Key Thought Sessions
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Liz Neeley
Conference Host and Emcee
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CATO LAURENCIN, MD, PhD
University Professor, University of Connecticut
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GILDA BARABINO, PhD
President, Olin College of Engineering
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LOLA ENIOLA-ADEFESO, PhD
Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education in Engineering, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
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JAMES J. COLLINS, PhD
Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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KELLY STEVENS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of Washington
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PATRICK COUVREUR, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy, Paris-Saclay University
Liz Neeley
Founder and CEO, Liminal Creations
IFoRE Host and Emcee
A trailblazer in the art of science storytelling, Liz Neeley is the founder and principal of the science communication design firm Liminal Creations. She is fascinated by blending the power and beauty of the arts with rigorous research on how people make sense of the world around us. Until September 2020, Liz was the Executive Director of The Story Collider, where she focused on true, personal stories of science told live on stage.
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Over the past fifteen years, she has specialized in environmental science, journalism, policy, and social media. In her workshops, coaching, speaking, and writing, Liz is always searching for the best ways of spreading ideas through complex networks. She delight in good data, beautiful ideas, and gorgeous design.
CATO LAURENCIN, MD, PhD
University Professor, University of Connecticut
Regenerative Engineering: Convergence, Consilience and Justice
Cato T. Laurencin, MD, PhD, is the University Professor at the University of Connecticut (one of only two at the school). He is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at UConn. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering.
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Dr. Laurencin earned a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his PhD in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was named a Hugh Hampton Young Fellow and his MD, Magna Cum Laude, from the Harvard Medical School, and received the Robinson Award for Surgery. He is the pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering. He is an expert in biomaterials science, stem cell technology and nanotechnology and has worked in the convergence of these areas of research. In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, he was named as the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. In recognition of his breakthrough achievements in Regenerative Engineering worldwide, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers created the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award.
Dr. Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Renowned internationally, he is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, India, the African Academy of Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences, and he is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Laurencin is the first individual in history to receive both the oldest/highest award of the National Academy of Engineering (the Simon Ramo Founder’s Award) and one of the oldest/highest awards of the National Academy of Medicine (the Walsh McDermott Medal). He is the recipient of the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP given for “the highest or noblest achievement by a living African American during the preceding year or years in any honorable field” for his work in regenerative engineering. He is the recipient of the Hoover Medal, America engineering’s principal honor for humanitarian work. Dr. Laurencin is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’s highest honor for technological achievement, awarded by President Barack Obama in ceremonies at the White House.
GILDA BARABINO, PhD
President, Olin College of Engineering
Engineering for Impact: Creating an Inclusive and Diverse World
Gilda A. Barabino is President of Olin College. Previously, she served as the Daniel and Frances Berg Professor and Dean of Engineering at The City College of New York’s (CCNY) Grove School of Engineering. Prior to joining CCNY, she served as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory. At Georgia Tech she also served as the inaugural Vice Provost for Academic Diversity. Prior to Georgia Tech and Emory, she rose to the rank of Full Professor of Chemical Engineering and served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Northeastern University.
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She is a noted investigator in the areas of sickle cell disease, cellular and tissue engineering, and the role of race/ethnicity and gender in science and engineering. Her many honors include an honorary degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, and she is a Fellow of several scientific societies. Dr. Barabino is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She chairs the National Academies Committee on Women in Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and is President-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.
LOLA ENIOLA-ADEFESO, PhD
Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education in Engineering, University of
Michigan-Ann Arbor
The Time is Now: A Critical Need for Diversifying the STEM Professoriate
Dr. Lola Eniola-Adefeso is the Associate Dean for Graduate & Professional Education in Engineering and the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She received a doctoral degree (2004) in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She was a postdoctoral associate in Pediatrics/Leukocyte Biology at Baylor College of Medicine.
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Dr. Eniola-Adefeso joined the faculty of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2006, where she runs the Cell Adhesion and Drug Delivery Laboratory. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society and serves as Deputy Editor for Science Advances. Her research is currently funded by multiple grants from the NIH NHLBI, American Heart Association, and the National Science Foundation.
JAMES J. COLLINS, PhD
Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harnessing Synthetic Biology and Deep Learning to Fight Pathogens
Jim Collins is the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, as well as a Member of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences & Technology Faculty. He is also a Core Founding Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is one of the founders of the field of synthetic biology, and his research group is currently focused on using synthetic biology to create next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics.
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Professor Collins' patented technologies have been licensed by over 25 biotech, pharma and medical devices companies, and he has co-founded a number of companies, including Synlogic, Senti Biosciences, Sherlock Biosciences and Cellarity, as well as Phare Bio, a non-profit focused on AI-driven antibiotic discovery. He has received numerous awards and honors, including a Rhodes Scholarship and a MacArthur "Genius" Award, and he is an elected member of all three national academies - the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.
KELLY STEVENS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, University of Washington
Why Addressing Racism in the Academy will Bring More Impact, Power, and Quality of Life to All of Us
Dr. Kelly Stevens is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology at the University of Washington. Dr. Stevens' research team focuses on human organ design. Her team is developing molecular blueprints of human organs, as well as new methods to build engineered organs, as through 3D printing and synthetic morphogenesis. Dr. Stevens also works to disseminate the message that to develop advances that equitably improve the lives of all people, our profession needs to include all people.
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Dr. Stevens has received numerous honors and awards as a result of her work, including Elected Co-Chair of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine New Voices Cohort, Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, NIH New Innovator Award, BMES CMBE Rising Star Award, John Tietze Stem Cell Scientist Award, Keck Foundation Award, and Gree Scholar Award.
PATRICK COUVREUR, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy, Paris-Saclay University
Pluridisciplinarity: The Corner Stone for the Discovery of Efficient and Safe Nanomedicines
Patrick COUVREUR is an Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy at the Paris-Saclay University, member of the French Académie des Sciences and holder of the chair of “Innovations Technologiques” (2009-2010) at the prestigious « Collège de France ». He is appointed as a Senior Member of the “Institut Universitaire de France” since 2009. He is also the recipient of an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (2010-2015), a highly competitive and important attribution in Europe.
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He has held many important national and international academic positions as Director of the UMR CNRS 8612 (a CNRS associated department gathering together more than 120 researchers in the drug delivery field), Director of the Doctoral School “Therapeutic Innovation” (over 300 PhD students at Paris-Sud University) and founder member of the pole of competitivity MEDICEN.
During 30 years (1985-2015), Patrick COUVREUR was also an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Louvain (Belgium) and he was an invited professor in many other universities. He was/is a member of the board of governors of many international scientific organizations (ie. The International Pharmaceutical Federation FIP, the Controlled Release Society CRS, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Scientists EUFEPS, APGI etc.). Since 2014, he was a member of the LS-7 panel of the European Research Council (ERC consolidator grant) and he became the Chair of the panel in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Patrick COUVREUR has served in many scientific committees in France (Institut Pasteur, ENS Cachan, Academic Council of Paris-Saclay University, Scientific Committee of the Région Centre, Comité National of the CNRS, Conseil National des Universités CNU, Board of Governors of Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, President 2020 of the Académie Nationale de Pharmacie etc.).
Prof Patrick COUVREUR’s contributions in the field of drug delivery, nanomedicine and drug targeting are highly recognized around the world (Google Scholar H-index 131 and 73,500 citations; Web of Science H-index 102 and 43,400 citations) with more than 550 peer review research publications, some of them in prestigious journals (ie. Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Angewandte Chemie, Cancer Research, Journal of the American Chemical Society etc.). And he has supervised over 100 PhD students. His research is interdisciplinary, aiming at developing new nanomedicines for the treatment of severe diseases, incl. cancer, neurological disorders and intracellular infectious diseases. This research stands at the interface between Physico-Chemistry of Colloids, Polymer Chemistry, Material Science, pharmaceutical formulation, Cellular and Molecular Biology and Experimental Pharmacology.
Patrick COUVREUR’s research has led to the funding of three start-up companies (Bioalliance, Medsqual and Squalpharma). Bioalliance (now ONXEO) entered the stock market in 2005 and a nanomedicine invented in Couvreur’s lab has reached a complete phase III clinical trial for the treatment of resistant hepatocarcinoma.
The major scientific contribution of Patrick COUVREUR to the Pharmaceutical Sciences is also recognized by numerous international (the “2004 Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress Award”, the prestigious “Host Madsen Medal”, the “European Pharmaceutical Scientist Award” of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the European Inventor Award 2013 given by the European Patent Office, the Speiser’s award from ETH and the Higuchi Award 2015, Japan etc.) and national awards (The Grand Prix de l’Innovation of « L’USINE NOUVELLE » 2008, the “Prix Galien 2009” and the “Médaille de l’Innovation 2012” of the CNRS and the Grand Prix Achille le Bel 2020). And he is also a Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Ghent (Belgium) and Montréal (Canada).
His appointment as a member of ten academies is another recognition of major scientific and scholarly contributions of Patrick COUVREUR (Académie des Sciences, Académie des Technologies, Académie Nationale de Médecine and Académie Nationale de Pharmacie in France, as well as, the European Academy of Sciences, the Académie Royale de Médecine in Belgium, the Royal Academy of Pharmacy in Spain, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, two of the three National Academies in USA). He is also an International Fellow of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology in Japan.
By a decree of the President of the French Republic, Patrick Couvreur has been appointed as “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” (Knight of the Légion d'Honneur).