Professor Engelward began her scientific career at Yale University studying protein-DNA interactions in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Steitz. She pursued her doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Leona (Samson) Hunter at Harvard School of Public Health. In 1997, she joined the faculty at MIT, becoming one of the founding faculty members of the Department of Biological Engineering. Professor Engelward’s work is public health-oriented and includes studies of the causes of mutations and the creation and application of novel technologies for measuring genomic damage. A major objective of her work is to reveal the underlying mechanisms that drive genomic instability, with a focus on improving global public health. Her laboratory has developed several technologies, including CometChip™ for DNA damage quantification and various chips for studying DNA damage in liver cells and nanoparticle-induced genotoxicity. Engelward's collaborations have adapted her approaches for use in high-throughput screening robotics to study DNA damage in Plasmodium falciparum. The inventions created in her lab have been adopted by the National Toxicology Program to test the carcinogenic potential of environmental chemicals, playing a key role in reducing exposure-induced cancer.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Cambridge, MA
Joined MIT as a founding faculty member of the Department of Biological Engineering.