Rate My Professor Johan Foster

E. Johan Foster is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia, where he holds the NSERC Canfor Industrial Research Chair in Advanced Bioproducts. He earned a B.Sc. in 2002 and a Ph.D. in 2007 from Simon Fraser University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Technical University Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2010.

Professor Foster’s research focuses on the structuration, functionalization, and fundamental aspects of reinforcement and deformation in polymers and bio-products, with applications in novel implantable materials, lightweight materials, 3D printing, and responsive smart polymers and materials. His work centers on advanced functional and supramolecular bio(nano)materials, including cellulose nanomaterials, polymers, biomaterials, biomedical devices, and fibers. He received the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Nanotechnology Division Mid-Career Award in 2020 and the KINGFA Young Investigator Award in 2019. Key publications include “Current characterizing methods for cellulose nanomaterials” in Chemical Society Reviews (2018), “Anchored Metallocene Linear Low-Density Polyethene Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites” in Polymer International (2021), “The Transformative and Versatile Role of Cellulose Nanomaterials in Templating and Shaping Multi-Scale Mesostructured Ceramics” in Small (2018), “Development of PLGA nanoparticles for sustained release of a connexin43 mimetic peptide to target glioblastoma cells” in Materials Science & Engineering C (2020), and “Heparin Mimic Material Derived from Cellulose Nanocrystals” in Biomacromolecules (2020).