Janet Denlinger

Dr. Janet L. Denlinger is President of the Matrix Biology Institute and Chief Scientific Officer of Hylaco, LLC.  The Matrix Biology Institute (MBI) is a non-profit research and development organization dedicated to hyaluronan research and education.  Hylaco LLC develops skin care products using specially engineered forms of hyaluronan developed at MBI, and has also started an associated foundation, the AIRS Foundation, to provide funds and accurate information for women whose insurance is not sufficient to cover the costs of reconstructive surgery following mastectomy.  

She was cofounder of Biomatrix, Inc., a biotechnology research, development and manufacturing company in New Jersey, where she was Executive Vice President, from 1989 until 2000.  Biomatrix, Inc. developed cross-linked hyaluronan derivatives (hylans) for medical applications and for skin care, and research at Biomatrix  led to the discovery of the broad and innovative medical therapeutic uses of elastoviscous solutions of hyaluronan and its derivatives.

She received her B.S. degree from the University of Florida in 1966, and in 1967 obtained a Master’s degree in biology (endocrine physiology) from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana).  She began her research training in 1967 at the Retina Foundation (Boston, MA) where she studied physiology and biochemistry.  From 1969 to 1972 she was a Research Associate in the Department of Pharmacology, University of Ottawa, Canada.  From 1973 to 1975 she was a Research Associate in the Department of Connective Tissue Research at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute in Boston, MA, where her research on the metabolism of hyaluronan in the eye and joints became the basis for the treatment modality, viscosupplementation, for the treatment of the symptoms of osteoarthritis.   She also worked on the interactions of hyaluronan and other glycosaminoglycans with, and their effects on, inflammatory processes.

In 1975, Dr. Denlinger was appointed Director of the Connective Tissue Research Laboratory in the Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, where she continued her research work and participated in teaching medical students. She also began her studies toward an advanced degree in the Department of Pharmacology at Columbia University.

In 1981, Dr. Denlinger became a staff member of the Connective Tissue Laboratory of the University of Paris VIII.  She received a Ph. D. degree summa cum laude from the Université de Sciences et Techniques in Lille, France, in 1982 for her work on the metabolism of hyaluronan in articular and ocular tissues.  Her more than 30 publications in international scientific journals and books include articles in the areas of ophthalmology, orthopedics, biochemistry and biotechnology.