Dr. Matthew (Matt) Baker received his B.S. in chemistry (2006) at Clemson University in the United States and worked shortly for Tetramer Technologies, LLC. He obtained his PhD in 2012 in Physical Organic Chemistry under the guidance of Ronald K. Castellano at the University of Florida. Here, he studied some atypical small molecule organogelators and developed structure/property relationships leading to the creation of multifunctional molecules from a singular synthon. Jumping across the pond, he then moved to Eindhoven University of Technology to design and characterize water soluble supramolecular polymers under guidance of Prof. E. W. Meijer. Here he started a foray into regenerative medicine by creating supramolecular hydrogelators for extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics.
In May 2015, he joined the MERLN institute as a researcher, aiming to enhance the synthetic chemistry and materials used at the MERLN institute, while also starting a group to explore the utility of dynamic interaction in biomaterials. In 2017, he was promoted to Assistant Professor, founding a group to rationally design, synthesize, and characterize biomaterials based around stimuli-responsive and dynamic interactions.