Sangeeta Bhatia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sangeeta N. Bhatia
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Bhatia in 2023 at MIT
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| Born | June 24, 1968 |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Brown University (B.S.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S., Ph.D.) Harvard Medical School (M.D.) |
| Known for | Nanotechnology for tissue repair and regeneration |
| Awards | Packard Fellowship (1999–2004) Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator (2008) Lemelson–MIT Prize Heinz Award (2015) Othmer Gold Medal (2019) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nanotechnology, Tissue engineering |
| Institutions | Massachusetts General Hospital University of California, San Diego (1998–2005) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2005– ) |
| Academic advisors | Mehmet Toner |
Sangeeta N. Bhatia (born 1968) is an American biological engineer. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Professor Bhatia studies how to use very tiny technology, called micro- and nanotechnology, to help repair and regrow tissues in the body.
She uses ideas from computer technology and engineering to create tiny medical tools. These tools help study and treat diseases like liver disease, hepatitis, malaria, and cancer.
In 2003, MIT Technology Review named her one of the top 100 innovators under 35. The Scientist also called her a "Scientist to Watch" in 2006. She has won many awards and is a member of several important science academies.
Bhatia also helped write the first textbook for college students on tissue engineering. This book, called Tissue engineering (2004), was written with Bernhard Palsson.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sangeeta Bhatia was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were immigrants from Mumbai, India. Her father was an engineer, and her mother was one of the first women in India to earn an MBA.
Bhatia became interested in engineering after a 10th-grade biology class. A visit with her father to an MIT lab also inspired her. There, she saw an ultrasound machine used to treat cancer.
She studied bioengineering at Brown University. She joined a research group that studied artificial organs, which made her want to continue studying this field. After graduating in 1990, she went on to graduate school at MIT. She earned her PhD in 1997 and her MD in 1999.
Career Highlights
Bhatia started teaching at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1998. In 1999, she received a special Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering. This award helped her research for five years. She was also named a "Teacher of the Year" at UCSD in 2001.
In 2005, she moved to MIT to join their faculty. In 2008, she became an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Today, Bhatia leads the Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies at MIT. She also works with Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
Bhatia strongly supports fairness and inclusion for everyone in STEM fields. She helped create the Diversity Committee for the Biomedical Engineering Society. She is also involved with MIT's Society of Women Engineers. She helped start a program called Keys to Empowering Youth. This program brings middle-school girls to visit high-tech labs to encourage them in science and technology.
In 2015, Bhatia was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This was for her amazing work in tissue engineering and creating new ways to grow tissues.
Amazing Research Discoveries
Bhatia's early research focused on finding a way to keep liver cells working outside the human body. She used ideas from how computer chips are made to create a special surface for liver cells. She used techniques from photolithography (like making tiny patterns with light) on petri dishes. This helped her grow a working "microliver" in a dish.
She also used more than one type of cell together to keep the liver cells healthy. Her team has even used 3D printing to create a sugar framework. This framework acts like a tiny, artificial blood vessel system. The goal is to support larger tissues, like an artificial liver. Her work was one of the first projects at MIT to combine biology with tiny mechanical systems, called Bio-MEMS.
Helping Liver Diseases and Malaria
In her lab, Bhatia continues to use tiny technology for tissue repair and regeneration. She studies how liver cells (called hepatocytes) interact with their surroundings. She develops tiny tools to improve treatments for liver disease. The goal is to make liver cells work their best and to understand liver health better. This approach has been used to study diseases like hepatitis and malaria.
Since 2008, her lab has worked on developing tests for malaria parasites. These tests help study the parasites and find new medicines to prevent malaria from coming back.
Fighting Cancer with Nanotechnology
Bhatia's lab also works on using nanomaterials (super tiny materials) to study biology and treat cancer. They are interested in nanoparticles that can do many complex tasks. These tiny particles might be able to find a tumor, signal changes in cells, improve medical imaging, or release medicine.
In 2002, Bhatia helped create special nanoparticles that can target tumors. She also created nanoparticles that react with diseased tissue to create synthetic biomarkers. These biomarkers can be detected in blood or urine samples, helping to find diseases early. Another project involves engineering helpful probiotics that can detect or even treat cancer cells.
Bhatia holds many patents for her inventions. In 2015, her company Glympse Bio received funding to develop "activity sensors." These sensors can identify diseases and check how patients respond to medicines.
Awards and Recognition
Sangeeta Bhatia has received many awards and honors, including:
- 2023, Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
- 2019, Othmer Gold Medal
- 2018, Honorary Doctorate from Utrecht University
- 2017, Catalyst Award from Science Club for Girls
- 2015, Heinz Award for her work in tissue engineering and disease detection. This award also recognized her efforts to help women advance in STEM fields.
- 2014, Lemelson-MIT Prize for her inventions that improve human health and her dedication to inspiring new scientists.
- 2011, BEAM (Brown Engineering Alumni Medal) Award from Brown University School of Engineering
- 2008, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator
- 1999, Packard Fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
See also
In Spanish: Sangeeta N. Bhatia para niños
