WPI Alum Appointed Assistant Professor at Clarkson University

          Clarkson University recently appointed Dr. Bethany Almeida, a WPI alum, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. She graduated from WPI in 2013 with her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Professional Writing and a minor in Spanish. During her undergraduate years, she was heavily involved in the BME through her memberships in the Biomedical Engineering Society and Alpha Eta Mu Beta BME Honorary Society. Also including her work in the Rolle Laboratory’s Electrospun PU-PET Anchors for Vascular Tissue Engineering and the Page Laboratory’s In Vitro Skeletal Muscle Model with Mechanical Stimulation. Almeida went on to earn her Ph.D. in BME from Brown University in 2019 with her thesis, Using Biomaterials to Modulate Physical and Chemical Cues to Control Mesenchymal Stem Cell Behavior. She worked as an ASEE Postdoctoral Fellow for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for two years before coming to Clarkson University in 2021. Almeida has 8 publications in journals such as ACS Sensors, Molecules, Biophotonics Magazine, Chemical Communiations, ACS Nano, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, and Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology. Her recent honors and awards include Rising Star in Engineering in Health from Columbia University and a Career Development Award from BMES. Her research lab at Clarkson works to design and fabricate biomaterials to modulate stem cell behavior.

         She credits working with Dr. Marsha Rolle and Dr. Zoe Reidinger for sparking her interest in research as career. Dr. Reidinger was an important influence in choosing to pursue graduate school. Their positive impact led Dr. Almeida to want to give back in the same ways. The essential techniques she learned working in research labs as well as the structure of the MQP and term schedule eased the transition going into graduate school. Her advice for students is to get involved in research labs to gain skills that will carry throughout a career and make the most of your time at WPI. Read more