2023 SFB Elections: Biographies
Officer Nominees
PRESIDENT-ELECT
The President-elect shall become familiar with the duties of the President and shall, at all times, cooperate and assist with the duties of that office. In the absence of the President, the President-elect shall preside at the meetings of the Society, the Council and the Board of Directors, and perform the duties and exercise the powers of President. The term of office is for a period of one year without succession. The President-elect shall coordinate the duties of Council regarding the long-range direction and future of the Society.
Tatiana Segura, PhD
Duke University
Biographical Sketch: Tatiana Segura is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, and Dermatology at Duke University. She received her B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and her doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. She began her career in Biomaterials research during her doctoral work working with Prof. Lonnie Shea. She designed hydrogels for local non-viral gene delivery, a topic that she still works on today. She continued her Biomaterials training during her postdoctoral work with Jeffrey Hubbell. There she worked on the design of hydrogels and self-assembled polysulfides for gene delivery. She began her independent career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering reaching the title of Professor. At UCLA she participated actively in service culminating with her election as department Vice Chair and running the Graduate Program. Other notable service includes ABET Chair, where she designed and implemented new procedures to access continuous improvement in the department following a Weakness the ABET site visit. At Duke she has continued to be heavily involved in service at the department, school, and university level. In only 5 years, she has Chaired 6 committees, and participated in at least 6 more, is the direct mentor to two young assistant professors, is the Co-director of the Center for Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering and serves as MPI of the T32 Biotechnology Training grant. Notably she is currently the Chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee, and a member of the Strategic Visioning committee for Duke BME.
Prof. Segura’s research is centered on biomaterials and in engineering biomaterial-soft tissue interactions to promote repair and regeneration. Together with her lab members, she designs new biomaterial interventions that can promote brain plasticity after stroke, promote scarless healing in skin wounds, induce tolerance of transplanted skin, and promote constructive immune responses after biomaterial implantation. Currently, her lab has 12 graduate students, 4 postdoctoral scholars, 2 master students, 1 plastic surgery resident, 16 undergraduate students, one high school student, and one research associate.
Professor Segura has received numerous awards and distinctions during her career, including being named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, receiving the Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, an Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and a National Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. She was also named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE). Professor Segura has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and reviews and has over 10,000 citations. Her laboratory has been continuously funded since 2008 with several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Vision Statement: Wow, I am beyond excited to have been nominated as a candidate for SFB President-Elect! It is truly an honor and I feel so grateful for this opportunity to serve and give back to the community that has supported me throughout my career. My vision for SFB is to ensure that it is a strong and thriving community that serves all its members. I plan to achieve this by attending as many leadership meetings as possible, engaging with members at Biomaterial Day events across the country, and actively seeking feedback from students, staff, and faculty on what is going well and what needs improvement. I also plan to work closely with the SFB staff to identify areas where the Society can continue to excel and to empower members with the tools and resources they need to succeed.
One of my top priorities as President-Elect will be to enhance member engagement and involvement in the Society. I believe that by empowering members to be successful, we can build a stronger and more inclusive community. This means providing opportunities for members to develop webinars, workshops, and sessions at the annual meeting, as well as mentoring and training opportunities for our youngest members.
Another key aspect of my vision for SFB is to build a more diverse and inclusive community. I strongly believe that diverse teams are essential for advancing human health, and I am committed to addressing barriers and promoting equity and inclusion within the Society. I plan to work closely with the DEI Committee to identify and address issues of discrimination and to create a more welcoming and supportive environment for all members.
I believe that SFB should continue to build partnerships with clinical, governmental, and business experts to help biomaterials researchers understand the pathway to the patient, and to navigate the commercialization pathway. SFB needs to continue to strengthen its financial position to ensure its sustainability. Finally, we need to reach more people. I would like to work with the leadership team to establish new virtual and physical outreach efforts to increase awareness of what biomaterials science is so that our pipeline of biomaterial scientist remains strong.
Overall, I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve as SFB President and to work with the Board and Council to continue building a stronger Society. I am committed to listening to the needs of our members, empowering them to be successful, and creating a more inclusive and welcoming community where all members can thrive.
Sarah Stabenfeldt, PhD
Arizona State University
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Sarah Stabenfeldt is an Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering at Arizona State University. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Saint Louis University and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Her current research projects span from nanoparticle delivery after brain injury to neural injury biomarker discovery to neural tissue engineering/regenerative medicine. Dr. Stabenfeldt’s research is funded via federal (NIH, NSF), state (ABRC), and private foundation/clinical sources (Flinn Foundation, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic). Dr. Stabenfeldt has received a number of prestigious awards including NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2014), NSF CAREER Award (2015), and Arizona Biomedical Research Centre Early-Stage Investigator Award (2015). Additional honors include Emerging Investigator Journal of Materials Chemistry, B (2017), Emerging Investigator Biomaterials Science (2017), Fulton Exemplar Faculty (2018), and Emerging Investigator Journal of Biological Engineering (2019), the Society for Biomaterials Mid-Career Award (2021), and Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, 2022). Dr. Stabenfeldt serves on numerous editorial boards and review panels in the area of biomaterials such as Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, Part A, and a standing member of NIH Drug and Biologic Therapeutic Delivery (DBTD; 2021-2027).
