Tissue engineering is an exciting field that promises to solve many health conditions, but there are several fundamental challenges that remain unsolved. Dr. Jennifer West is leading the field with research on novel techniques that promote vascularization (tissue blood supply) and mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) for tissue engineering applications. Dr. West’s lab focuses on biomaterials, nanotechnology, and tissue engineering, applying engineering approaches to study biological problems and address unmet medical needs.

Most recently, she is also a co-founder of Nanospectra Biosciences, a company commercializing a cancer therapy using gold nanoparticles for photothermal therapy. This unique, non-invasive technique is currently in human clinical trials. She is a uniquely prolific inventor, a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and has over 19 patents that have been licensed to eight different companies and across multiple engineering disciplines.

As the Dean of the Engineering School at University of Virginia Dr. West is guiding the trajectory of instruction, research and entrepreneurship at the University. She has promoted collaboration between engineering and medicine, expanded the biomedical engineering faculty and fostered numerous cross-school research collaborations with over $23 million in external funding. In this episode of Biomedical Frontiers: Stories with Innovators in Healthcare, she shares her vision for engineering at UVA.

Follow Dr. West on Social Media

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-west-a6107532/

Twitter: https://x.com/UVADeanJWest

Learn about Nanospectra Biosciences: https://nanospectra.com/

Learn about University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science: https://engineering.virginia.edu/

Director & Host: Dasha Tyshlek, StratCraft, Inc. www.strat-craft.com

Executive Producer: David Chen, Managing Director & Instructor of Engineering Design, UVA

Senior Producer: Hannah Moore, Associate Director, UVA Coulter

Design Director: Carolyn Wagner, Inc. & Link: carolynwagnerinc.com

Produced on behalf of Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at University of Virginia https://engineering.virginia.edu/research/centers-institutes/coulter