Steven Cramer Named AAAS Fellow

December 7, 2017

A recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing, Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year, 396 newly selected members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2018 AAAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.

As part of the engineering section, Cramer is one of 28 faculty members who were selected as AAAS fellows. Cramer was cited for “distinguished contributions to the field of chromatographic bioprocessing, achieved through combined experimental and computational approaches.”

For the past 31 years, Cramer and his students have combined elegant theoretical models and rigorous experimentation to make dramatic advances in several areas of chromatographic bioprocessing. Cramer’s research focuses on developing fundamental understanding and new methods and technologies to separate and purify biotherapeutics such as monoclonal antibody-based drugs and gene therapy agents.

“We are delighted with the news of Steve’s election as a fellow of AAAS,” said Shekhar Garde, dean of the School of Engineering. “Steve’s work combines state-of-the-art experiments, physics-based modeling and simulation, and big data and its analysis. This is a powerful combination, which is pushing the boundaries of modern bioprocessing and biomanufacturing.”

Cramer is a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, and also serves as a faculty member in the Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

While Cramer is known worldwide for his expertise in separations in general, today he is focused on conducting research on several areas related to protein-surface interactions and molecular bioprocessing. This includes research into multiscale modeling of complex chromatographic behavior, fundamental studies of selectivity and affinity in multimodal chromatographic systems, biophysics of protein interactions with surfaces, ligands and proteins, platformable strategies for effective removal of process impurities, chromatography on a chip, affinity ligand design, smart biopolymer affinity separation systems, and integrated biomanufacturing systems.

Cramer’s peers have honored him with many awards and recognitions for his contributions. He was awarded the Alan S. Michaels Award for the Recovery of Biological Products (ACS Division of Biochemical Technology) and the ACS National Award in Separation Science and Technology. At Rensselaer, he has been awarded the School of Engineering’s Outstanding Professor Award, the Research Excellence Award, and the Early Career Award. Cramer was given a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In addition, Cramer has been elected a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

A prolific researcher, Cramer holds 11 patents and has published more than 185 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He recently stepped down from being the editor in chief of the international journal Separations, Science and Technology after 20 years. He has also chaired several high-profile meetings including two international HIC/RPC Bioseparation Conferences, two ACS Recovery of Biological Products Meetings, and the Gordon Conference on Reactive Polymers.

Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering. In his time at Rensselaer, he has advised 43 doctoral students who have gone on to leadership positions in the biotechnology industry and academia.

Cramer earned his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Brown University, and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering at Yale University.

Rensselaer Professor Steven Cramer Honored by American Chemical Society

March 9, 2016

Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has received a 2016 American Chemical Society (ACS) award in Separations Science and Technology. Cramer is recognized “for contributions to a molecular-level understanding, adsorption isotherm formalisms, and the development and application of chromatographic bioprocesses for the purification of biopharmaceuticals.”

The ACS awards program is designed to encourage the advancement of chemistry in all its branches, to support research in chemical science and industry, and to promote the careers of chemists. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information.

“His original paper on the steric mass action model for ion exchange is one of the most influential papers in the field and represented a turning point in the industry where accurate models could then be employed to develop, optimize, and control large-scale ion exchange protein purification processes,” said Robin D. Rogers, the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Green Chemistry and Green Chemicals at McGill University.

“The creative process of solving a research problem or coming up with a new research idea is similar to the process of jazz improvisation or writing a musical piece,” Cramer said about what inspires him. “In both, you need to input sufficient information and then make room for the ideas to spring up from the intuition or subconscious mind. For me, this can occur during a walk in nature, playing music, exercising, dreaming, or having an animated discussion with my students or colleagues.”

Cramer, a member of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, is a recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing. His research focuses on developing new methods and technologies to separate and purify biological compounds, both of which are major challenges facing drug discovery. This is particularly true of drugs that include proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from potentially harmful variants and impurities.

Cramer’s work is an example of The New Polytechnic, a new paradigm for teaching, learning, and research at Rensselaer, the foundation of which is the recognition that global challenges and opportunities are so great that they cannot be addressed by the most talented person working alone. The New Polytechnic enables collaborations between talented people across disciplines, sectors, and global regions, in order to address the complex problems of the world.

Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering.

