechnology venture and can't imagine living anywhere else.
MacEwan and a post-doctoral researcher were experimenting with synthetic nano-scale materials in 2010 when they discovered a method to take nanoscale fibers – hundreds of times smaller than human hair – and construct a flexible cloth-like material that readily integrated into the human body. He thought it had the right biological properties to serve as an implantable surgical material. Early discussions with surgeons at the Washington University School of Medicine led to applications in minimally invasive neurosurgical and wound care procedures.
Because these fibers are so small, the body views the material as being similar to native tissue rather than a foreign material. Based on this principle, the nanofiber mesh may be useful in repairing conditions such as injuries to the brain, hernias and chronic ulcers.
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