Dr. Stabenfeldt has been an active member of SFB for over 20yrs since graduate school. Her recent contributions to SFB include Vice Chair (2013-2015) and Chair (2015-2017) of the Engineering Cells & Their Microenvironment (ECTM) Special Interest Group (SIG) and also SIG Representative to the SFB Board and Council (2017-2019). Dr. Stabenfeldt has consistently contributed to the SFB annual meeting content by co-organizing sessions and most recently serving on the Program Planning Committee for the 2018 and 2019 Annual SFB meetings. In 2019, Sarah was elected as Secretary-Treasurer-Elect (2019-2021) and currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for SFB (2021-2023). Dr. Stabenfeldt is also an active member of Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and National Neurotrauma Society (NNS). She has served on the BMES Student Affairs Committee (2011-2015), Diversity Committee (2021-Present), BMES ASU Chapter faculty advisor (2011-present), and neural engineering track chair for the 2017 and 2022 BMES Annual Meeting.
Vision Statement: Society for Biomaterials. The SFB community has shaped the trajectory of my academic career and to this day continues to provide a strong supportive network of scientific peers and colleagues. As a graduate student, I directly benefited from the STAR award program thereby piquing my interest in giving back to the community. For the past six years (2017-2023), I have served as a member of the SBF SFB Board and Council, first as the SIG Representative, then Secretary-Treasurer-Elect, and most recently Secretary-Treasurer. During this time, I have learned from prior SFB leaders and community regarding the inner workings of the society. I know the budget inside and out, I know the strengths and weaknesses of the society – this knowledge uniquely positions me to serve the SFB community as the next President-Elect.
The community is at the heart of SFB – we are a thriving professional society because of our strong community. We come together to share the latest findings in biomaterials research, we discuss FDA regulatory policies, we debate critical topics in the field, and we support our trainees and membership with career development workshops and sessions. I will continue to work for the SFB community by supporting our current efforts in Educational and Professional Development, particularly the mentoring program. Continued support to the next generation of SFB leaders will be a top priority through events and trainings geared toward our National Student Chapter, local student chapters, and the Young Scientist Group. Connections between SFB and industry will be enhanced through our current member partnerships and expanded in through collaborative programming at the annual meeting and virtual programming throughout the year. Partnering with government organizations across the spectrum of funding (NSF, NIH) to standards and regulatory policies (NIST, FDA) will be instrumental for successful translation of cutting-edge biomaterials technology. And ensuring that all voices are welcomed in SFB. Each of these efforts will only be possible by calling in our talented members to work together as a team for SFB.
In closing, it would be a true honor to serve as the next SFB President-Elect.
SECRETARY-TREASURER ELECT
The Secretary-Treasurer-elect shall become familiar with the duties of the Secretary-Treasurer, cooperate and assist in carrying out the duties and prepare for eventual succession to that office. In the temporary absence of the Secretary-Treasurer, the Secretary-Treasurer-elect will perform the duties and exercise the duties of the office. The term of office shall be for a period of two years without succession. The Secretary-Treasurer-elect shall be the chairperson of the Finance Committee.
Ashley Carson Brown, PhD
North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Ashley Brown received a B.S. in Biosystems Engineering with a minor in Bioengineering from Clemson University and a PhD in Bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Brown joined the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015 where she leads the Advanced Wound Healing lab. Her research focuses on developing novel microgel-based materials for a variety of biomedical applications, including augmentation of hemostasis, enhanced wound healing, evaluation and modulation of cellular mechanotransduction, and development of biosynthetic constructs for regenerative medicine. Dr. Brown’s research is supported by a variety of sources, including NIH, NSF, AHA, and DOD. Due to Dr. Brown’s interest in translating biomaterials into clinical use, in 2019, she founded Selsym Biotech, Inc., which is a start-up company focused on development of hemostatic and pro-healing therapeutics. Dr. Brown has been recognized with several awards, including the SFB Mid-Career Award, NSF CAREER Award, Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator, Young Investigator Award from the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine AM Society, the American Society for Matrix Biology Young Investigator Award, and a Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator Award.