Rensselaer Professor Steven Cramer Wins American Chemical Society Award in Separations Science and Technology

October 15, 2015

Troy, N.Y. – Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has received an American Chemical Society award in Separations Science and Technology.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) awards program is designed to encourage the advancement of chemistry in all its branches, to support research in chemical science and industry, and to promote the careers of chemists. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information.

“Steven Cramer is one of the world’s foremost leaders in the field of bioseparations. He has harnessed the power of fundamental molecular-level theory and modeling and creative experiments to solve important problems in the biotechnology industry,” said Shekhar Garde, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “Steve is an outstanding educator and has mentored a generation of students who have become the movers and shakers in global biotechnology industry. We congratulate him on this well-deserved national recognition from the American Chemical Society.”

Cramer, a member of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, is a recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing. His research focuses on developing new methods and technologies to separate and purify biological compounds, both of which are major challenges facing drug discovery. This is particularly true of drugs that include proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from potentially harmful variants and impurities.

Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering.

The recipients will be honored at the ACS awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 in conjunction with the 251st ACS national meeting in San Diego, California.

Chemical Engineers Advance Battlefield Biomanufacturing Technology Survey

December 13, 2013

Two chemical engineering professors at Rensselaer are contributing to a collaboration among academia, industry, and the federal government to develop a method for rapidly manufacturing biologic drugs.

The project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), aims to provide front-line military medics with the ability to produce high-purity, high-potency drugs in as little as 24 hours. This capability would enable medics to be significantly more responsive to emergency situations and battlefield settings, where resources are often limited.

Professors Steven Cramer and Pankaj Karande are among the academic research collaborators working on the project, which is led by MIT Professor J. Christopher Love, and funded with a $10.4 million grant as part of DARPA’s Biologically-derived Medicines On Demand (BioMOD) program.

“In this project, we are looking at ways of significantly simplifying and condensing several key steps of drug manufacturing and quality control. Our goal is to be able to create a small, easy-to-carry system that can synthesize needed drugs in 24 hours, instead of the six to 12 months it usually takes to create the same drugs in an industrial setting,” said Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering.

“The potential implications of this technology are far-reaching, as it will provide rapid access to drugs in remote settings, and have a direct effect in saving lives,” said Karande, assistant professor in the Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Cramer and Karande, with their synergistic expertise in the areas of bioseparations, bioprocessing, peptide engineering, and drug discovery, will help work on the design of a new generation of specialized biomaterials that are highly selective and only bind with specific proteins. Combined with new advanced bioprocessing techniques, these advanced biomaterials are expected to help significantly reduce the number of processing steps required for purifying biologics secreted from host systems such as yeast.

The advances made in this project have the potential to change industrial downstream bioprocessing, as well as introduce new kinds of biomaterials with a broad range of applications in drug manufacturing, discovery, and development, the researchers said. Much of their research will take place in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Rensselaer Professor Steven Cramer Elected Fellow of American Chemical Society

July 26, 2012

Bioseparations and bioprocessing expert Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, this week was elected a fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

The ACS recognized Cramer for excellence in leadership, volunteer service, and for “outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession, and the society.”

“The entire School of Engineering joins me today in congratulating Professor Cramer on his election as a fellow of the American Chemical Society,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “This is a fitting recognition for Steve’s many important contributions in research, teaching, and professional service. We celebrate Dr. Cramer’s elevation to fellow status in the ACS and are enormously proud to count him among the ranks of our distinguished engineering faculty at Rensselaer.”

The ACS—the world’s largest scientific society—will honor Cramer on August 20 at a special ceremony during the ACS National Meeting in Philadelphia.

A faculty member in the Rensselaer Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cramer is a recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing. His research focuses on developing new methods and technologies to separate and purify biological compounds, both of which are major challenges facing drug discovery. This is particularly true of drugs that include proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from potentially harmful variants and impurities.

Recently, Cramer has been investigating different areas related to protein-surface interactions. This includes research into multiscale modeling of complex chromatographic behavior, fundamental studies of selectivity and affinity in multimodal chromatographic systems, chromatography on a chip, smart biopolymer affinity separation systems, and other endeavors. Cramer’s research is closely connected to several of the core facilities at the Institute, such as the nuclear magnetic resonance facility in the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.

A prolific researcher, Cramer holds nine patents and has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is editor-in-chief of the international journal Separations, Science and Technology. Additionally, he has chaired several high-profile professional meetings, including the international HIC/RPC Bioseparations Conference, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Recovery of Biological Products Meeting, and the Gordon Research Conference on Reactive Polymers.

