Johan Foster

Johan Foster is faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CHBE) at the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC and holds the NSERC Canfor Industrial Research Chair in Advanced Bioproducts. Previously, he held a position in Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech University and, prior to that, at the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland. Dr. Foster has co-authored over 130 original research papers in high-impact journals and holds 10 patents. His research focuses on designing, synthesizing, and engineering bio-inspired functional polymers and nanocomposites, including nanocellulose. Novel bio-derived materials developed through his research are finding use or commercial potential in cartilage tissue engineering, in drug-release formulations to improve tissue response to mechanically adaptive cortical implants, in fragrance-release technologies, and in highly novel photo-switchable nanocomposite materials, among many other promising applications. Dr. Foster has received over $15 million in competitively peer-reviewed funding as a PI or co-applicant and has trained 75 HQP in the past five years alone. In the past few years, he has been recognized by his peers with three major international awards: the Kingfa Young Investigator Award from the American Chemical Society Cellulose Division, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Nanotechnology Division Mid-Career Award, and the title of Fellow of the American Chemical Society Polymer Chemistry Division. The awards recognized Dr. Foster’s world-leading research in cellulosic and polymeric materials by international organizations. Johan serves as Chair of the nanotechnology division of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, and was chair and organizer of TAPPI NANO 2023. He is a member of five peer-reviewed journal editorial boards.

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