Faculty & Staff

Biography

David A. Puleo, Ph.D., was appointed as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at The University of Alabama in Huntsville on Aug. 1, 2022.

Dave previously served as dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi (UM) from 2018-2022. Prior to joining UM, he was at the University of Kentucky for 27 years, holding the positions of associate dean for research and graduate studies and professor of biomedical engineering before leaving. Over the course of his career, Dave rose through the faculty ranks; taught undergraduate and graduate courses; was a productive investigator; mentored high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, medical and dental students and residents, and faculty; was also a center director and department chair; and had been externally engaged with industry and fundraising.  In his various administrative roles, Dave and his teams increased undergraduate and graduate student enrollment, increased the number of underrepresented and female engineering students, facilitated increased research expenditures, added new programs and inter-institutional academic partnerships, and oversaw new capital projects, among other accomplishments. 

Dave earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has authored more than 120 refereed journal articles, coauthored a textbook, and coedited and published several other books and periodicals. As a researcher in the area of regenerative biomaterials, Dave’s group investigated materials for enhancing tissue regeneration.  More specifically, they developed degradable and erodible biomaterials that release one or more drugs to control cell and tissue responses, typically for musculoskeletal applications.  Dave served as principal investigator and investigator on federal, state, and industry grants and contracts exceeding $13M. His research has led to nearly 20 intellectual property disclosures, patent applications, and patents, and is associated with three start-up companies.  Dr. Puleo is an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, and National Academy of Inventors. 

Education

• Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1991
• B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1987

Honors & Awards

• Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (elected in 2020)
• Fellow, International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (elected in 2016)
• Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society (elected in 2010)

Recent Publications

• Venkatesan, N., Liyanage, A.D.T., Castro-Núñez, J. Asafo-Adjei, T., Dziubla, T.D., Cunningham, L.C., and Puleo, D.A. (2019).  Biodegradable polymerized simvastatin stimulates bone formation Acta Biomater. 93:192-199. 

• Brown, M.E., Zou, Y. Peyyala, R. Exposto, C. Cunningham, L.L., Milbrandt, T.A., Huja, S., Dziubla, T.D., and Puleo, D.A. (2018).  Testing of a bioactive, moldable bone graft substitute in an infected, critically-sized segmental defect model, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part B 106B: 1878-1886. 

• Jennings, C.L., Perry, E.K., Dziubla, T.D., and Puleo, D.A. (2017).  Sequential release of multiple drugs from flexible drug delivery films, Int. J. Polym. Mater. Polym. Biomater. 66(11):569-76.