Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine at the University of California at San Diego. Dr. Bhatia has received several awards and recognition including the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship awarded to ‘the nation’s most promising young university professors in science and engineering’. Dr. Bhatia received her Sc. B. magna cum laude in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University, M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and her Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her M.D. from the Harvard Medical School division of Health Sciences and Technology. Dr. Bhatia has published substantially on the interactions between hepatocytes (liver cells) and their microenvironment, and made major contributions to the development of microfabrication tools to improve cellular therapies for liver disease. She is the author of Microfabrication in Tissue Engineering and Bioartificial Organs. She has had several stints in industry in the area of biotechnology, medical devices, and pharmaceutical drug development. She holds a number of patents for both clinical and biotechnological applications of engineering principles. Her current research continues in the area of cellular therapies for liver disease as well as the development of novel biological micro-electro-mechanical systems (BioMEMS). She is the daughter of Narain and Vidya Bhatia of Lexington, MA.

She spoke to Lokvani about the award, her research and her commitment to the KEYs project that encourages young women to take interest in science and technology.

Lokvani: Congratulations on winning this prestigious award. Is it exciting to get this recognition?

Bhatia: Absolutely. It is a great honor to get this award. I am an MIT Alum and I have been following this award for a long time. I have great respect for the selection process and the judges. This award is specifically aimed at recognizing innovation. I try very hard to be innovative and it is very gratifying to be recognized for that.

Lokvani: Could you describe the research that brought you this recognition?

Bhatia: Organ transplant has helped save many lives in the past few decades. Unfortunately the demand for organs far exceeds the supply. This award was a recognition for my efforts to create artificial organs. While creating artificial tissue in two-dimensions has been in existence, creation of tissues in three-dimension is a challenge. I used photo patterning technique drawn from the microchip industry to create artificial livers.

I have two other areas of research interest. We have collaborated with cancer biologists to create chemical coding in cells so that they can hone into different tissues. We are also working on developing better high throughput drug screening that work with human cells right in the beginning of the screening process rather than at the end as it is right now.

Lokvani: What is the future for Biomedical Engineering?

Bhatia:The future is very great. Most of the exciting work currently is happening at the interface of various disciplines. Biomedical engineering is the coming together of biology, medicine and engineering and thus the opportunities are great. There is a lot of funding available in this area as well. I think the next few years will be very exciting for researchers in this area and we will see some breakthroughs.

Lokvani:You have already accomplished a lot. What are your future plans?

Bhatia: Well I just had a baby. So my first plan is enjoy motherhood and have a great time with my baby. I will of course continue my research. My father as you know is an entrepreneur and I think I have inherited that interest. In a few years I may enter the entrepreneurship arena.

Lokvani:How do you manage to balance work and family?

Bhatia: That is a good question. My husband and I are both in academics. Having the flexibility in academics is often a disadvantage for one never knows when to stop. But right in the beginning of our marriage, we had some rules which has helped us. For example we decided that neither will take more than one trip a month. I also delayed having a child until I got my tenure so that I can do full justice to motherhood. My husband, Jignesh Shah, is a biophysicist and we have a wonderful time sharing ideas. But while we do support each other a lot we do have science moratoriums at certain times so that we can talk about other things.

Lokvani: Are there other interests beyond technology that you are drawn to?

Bhatia: I am glad you asked. Absolutely. I am the co-founder of a group Keys to Empowering Youth (KEYs), which is an outreach program that is designed to inspire and empower young women to enter the historically male-dominated fields of science and engineering. We started this program when a report American Association of University Women indicated that girls aged 11-13 experienced diminished self-esteem, had few role models in science and engineering, and exhibited declining test scores in math and science. We wanted to do something to address this and hence KEYs was born.

This program brings young women especially from under priviledged communities together with college students and faculty to participate in state-of-the-art workshops designed to foster empowerment, awareness, and problem-solving skills, and to demonstrate that science and enginering can be fun.

I am also the advisor to the Society of Women Engineers and I take an active role in encouraging women to take up engineering as a career. Each year, we hold a banquet, featuring speeches by female engineers who describe how they overcame obstacles and became successful in the engineering field. This year Sally Ride, the first female astronaut, spoke at the banquet.

I would be glad to mentor any young woman who would like to be involved in science and technology.

Lokvani: Thanks so much for your time. Any final words for our readers?

Bhatia: I would like to encourage everyone to take a look at KEYs and would like to strongly recommend science and engineering as a career path for women.

Lokvani: As a fellow women engineer I applaud your commitment to this cause. Good luck with motherhood and your future.

Bhatia: Thankyou.

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