Dr. Stephanie Willerth, Ph.D.

Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Division of Medical Sciences

Centre for Advanced Materials and Technology

ICORD (International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries)

Work telephone: 250-721-7303
Email: willerth@uvic.ca
Office: EOW 513

Education:

• Conducted an NIH sponsored post-doctoral research at the University of California- Berkeley under the guidance Dr. Adam Arkin and Dr. David Schaffer
• Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, 2008
• Thesis Advisor: Dr. Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert
• Thesis Title: The effect of controlled delivery of growth factors on embryonic stem cell differentiation inside of fibrin scaffolds.
• M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, 2008
• S.B., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003
• S.B., Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003

Awards:

• University of Victoria - REACH Award for Excellence in Research Partnerships with Aspect Biosystems - 2020
• McKelvey Emerging Leader Award - given by Washington University to honor young engineering alumni who exemplify leadership and service through scientific excellence and innovation - 2020
• University of Victoria - REACH Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research-inspired Teaching - 2018
• Woman of Innovation (one of 20 leading women in Canada who have influenced engineering) - 2017
• Featured as part of the Ontario Chair for Women in Science and Engineering's Inspire: Women Bringing Technology to Medicine - 2016
• ICORD International Travel Award - 2016
• Young Innovator in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering - 2015
• Outstanding Contribution to reviewing for the Journal Acta Biomaterialia - 2015
• Outstanding Contribution to reviewing for the Journal Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces - 2015
• American Association for Clinical Chemistry - Outstanding Speaker Award - 2014
• University of Victoria - Faculty of Engineering Award for Excellence in Teaching - 2014

Leadership:

• Acting Director of the Centre for Biomedical Research July 2018 - June 2021
• Acting Director of the Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Program July 2018 - June 2021
• Track Chair, Stem Cell Engineering for the 2018 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting.
• Past President of the Canadian Biomaterials Society - 2018-19
• President of the Canadian Biomaterials Society - 2017-18
• Acting Director of the Centre for Biomedical Research - 2017
• President-Elect of the Canadian Biomaterials Society - 2016-17
• Associate Director of the Centre for Biomedical Research 2015 - 2021
• Uniquely Qualified Reviewer, Travel Award Reviewer, Symposium Session Reviewer and Session Chair for the 2016 World Biomaterials Congress
• Member of the Board of Directors - University of Victoria Faculty Association 2015-2017
• Track Chair, Stem Cell Engineering for the 2015 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting.
• Organizer, Poster Session Judging for the 2015 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting.
• Founding Coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Program at the University of Victoria 2011-2012
• Member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Biomaterials Society (2011-2013, 2013-2015)

Review Panel Service (19 total):

• Reviewer for the Fonds de recherche du Québec CFI competition in April 2020.
• Reviewer for the Tissue Chips to Inform Clinical Trials Study Section for the National Institutes of Health in February 2020.
• Reviewer for the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation in December 2019.
• Reviewer for the HEAL and TC Review NCATS Study Section for the National Institutes of Health in June 2019.
• Reviewer for Cancer Research Centre in May 2019.
• Reviewer for Horizion20/20 FET-Open program in March 2019 and in October 2019.
• Reviewer for Medicine by Design Program (University of Toronto - CFREF competition) in February 2019.
• Review Panel member for the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Trainee Competition in June 2015, May 2016 and June 2018.
• Reviewer for Medicine by Design Program (University of Toronto - CFREF competition) in February 2018.
• Reviewer for Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (McGill University - CFREF competition) in February 2018.
• Review Panel member for Saskatchewan Health Research Fund Collaborative Innovation Development Grants Committee: Biomedical in February 2017.
• Review Panel member for the Ontario Research Fund - Molecular Medicine Panel - served in May 2016.
• Review Panel member for the “Developing and Testing Retrievable Devices and Scaffolds for Beta Cell Replacement Therapies” call issued by JDRF in Spring 2016.
• Review Panel member for the NY Department of Health Spinal Cord Injury Research Board's 2016 Cellular Regeneration and Therapeutic competition
• Reviewer for Medicine by Design Program (University of Toronto - CFREF competition) in May 2016.
• Review Panel member for the NY Department of Health Spinal Cord Injury Research Board's 2016 Post-Doctoral Fellow competition
• Review Panel member for the Ontario Research Fund - Large Infrastructure Advanced Health Technologies Panel - served in December 2015.
• Chair of an NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grant site visit in May 2019.
• Member of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research College of Reviewers

