Nemours Biomedical Research

Robert Akins, Jr., PhD, FAHA

Robert Akins Jr.

Scientific Director, Center for Pediatric Clinical Research and Development
Senior Scientist / Lab Head, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research

College of Health Sciences

Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
Nemours Biomedical Research
1600 Rockland Road
Wilmington, DE 19803

Phone: (302) 651-6811
Fax: (302) 651-6897
E-mail: rakins@nemours.org

Education
Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1992
B.A., Biochemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 1984

Biography:
Dr. Akins received his BA and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed postdoctoral training at Thomas Jefferson University and the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. He joined the Nemours faculty in 1995, and has been the Head of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research since 1997. As Senior Scientist and Head of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Research at Nemours Biomedical Research, Dr. Akins' laboratory focuses on the development of advanced therapies to treat acquired and congenital diseases of muscle. He has a particular interest in the application of advanced biomaterials to direct the functional regeneration of diseased muscular tissues. Current projects address diseases that profoundly impact human health and include developing biosynthetic implants to treat pediatric and adult cardiovascular diseases and devising regenerative strategies to improve skeletal muscle innervation in children with physical disabilities.

In his role as Scientific Director of the Center for Pediatric Clinical Research and Development, Dr. Akins works to develop mentoring programs, training opportunities, and collaborations for clinical investigators and to facilitate the development of externally-funded, translational research programs at Nemours.

Dr. Akins currently serves on the editorial boards of the journals DNA & Cell Biology and Clinical Medicine - Pediatrics. He is an adjunct professor in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware. Dr. Akins serves on advisory boards for Mollenium, Inc. (since 2001), The PMD Foundation (since 2008), and the University of Delaware's Quantitative Biology training program (since 2009). He is an inaugural Fellow of the American Heart Association Council on Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery (since 2002). He is the founding chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee at Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, and is the program chair for the Nemours Symposia on Pediatric Medical Research, which he established in 2001. He currently holds four patents in the areas of protein detection and separation.

RECENT PRESS

Achieving great things.

2010 DHSA Research Conference Coverage
May 5, 2010--More than 275 people from the health sciences research and education community turned out for the 2010 Delaware Health Sciences Alliance Conference on Tuesday, May 4, to share research and explore issues in health care.
UD and Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital to partner on bone disorder study
April 15, 2010--In search of a new treatment for the debilitating disease osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a team of researchers from the University of Delaware and Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children is initiating a two-year study exploring the use of an FDA-approved vibration platform in children with OI.
Delaware Health Sciences Alliance awards two pilot projects
April 1, 2010--Two pilot projects funded by the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance (DHSA) under its second competition focus on identifying cutting-edge cancer therapies, and creating the bioinformatics framework that will facilitate translational research among the alliance members.
Transforming the Region's Healthcare
March, 2010--An article in the March edition of Select Greater Philadelphia's "Momentum" discusses how the DSHA is drawing on the collective resources of its partner members - including the health sciences campus to be developed by the University of Delaware at the former Chrysler site - to revolutionize healthcare research and education in the region.

National experts to speak at Delaware Health Sciences Alliance research conference
Tuesday, February 18, 2010--The Delaware Health Sciences Alliance (DHSA) will host its second annual research conference on May 4 at Christiana Care Health System's John H. Ammon Medical Education Center on the Christiana Hospital Campus.

UD health sciences dean to lead partnership programs
December 14, 2009--Kathy Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Delaware, has been appointed to leadership positions in two partnership programs that she sees as key to promoting health research and education in Delaware.
Older adults with cancer, caregivers focus of $600,000 research grant
Dec. 11, 2009--A team that includes two researchers from the University of Delaware's School of Nursing -- Paula Klemm, professor of nursing, and Veronica Rempusheski, the Jeanne K. Buxbaum Chair of Nursing Science -- has been awarded a two-year, $600,000 grant to conduct research aimed at supporting older adults affected by cancer and their caregivers in Delaware.
DHSA takes center stage at UD Trustees meeting
December 9, 2009--The University of Delaware's Board of Trustees got a firsthand look at the largest single property acquisition in the history of the institution during its semiannual meeting, held Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the former Chrysler assembly plant on South College Avenue in Newark.
Christiana Care's Dr. Petrelli to share cancer success story at national surgeons' conference
November 11, 2009--Christiana Care's pioneering role in significantly reducing Delaware's cancer rate will be in the national spotlight at a prestigious medical conference.