Cramer’s peers have honored him with many awards and recognitions for his contributions. He received the Alan S. Michaels Award for the Recovery of Biological Products from the ACS Division of Biochemical Technology, and he is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. At Rensselaer, he received the School of Engineering Excellence in Research Award, the Rensselaer Early Career Award, as well as several teaching awards. Additionally, he received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.

Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering. In his time at Rensselaer, he has advised 35 doctoral students who have gone on to leadership positions in academic and the biotechnology industry.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Brown University, and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Yale University.

Rensselaer Professor Steven Cramer Named Fellow of AIChE

September 27, 2011

Bioseparations and bioprocessing expert Steven Cramer, the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was recently elected a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

The AIChE commended Cramer for his wide-reaching research successes, and for demonstrating “significant accomplishments in, and contributions to, the profession” of chemical engineering.

“Professor Cramer is a gifted educator and nationally recognized scholar. We congratulate him for being named a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers,” said David Rosowsky, dean of the School of Engineering at Rensselaer. “Steve joins a growing number of society fellows in the School of Engineering and across the Institute. We are very proud of his scholarly achievements and this important recognition by his peers, and we are proud to count him among our distinguished engineering faculty at Rensselaer.”

A faculty member in the Rensselaer Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cramer is a recognized global leader in chromatographic bioprocessing. His research focuses on developing new methods and technologies to separate and purify biological compounds, both of which are major challenges facing drug discovery. This is particularly true of drugs that include proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from potentially harmful variants and impurities.

Recently, Cramer has been investigating different areas related to protein-surface interactions. This includes research into multiscale modeling of complex chromatographic behavior, fundamental studies of selectivity and affinity in multimodal chromatographic systems, chromatography on a chip, smart biopolymer affinity separation systems, and other endeavors. Cramer’s research is closely connected to several of the core facilities at the Institute, such as the nuclear magnetic resonance facility in the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.

A prolific researcher, Cramer holds nine patents and has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is editor-in-chief of the international journal Separations, Science and Technology. Additionally, he has chaired several high-profile professional meetings, including the international HIC/RPC Bioseparations Conference, the American Chemical Society (ACS) Recovery of Biological Products Meeting, and the Gordon Research Conference on Reactive Polymers.

Cramer’s peers have honored him with many awards and recognitions for his contributions. He received the Alan S. Michaels Award for the Recovery of Biological Products from the ACS Division of Biochemical Technology, and was elected a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. At Rensselaer, he received the School of Engineering Excellence in Research Award, the Rensselaer Early Career Award, as well as several teaching awards. Additionally, he received a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.

Cramer joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995, and in 2007 was named the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering. In his time at Rensselaer, he has advised 35 doctoral students who have gone on to leadership positions in academic and the biotechnology industry.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Brown University, and completed his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Yale University.

Purifying Proteins: Rensselaer Researchers Use NMR To Improve Drug Development

September 29, 2010

The purification of drug components is a large hurdle facing modern drug development. This is particularly true of drugs that utilize proteins, which are notoriously difficult to separate from other potentially deadly impurities. Scientists within the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to understand and improve an important protein purification process.

“We hope to use our insights to help those in the industry develop improved processes to provide much less expensive drugs and dramatically reduce healthcare costs,” said paper author and William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering Steven Cramer of Rensselaer.

His team’s findings are published in the Sept. 2 online early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS ) in a paper titled “ Evaluation of protein absorption and preferred binding regions in multimodal chromatography using NMR.” The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The process of multimodal chromatography has recently generated significant interest in the pharmaceutical industry. At its most basic, this process separates proteins from their surrounding materials, such as DNA and other proteins. The process works by encouraging the desired protein to stick to a material that contains a ligand, a type of molecular glue. Each ligand is only attracted to certain parts of certain proteins. Having been separated from the mixture, the specific protein can now be obtained in purer form, facilitating its eventual use as a biotherapeutic.

The more selective the ligand is at binding to a specific protein, the more efficient the process is, and the less additional steps are required to produce the final drug. This results in reduced costs for the production of the drug. But despite its widespread use and benefits, there is very little understood about how the process actually works or how the ligands can be improved.

“We are trying to understand what exactly is making these materials so useful for separating proteins,” Cramer said. “And what we are looking to uncover are the fundamental interactions within the chromatographic process that make the separations possible and efficient.”

