Assistant Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Elizabeth Wayne is a TED Fellow and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering and will be transitioning to the University of Washington at Seattle in January 2024. Elizabeth Wayne works at the interface of immunology and nanoparticle engineering, by exploring the function of monocytes as a cellular theranostic. Her group designs chitosan-based nanoparticles that can modulate macrophage phenotype under inflammatory contexts. Her group designs monocyte biosensors to enable real-time measurements of macrophage polarization. Currently, she is applying these concepts to investigate air-pollution, lung regeneration, atherosclerosis, pre-eclampsia, and cancer. Dr. Wayne’s research has competitively been funding through NSF, Genentech, and a prestigious NIH R35 Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award.
Dr. Wayne is a science communicator who uses her platform to discuss the future of immunoengineering and issues related to underrepresented minorities in science. In 2017, she gave a TED Talk on immunoengineering which currently has been viewed over 1.5 million times. Dr. Wayne was featured in the Super Cool Scientists: A Women in Science Coloring Book. She is also the co-host of the show PhDivas, a podcast that tells the stories of women in leadership and higher education. Dr. Wayne has been interviewed and written in various platforms including PBS News Hour Brief but Spectacular Series, Aspen Ideas Health Festival, Nature Careers, Nature Medicine, Bust Magazine, The Atlantic, and the LA Times.