Sangeeta N. Bhatia
"Our laboratory conducts research at the intersection of engineering, medicine, and biology to develop novel platforms for understanding, diagnosing and treating human disease. Our long-term goals are to improve cellular therapies for liver disease, develop microtechnology tools to systematically study living cells, and design multifunctional nanomaterial systems which assemble and communicate to interrogate and coordinately treat cancer. We have developed technologies for interfacing living cells with synthetic systems, enabling new applications in tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, medical diagnostics and drug delivery. One such platform applies microfabrication technologies used in semiconductor manufacturing to organize cells of different types to produce a tissue with emergent properties. These efforts have produced human microlivers which model human drug metabolism, drug-induced liver disease, and interaction with human pathogens, thereby establishing high-throughput models that are being used for drug testing, discovery, and tissue engineering applications. We are also involved in a multidisciplinary effort to develop nanomaterials as tools for biological studies and as multifunctional agents for cancer therapies. By bridging the unique electromagnetic properties of nanomaterials with advances in bioconjugate chemistry, photonics, and phage display we aim to develop ‘intelligent' systems for tumor therapy and biomolecular detection. Our interest centers around nanoparticles and nanoporous materials that can be designed to perform complex tasks such as home to a tumor, sense changes in cells and tissues, enhance imaging, recruit complementary nanoparticles and signal pathways, and trigger the release of a targeted, therapeutic payload.”
Learn more about the work the Bhatia Lab is doing to use micro and nanotechnologies to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy by watching this video: "Inside the Lab: Sangeeta Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D."
The Bhatia Lab's work is profiled as part of the current interactive exhibits in the Koch Institute Public Galleries. Watch a web version of the story here.
Trained as both a physician and engineer, Dr. Bhatia has pioneered technologies for interfacing living cells with synthetic systems, enabling new applications in tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, medical diagnostics and drug delivery. Her multidisciplinary team has developed a broad and impactful range of inventions, including human micro livers which model human drug metabolism, liver disease, and interaction with pathogens, and a suite of communicating nanomaterials that can be used to interrogate, monitor and treat cancer and other diseases. Her work has been profiled broadly such as in Scientific American, the Boston Globe, Popular Science,Forbes, PBS’s NOVA scienceNOW, The Economist, and MSNBC.
Dr. Bhatia trained at Brown, MIT, Harvard, and MGH. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she is a fellow of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. She has been awarded the 2015 Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment; the 2014 Lemelson-MIT Prize; the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship given to “the nation’s most promising young professors in science and engineering;” the NSF CAREER Award; the Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the Young Investigator Award of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology; and the Brown Engineering Alumni Medal. She also was named a Merkin Fellow of the Broad Institute.
As a passionate mentor and advocate for diversity in science and engineering, she has been the recipient of the Harvard Medical School Diversity Award and the Harvard-MIT Thomas McMahon Mentoring Award. She co-authored the first undergraduate textbook on tissue engineering and is a frequent advisor to governmental organizations on nanobiotechnology, biomedical microsystems, and tissue engineering.
She and her over 150 trainees have contributed to more than 40 issued or pending patents and launched 10 biotechnology companies with 70+ commercial products at the intersection of medicine and miniaturization. She has published more than 150 manuscripts which have been cited a total of over 14,500 times. Prior to her position at MIT, she held a tenured position at UCSD, and has worked in industry at Pfizer, Genetics Institute, ICI Pharmaceuticals, and Organogenesis.
Further Information
Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia
Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D. (b. 1968) is an Indian American biological engineer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Bhatia's research investigates applications of micro- and nano-technology for tissue repair and regeneration.
In 2003, she was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[1][2] She was also named a "Scientist to Watch" by The Scientist in 2006,[3] and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2008.[4]
Bhatia co-authored the first undergraduate textbook on tissue engineering and was an editor for two books, Microdevices in Biology and Medicine and Biosensing.
Background
Bhatia's parents emigrated from India to Boston, Massachusetts; her father was an engineer and her mother was one of the first women to receive an MBA in India. She was motivated to become an engineer after her 10th grade biology class and a trip with her father into an MIT lab to see a demonstration of an ultrasound machine for cancer treatment.[5]
She studied bioengineering at Brown University where she joined a research group studying artificial organs which convinced her to pursue graduate study the field.[6] After graduating with honors in 1990,[7] Bhatia was initially rejected from the M.D.-Ph.D. program run by the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) but was accepted into the Mechanical Engineering masters program. She was later accepted to the HST M.D.-Ph.D. program where she was advised by Mehmet Toner and Martin Yarmush, received the Ph.D. in 1997 and M.D. in 1999, and completed postdoctoral training atMassachusetts General Hospital.[5][7]
Bhatia joined the faculty at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1999 and rose to the rank of associate professor. While at UCSD, Bhatia was awarded a Packard Fellowship,[8] was named 2001 "Teacher of the Year" in the Bioengineering Department at the Jacobs School of Engineering,[9] and was named a Young Innovator under 35 byTechnology Review in 2003.[2] In 2005, she left UCSD and joined the MIT faculty in the Division of Health Sciences & Technology and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Bhatia was named a "Scientist to Watch" by The Scientist in 2006 and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 2008.[3][4][10] The Brown University School of Engineering presented Bhatia its BEAM (Brown Engineering Alumni Medal) Award in 2011. Bhatia currently directs the Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies and is affiliated with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.[11]
Bhatia has two daughters with her husband, Jagesh Shah.[5]
Research
Dr. Bhatia's research in the Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies is focused on the applications of micro- and nanotechnology to tissue repair and regeneration.