For this study, the researchers used several of the advanced research facilities within CBIS. Using the Microbiology and Fermentation Core, Cramer and his colleagues grew several mutants of a protein called ubiquitin. This group of modified proteins is referred to as a protein library.

To compare the difference between multimodal systems and more traditional chromatography, the team ran the library through a less sophisticated chromatography system called ion exchange chromatography, as well as the multimodal system. They found that there was very little to no difference in the binding of proteins to ligands in the traditional ion exchange system. In contrast, there were huge fluctuations in the binding of some of the different mutants within the multimodal system.

To delve further into why this happened, they input ubiquitin and the multimodal ligands into the massive 800 megahertz NMR at Rensselaer’s CBIS. The NMR uses magnetic properties within organic materials to provide information on the minute molecular chemical properties of the material. From the NMR data, they were able to determine what part and type of the protein the ligands were binding to and how strongly they would bind. Their results validated the previous multimodal chromatography comparison experiments, showing that each of the protein mutants that strongly fluctuated in their binding strength in the multimodal chromatographic system were also the same ones identified with the NMR.

“This research is helping us develop a fundamental understanding of selectivity,” Cramer said. Working with his team, Cramer will work to design improved ligands and improved processes for their purification.

Cramer was joined in his research by Rensselaer NMR Core Director and Research Assistant Professor Scott McCallum, and graduate students Wai Keen Chung, Alexander Freed, and Melissa Holstein. Holstein was also the recipient of the 2009 W.H. Peterson Poster Award in the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) biochemical technology division for this research (only one award is given each year). She is the fourth student in the Cramer lab to earn this prestigious award in the past eight years.

Separations Expert Named William Weightman Walker Professor at Rensselaer

October 29, 2007

Troy, N.Y. — Chemical and biological engineering professor Steven Cramer was recently appointed as the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The endowed professorship, one of the two oldest such named professorships at Rensselaer, is the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member.

“With his research and insight, Professor Cramer continues to raise the bar for Rensselaer faculty and their students,” said Alan Cramb, dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering. “Steve has a bright future in his new chaired professorship in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and I thank him for his hard work and dedication.”

Cramer, who served as acting head of Rensselaer’s Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering from November 2004 to August 2006, is widely regarded as a worldwide leader in chromatographic bioprocessing and an expert in separations in general.

Along with being honored by the National Science Foundation and winning several teaching awards, Cramer is the inaugural recipient of the Alan S. Michaels Award for the Recovery of Biological Products, the editor of the journal Separation Science and Technology, and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

But he considers his work with doctoral and graduate students as his most significant accomplishment.

“My former students are major players in the bioprocessing industry in this country,” Cramer said. “They are doing great work, enabling companies to come up with more efficient processes and helping to advance the entire industry. That is what I’m most proud of.”

Cramer received his undergraduate degree from Brown University, and went on to earn his master’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering at Yale University. He joined the Rensselaer faculty as an assistant professor in 1986 and in 1990 was named the Isermann Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. He became a full professor in 1995.

In the early 1980s, Cramer recognized the potential of the biotech industry and decided to play a role in the emerging field. He traces this interest to his father’s multiple sclerosis. Watching his father suffer, Cramer said, “I knew I wanted to work in medical-related research.”

“I saw that there would be a tremendous need for people trained in bioseparations, so I chose that as the topic for my thesis,” he said.

Cramer’s research focuses on using chromatography and developing new technology to separate and purify biological compounds. The resulting discoveries have led not only to a deeper understanding of chromatography but also to the development of tools that improve the separation process and, ultimately, may make new medications possible by finding ways to separate substances that previously could not be isolated.

Before a drug can be injected into the body, it must be extremely pure — a process that typically requires many separations, each of which is expensive.

“If we can make the process more efficient and more economical, we can make drugs more affordable,” Cramer said.

He and his collaborators are responsible for a major shift in the field of displacement chromatography and the way that proteins are purified. Their work has resulted in at least four patents that have been commercialized and are now being used in the biotech industry.

Along with his post in the Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Cramer is a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. He said the interdisciplinary interaction afforded by the center has played a major role in his research program.

“My approach to research is to try to be as creative as possible,” he adds. “The way to do that is to collaborate with others at the intersection of different fields. The CBIS provides my research group with an unparalleled opportunity for carry out cutting-edge multidisciplinary biotechnology related research.”