Dr. Brown has been a member of the Society for Biomaterials since 2008. Dr. Brown has served on SFB Council since 2019, first as the Bylaws Committee Chair (2019-2021) and then as the SIG Representative (2021-2023). She has also served on the SFB Board since 2021. As SIG Representative, Dr. Brown has led initiatives focused on enhancing SIG member engagement, including the 2022 SIG webinar series and new events at the 2023 annual meeting including a SIG scavenger hunt and SIG meet and greets at the opening reception. Prior to serving as SIG Representative, Dr. Brown was highly active in the ECTM SIG, serving as the Secretary-Treasurer from 2016-2018 and Chair from 2018-2021. Dr. Brown has also served on several other SFB committees, including the website redesign task-force, annual program planning committee (2022 and 2023), and Biointerface SIG postdoc award review committee. Dr. Brown supports the NC State SFB Student Chapter by serving as a faculty mentor. Dr. Brown also has experience serving as a Council Member for the American Society for Matrix Biology and as the Student Affairs Committee Chair for the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Vision Statement: I am honored to be nominated for the position of SFB Secretary-Treasurer-Elect. SFB has been my academic home since I was a graduate student, and it has been wonderful to be able to serve the society in various leadership positions over the last few years. As SIG Representative, I have worked with the SFB Board and Council to ensure that SIG interests are heard. Through my work as SIG Rep, I gained important perspective about the financial aspects of SIG activities. I evaluated SIG budget proposals and worked closely with the Board and individual SIGs to ensure that SIGs operate on a revenue-neutral model. I also worked with SIGs to identify ways to enhance funding by identifying external sponsorship opportunities. These experiences have uniquely prepared me to serve as Secretary/Treasurer-Elect. I also served on SFB Council and ASMB Council during the peak of COVID-19 disruptions. As a result, I have unique insight into the financial implications that COVID-19 lockdowns had on society budgets and different strategies for ensuring financial fidelity for the society.
My overall vision for the position of Secretary/Treasurer is to leverage my previous experience on SFB Council and Board to ensure the society is fiscally responsible while supporting important initiatives. If elected, I will seek feedback from membership about initiatives that are important across all levels (trainee, academic, industry, and early career). I will then work with SFB Board to identify ways to support new initiatives in a fiscally responsible manner.
Stephanie Seidlits, PhD
University of Texas at Austin
Biographical Sketch: Stephanie Seidlits is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineered at the University Texas at Austin. Dr. Seidlits' research seeks to develop multifaceted therapies for the central nervous system that utilize biomaterial platforms to both model and directly alter the pathological microenvironment. She obtained a B.S. in Bioengineering from Rice University and went on to receive both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the UT-Austin under the mentorship of Dr. Christine Schmidt and Dr. Jason Shear. Dr. Seidlits then trained as an NIH NRSA post-doctoral fellow in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University under the mentorship of Dr. Lonnie Shea. As an Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Seidlits was honored, among other awards, with an NSF CAREER Award, the 2019 Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award, and a 2020 Rising Star in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society. Dr. Seidlits is currently serving as Member-at-Large in the Society for Biomaterials for the 2022-2023 term. Beyond the Society for Biomaterials, Dr. Seidlits has a proven track record of dedication and success in positions of more responsibility within the biomedical engineering community, as evidenced by her previous service as Neural Engineering Track Chair for the 2018 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting, current membership on the BMES Ethics Subcommittee, and a recently completed 4-year term as co-chair of the Neural and Spine TWIG (Thematic Working Interest Group) with TERMIS-AM (Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas).
Vision Statement: I am honored to be considered as a candidate for the Secretary/Treasurer-Elect position for the 2023-2024 term. The Society for Biomaterials (SfB) has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on my professional development. I joined SfB in 2009 as a graduate student and have consistently participated in the SfB Annual Meetings over the past decade through abstract submissions, reviewing submitted abstracts, and chairing scientific sessions. Currently, I am serving on the SfB Board of Directors as the elected Member-at-Large. In this position, I have had the opportunity to learn about the nuanced considerations involved in responsible and effective governance of the Society. I am excited to continue my involvement in the Society by taking on the duties of the Secretary/Treasurer-Elect. As a part of the leadership team, I seek to prioritize the diverse perspectives and experiences of Society membership as we continually re-evaluate and refine our vision, programming, and policies. I am particularly interested in creating new opportunities for our young scientist members that provide professional development and support. Overall, my philosophy is that frequent and inclusive communication, followed by appropriate actions, among leaders and members will be key to helping SfB continue to evolve as a scientific community that brings together researchers with a diversity of ideas and perspectives to advance biomaterial science.
MEMBER-AT-LARGE
The Member-at-Large shall serve as an unencumbered representative of the membership at meetings of both the Board of Directors and Council. The Member-at-Large shall serve for a period of one year.
Natalie Artzi, PhD
Harvard Medical School, MIT, and the Wyss Institute
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Artzi is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a Principal Research Scientist at MIT, Associate Faculty at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She completed her postdoctoral studies at MIT studying tissue: biomaterial interactions and designing smart biomaterials for therapy and diagnosis.