Grant Reviewer for the following programs (31 total):

Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities COVID19 Rapid Response Fund, Austrian Academy of Sciences, New Frontiers in Research Fund, The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, German Research Foundation, Barts Charity, Health Research Council of New Zealand, Czech Science Foundation, Foundation for Polish Science, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute's Student Fellowship program, Canada 150 Research Chairs Program, Canada Research Chairs Program, NSERC Discovery Grants Program (Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Evaluation Groups), Nova Scotia Health Research Fund, French National Research Agency SightRepair Program, French National Research Council Generic Call for Proposals, ETH Zurich Research Commission, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council (UK), Human Frontier Science Program, National Research Council Post-Doctoral Scholar Program, NSERC Idea to Innovation Program, NSERC Strategic Grants Program, NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grants Program, Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Fellowship MITACS, the Research Council of KU Leuven, France-Canada Research Fund (2014, 2015) and the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand.

• Associate Editor for Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2017-2020)
• Senior Editor (Bioengineering and Biomaterials) for StemJournal (2018-2020)
• Section Editor (Cell Manipulation) for Current Tissue Microenvironment Reports (2019-2020)
• Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Biomaterials Science (2019-2021)
• Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering (2017-present)
• Member of the Editorial Board for Cells Tissues Organs (2018-present)
• Member of the Editorial Board for Brain Research Bulletin (2019-present)
• Review Editor for Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Materials: Biomaterials (2016-present)
• Review Editor for Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology: Epigenomics and Epigenetics (2018-present)
• Review Board for Polymers (2019-present)
• Supervisor for Publons Academy in the field of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine (2018-present)

Ad Hoc Reviewer for the following journals (128 total):

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, ACS Nano, ACS Omega, Acta Biomaterialia, Advanced Biosystems, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Engineering Materials, Advanced Healthcare Materials, Advanced Science, Advanced Therapeutics, Advances in Polymer Technology, Anatomical Record, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, APL Bioengineering, Artificial Cells Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Bioengineering and Translational Medicine, Applied Science, Biofabrication, Biomacromolecules, Biomaterials, Biomaterials Research, Biomaterials Science, Biomedical Materials, Biomolecules, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Biotechnology Progress, Biotechnology Journal, Brain Research Bulletin, Cells Tissues Organs, ChemComm, Chemical Engineering Journal, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Computers in Biology and Medicine, Current Medicinal Chemistry, Current Nanoscience, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Current Pharmaceutical Design, Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Current Tissue Engineering, Data in Brief, Drug Delivery Today, EBioMedicine, Engineered Regeneration, European Medical Journal, Experimental Cell Research, Expert Opinion in Biological Therapy, Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, Fibers, Fibers and Polymers, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Materials: Biomaterials, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Frontiers in Genetics, Frontiers in Materials, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, Frontiers in Pharmacology, HardwareX, International Journal of Development Neuroscience, International Journal of Molecular Science, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, International Journal of Nanomedicine, IUBMB Life, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Journal of Bioengineering and Medical Technology, Journal of Biological Engineering, Journal of Biomaterial Science: Polymer Edition, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A, Journal of Biomedical Research: Part B, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Journal of Controlled Release, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, Journal of Materials, Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, Journal of Neurology and Neuromedicine, Journal of Neurotrauma, Journal of Neural Engineering, Journal of 3D Printing in Medicine, Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Journal of Visualized Experiments, Lab on a Chip, Langmuir, Life Sciences, Macromolecular Biosciences, Materials, Materials and Design, Materials Science & Engineering C, Materials Today Advances, Materials Today Bio, Molecules, Molecular Therapy, MRS Communications, Nanomaterials, Nanotoxicology, Neural Regeneration Research, NeuroMolecular Medicine, Neuroscience, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, Polymers, Pharmaceutics, Progress in Polymer Science, RSC Advances, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, