Sangeeta Bhatia

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts ~ John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Micro- and nanotechnology bioengineer researching tissue repair, liver regeneration, and delivery of diagnostics and therapeutics. Studied effects of cell-cell interaction on emergent tissue function using micropatterning techniques and established a photolithographic patterning approach to balance homotypic and heterotypic interactions between hepatocytes and fibroblasts and stabilize human liver function in vitro. Developed a method for studying effects of combinations of ECM on tissue-specific functions in the liver, inspiring many ECM microarray platforms. Translated fundamental insights derived from her work to fabricate microlivers, developing first high-throughput disease models of chronic drug-induced liver injury, hepatitis B and C infection, and liver-stage malaria. Also developed nanoparticles and nanoporous materials that can be designed to assemble and communicate to study, diagnose, and treat a variety of diseases, including cancer. Honors include election to the National Academy of Engineering, and awards from the Heinz Foundation, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, David and Lucille Packard Fellowship, Harvard Medical School Diversity Award and the Thomas McMahon Mentoring Award.