William Murphy

About

William Murphy is the Harvey D. Spangler Professor and H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include the creation of new biomaterials using bioinspired approaches, utilizing biomaterials to define the stem cell microenvironment, and developing biomaterials for tissue regeneration and tissue engineering. He also focuses on new approaches for drug delivery and gene therapy. Dr. Murphy has received numerous awards for his contributions, including the 2021 Kellett Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, fellowships from the Biomedical Engineering Society, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, among others. His academic background includes a PhD from the University of Michigan obtained in 2002, an MS from the same institution in 2000, and a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1998. He is actively involved in teaching a variety of courses related to biomedical engineering and mentoring students in research.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Biology
• Cell biology
• Biomedical engineering
• Biochemistry
• Biochemical engineering
• Pathology
• Materials science
• Genetics

Selected publications

• Synthetic alternatives to Matrigel

  Nature Reviews Materials · 2020 · 952 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• 3D iPSC modeling of the retinal pigment epithelium-choriocapillaris complex identifies factors involved in the pathology of macular degeneration

  Cell stem cell · 2021 · 64 citations

  DOI

• Single-dose mRNA therapy via biomaterial-mediated sequestration of overexpressed proteins

  Science Advances · 2020 · 35 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Nonviral mRNA delivery is an attractive therapeutic gene delivery strategy, as it achieves efficient protein overexpression in vivo and has a desirable safety profile. However, mRNA's short cytoplasmic half-life limits its utility to therapeutic applications amenable to repeated dosing or short-term overexpression. Here, we describe a biomaterial that enables a durable in vivo response to a single mRNA dose via an "overexpress and sequester" mechanism, whereby mRNA-transfected cells locally over…

  DOI

• Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived planar neural organoids assembled on synthetic hydrogels

  Journal of Tissue Engineering · 2024-01-01 · 22 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The tailorable properties of synthetic polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels make them an attractive substrate for human organoid assembly. Here, we formed human neural organoids from iPSC-derived progenitor cells in two distinct formats: (i) cells seeded on a Matrigel surface; and (ii) cells seeded on a synthetic PEG hydrogel surface. Tissue assembly on synthetic PEG hydrogels resulted in three dimensional (3D) planar neural organoids with greater neuronal diversity, greater expression of neurova…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mineral coated microparticles doped with fluoride and complexed with mRNA prolong transfection in fracture healing

  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology · 2024-01-09 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Introduction: Impaired fracture healing, specifically non-union, has been found to occur up to 14% in tibial shaft fractures. The current standard of care to treat non-union often requires additional surgeries which can result in long recovery times. Injectable-based therapies to accelerate fracture healing have the potential to mitigate the need for additional surgeries. Gene therapies have recently undergone significant advancements due to developments in nanotechnology, which improve mRNA sta…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Biomaterials for local regulation of growth factor signaling

  NIH · $2.9M · 2009–2019

• Matrices for optimal endogenous progenitor cell recruitment and function

  NIH · $409k · 2016–2017

• Silicate Bioceramic Structure Control on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

  NSF · $450k · 2009–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Michael P. Schwartz

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  33 shared

• James A. Thomson

  Morgridge Institute for Research

  33 shared

• Matthew Parlato

  University of Wisconsin System

  32 shared

• Xiaohua Yu

  Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University

  32 shared

• David Mooney

  29 shared

• Justin T. Koepsel

  28 shared

• Eben Alsberg

  Birmingham VA Medical Center

  25 shared

• Gregory A. Hudalla

  University of Florida

  22 shared

Awards & honors

• 2021 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kellett Award
• 2020 Biomedical Engineering Society, Fellow
• 2019 National Academy of Inventors, Fellow
• 2016 University of Wisconsin-Madison, H.I. Romnes Award
• 2014 American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineeri…

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