Dr. Estes is overseeing the scientific aspects of implant development for Cytex Therapeutics, Inc.. Dr. Estes has held various research and development positions in industry in addition to acting as a consultant for both small, start-up and large, established medical device companies. In total, he has over 15 years of industry experience in medical device design, research and development of orthopaedic devices, and extensive experience interacting with FDA for the purposes of regulatory approvals. He currently holds over 50 US patents associated with medical devices. Dr. Estes received his PhD degree from Duke University in Biomedical Engineering with the subject of his dissertation being the investigation of methods for inducing chondrogenesis in adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) using biomechanical and biochemical signals on various biomaterial scaffolds.Specialties: Tissue Engineering of Orthopaedic Connective Tissues , Biomechanics of Joints and Connective Tissues, Functional Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering, Differentiation of Adult Stem Cells, Mechanotransduction, Pathways in Stem Cell Differentiation, Biomechanical and Biochemical Regulation of Native and Tissue-Engineered Cartilage, Interaction of Inflammatory Mediators and Mechanical Stress in Stem Cell Differentiation, mechanical testing of medical devices, ASTM F04 standards