Dr. John P. Fisher is a Distinguished University Professor, MPower Professor, Distinguished-Scholar Teacher, Fischell Family Distinguished Professor, and Department Chair in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. Dr. Fisher is also the Director of the Center for Engineering Complex Tissue (CECT), which aims to create a broad community focusing on 3D printing and bioprinting for regenerative medicine applications. As the Director of the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Laboratory, Dr. Fisher’s group investigates biomaterials, stem cells, bioprinting, and bioreactors for regenerating lost tissues, particularly bone, cartilage, and soft tissues. Dr. Fisher’s laboratory has published over 250 works (books, book chapters, articles, proceedings, and editorials) that are associated with 20,000+ citations (79 h-index), as well as delivered 447 invited and contributed presentations while utilizing approximately $20+M in financial support from NIH, NSF, FDA, NIST, DoD, and other institutions.
As Chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering since January 2016, Dr. Fisher leads a department of approximately 25 tenured / tenure-track faculty, 35 professional track faculty, 15 staff members, 450 undergraduate students, and 125 graduate students. Dr. Fisher’s term as chair includes a range of key accomplishments, including increasing the research expenditures of the department from $8M in FY15 to $22M in FY25, establishing a 20 member External Advisory Board with key corporate partners, and securing a top USNWR ranking in 2026 for its undergraduate (#25 overall, #10 in public universities) and in 2025 for its graduate (#28 overall, #12 in public universities) programs. In 2025, Dr. Fisher led the establishment of the Center for Translational Engineering & Medicine, a joint research partnership with the University School of Medicine, and secured a $10M gift from the St John Foundation and a $12.5M grant from the State of Maryland MPower Initiative to support the newly created center.
Dr. Fisher has been elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2012), the Biomedical Engineering Society (2016), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (2020), and the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (2024).
In 2023, Dr. Fisher was elected the 2025 Chair of the Council of Chairs (CoC), an assembly of the 150+ biomedical engineering / bioengineering department chairs throughout the United States and beyond.
Dr. Fisher is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tissue Engineering, and from 2018 to 2020, Dr. Fisher was President of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society – Americas (TERMIS-AM).