Specifically, she studies the interactions between hepatocytes (liver cells) and their microenvironment and develops microfabrication tools to improve cellular therapies for liver disease (Hepatic Tissue Engineering). The goal is to maximize hepatocyte function, facilitate design of effective cellular therapies for liver disease, and improve fundamental understanding of liver physiology and pathophysiology. She is also interested in using arrays of living cells as high-throughput platforms to study fundamental aspects of stem cellbiology (Cell-Based BioMEMS) using a diverse repertoire of tools including chemical, topological, fluidic, electrical, and optical manipulation of living cells on chip platforms. Finally, LMRT is involved in a multidisciplinary effort to develop nanomaterials as tools for biological studies and as multifunctional agents for cancer therapies. Interests center around nanoparticles and nanoporous materials that can be designed to perform complex tasks such as: home to a tumor, sense changes in cells and tissues, enhance imaging, and trigger the release of a therapeutic payload. Having had several stints in the biotechnology industry, Dr. Bhatia holds a number of patents for both clinical and biotechnological applications of engineering principles. She is the author of Microfabrication in Tissue Engineering and Bioartificial Organs and co-author of the undergraduate textbook Tissue Engineering.
Experience
Professor
MIT
Co Founder
Glympse Bio
Member Board of Trustees
Brown University
Member Board of Directors
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Member, Board of Scientific Advisors
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Co-Founder, Head of SAB
Hepregen
Associate Professor of Bioengineering & Medicine
University of California, San Diego
Education
Harvard Medical School
Doctor of Medicine (MD)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PhD, MS, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Brown University
Bachelor of Science (BSc)
References
- Jump up^ "2003 Young Innovators Under 35". Technology Review. 2003. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "2003 Young Innovator: Sangeeta Bhatia, 35". Technology Review. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Nadis, Steve. "Sangeeta Bhatia Looks at Life's Architecture". The Scientist. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "2008 HHMI Investigators". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c "The Many Sides of Sangeeta Bhatia". NOVA, Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ "HHMI Investigators: Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D.". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "People: Sangeeta N. Bhatia". Harvard-MIT Health Science & Technology. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ Hagen, Denine (1999-12-01). "UC San Diego Bioengineering Professor Receives Prestigious Packard Foundation Fellowship". UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering.
- Jump up^ "Winter 2002 Newsletter". UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ "Indian chosen for prestigious scientists' body". India Abroad. July 9, 2008.
- Jump up^ "Faculty: Sangeeta N. Bhatia". Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ "2003 Young Innovators Under 35". Technology Review. 2003. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "2003 Young Innovator: Sangeeta Bhatia, 35". Technology Review. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Nadis, Steve. "Sangeeta Bhatia Looks at Life's Architecture". The Scientist. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "2008 HHMI Investigators". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c "The Many Sides of Sangeeta Bhatia". NOVA, Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ "HHMI Investigators: Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D.". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "People: Sangeeta N. Bhatia". Harvard-MIT Health Science & Technology. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ Hagen, Denine (1999-12-01). "UC San Diego Bioengineering Professor Receives Prestigious Packard Foundation Fellowship". UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering.
- Jump up^ "Winter 2002 Newsletter". UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- Jump up^ "Indian chosen for prestigious scientists' body". India Abroad. July 9, 2008.
- Jump up^ "Faculty: Sangeeta N. Bhatia". Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
External links
| sangeeta N. Bhatia | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Nanotechnology, Tissue engineering |
| Institutions | Massachusetts General Hospital University of California, San Diego (1999–2005) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2005– ) |
| Alma mater | Brown University (B.S., 1990) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S., Ph.D. 1997) Harvard Medical School (M.D. 1999) |
| Academic advisors | Mehmet Toner |
| Known for | Nanotechnology for tissue repair and regeneration |
| Notable awards | Packard Fellowship (1999–2004) Howard Hughes Medical Instituteinvestigator (2008) |
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