Brent Constantz

Consulting Associate Professor, Biomechanical Engineering Division

Research Interests and Background

Brent R. Constantz, Ph.D. is interested in biomineralization and the design of mineralized structures and their function. He has investigated skeletogenetic processes in every animal phylum. Most of his work has been on reef building corals and mammalian bone. In the orthopaedic medical device area, he formed Norian Corporation in 1987, the original player in synthetic bone cement for bone fixation and replacement. He served as President & Chief Executive Officer at Norian, now a subsidiary of Synthes Inc., until coming to Stanford as a Visiting Scholar in 1998. A Consulting Associate Professor teaching Biomineralization (ME/GES 282) and Mineralization of Bone (ME/GES 285) in the Biomechanical Engineering Division, & Geological & Environmental Sciences, Dr. Constantz formed his second medical device company, Corazon Technologies, Inc., in 1999 where he served as President & Chief Executive Officer until 2002. Corazón is a cardiovascular device company based in Menlo Park addressing pathological calcification of the cardiovascular system. Currently, he serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of Skeletal Kinetics LLC, in Cupertino, California. Skeletal Kinetics produces a second generation fracture repair cement that allow patients to return to functional soon after skeletal fractures. Dr. Constantz received a doctorate in Earth Sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1986 and was a Fulbright Scholar the Weizmann Institute of Science studying biomineralization in 1986 - 1987.

Recent Publication

"Skeletal Repair by in Situ Formation of the Mineral Phase of Bone", by B.R. Constantz, I.C. Ison, M.T. Fulmer, R.D. Poser, S.T. Smith, M. VanWagoner, J. Ross, S.A. Goldstein, J.B. Jupiter, D.I. Rosenthal. SCIENCE, 24 March 1995, Volume 267, pp. 1796-1799."

 

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