In her role as a researcher, Dr. Artzi is dedicated to advancing personalized medicine through the integration of science, engineering, and medicine. She serves as a scientific advisor to the Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation and is an associate editor at ACS Nano. In an effort to promote diversity and inclusion in her lab, she provides training opportunities to students at all levels and has established exchange programs and raised funds to ensure that students of all backgrounds and socio-economic statuses can participate in her research.
Dr. Artzi's work has earned her numerous grants and awards, including the Kabiller Rising Star Award in Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine, the One Brave Idea award, the Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Award, Mid-Career Award from the Society for Biomaterials, Bright Futures Prize, and the Massachusetts Life Science Center for women entrepreneurs. She co-founded the startup company BioDevek, which is dedicated to improving outcomes following internal surgeries through the development of next-generation biomaterials.
Her research focuses on enhancing the understanding of tissue-biomaterial interactions and improving the delivery of therapies to target tissues and cells. Her lab has developed non-viral delivery systems and engineered injectable materials that gel rapidly and adhere to the target site, allowing for localized and sustained delivery of therapies. This work has the potential to transform treatment outcomes and expand the window in which therapies are safe and effective, making more therapies available to patients, including next-generation gene therapies. Particularly for hard-to-treat diseases with significant biological barriers to delivery such as in brain cancer, Artzi’s approach shows great promise (see TEDx MIT talk). As a leader in her field, Dr. Artzi's work has the potential to make a significant impact on human health.
Vision Statement: It is an honor to be nominated for the position of Member-at-Large for the Society for Biomaterials (SFB). I have been an active member of the SFB community since 2010, when I was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT. During that time, the Society provided me with countless opportunities to grow academically and professionally, as well as to build relationships with others in the field.
In my years of involvement with the society, I have served in a number of different roles, including abstract reviewer, session organizer, and treasurer and chair of the Cardiovascular SIG. Additionally, I have served on the Program Committee and as the Chair of the Membership Committee. Through these experiences, I have learned the importance of collaboration and networking within the Society, and I hope to use my experiences to give back and support the growth and development of others within the SFB community.
If elected, I will work to increase engagement and support for students and early-career investigators within the Society. This will involve creating opportunities for learning and collaboration, as well as promoting networking opportunities for all members, regardless of background or experience level. I will also work with the Program Committee to ensure that the annual meeting provides a broad range of scientific sessions and opportunities for engagement between young and senior leaders, with the goal of driving innovation and translation of findings from the lab to the clinic.
In addition to supporting the growth and development of SFB members, I will also work to increase diversity, inclusion, and representation within the Society. This will involve providing financial support for participation, offering professional development opportunities, and mentoring to members from underrepresented backgrounds. I am committed to fostering a community that is inclusive and supportive, and where each member feels that they have a role to play in shaping the future of the Society.
It would be my privilege to serve the SFB as Member-at-Large and work to support the growth and success of its members.
J. Amber Jennings, PhD
University of Memphis
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Amber Jennings is an Associate Professor at the University of Memphis in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and currently holds the R. Eugene Smith Professorship at the Herff College of Engineering. Her research areas include drug delivery and tissue engineering, with a focus on preventing and treating implant-associated infection. She has been an active member of SFB since her graduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Having served previously as president of her university student SFB Chapter and By-laws Chair of the National SFB Student Chapter, she has been active in SFB leadership for many years. She has served in various roles, including chair and program chair, in the Orthopaedic Biomaterials and Education SIGs. Dr. Jennings has worked to develop sessions, workshops, webinars, and student competitions to highlight topics in education, use of standards, and model systems for biomaterial evaluations, among other topics. Dr. Jennings is committed to supporting diversity in the multidisciplinary field of biomaterials.
Vision Statement: The Society for Biomaterials brings together a multidisciplinary array of scientists from academia, industry, and government agencies. As Member-at-Large I hope to serve as a liaison to the members to increase the impact of the diverse views of members in different roles and career stages. In the field of biomaterials, we bridge gaps between basic science, clinical application, and education. As an educator and an innovator, I will strive to support the parallel goals of SFB to translate innovative biomaterials toward commercialization and educate the next generation of innovators. In my current role as member of the Liaison Committee, we have explored partnerships with other societies and events such as the Materials Science and Technology meeting. Continuing collaborations and expanding our presence within other societies brings opportunities to increase visibility of SFB and to foster new connections. Professional development activities offered by SFB membership have been invaluable in my own career and thus I will strive to develop new opportunities of value to members and to promote these activities to increase engagement. I value the diverse perspectives of biomaterials scientists and biomedical engineers and will support the efforts of the board to create an inclusive Society that fosters a welcoming environment for scientists and educators working toward enhancing human health.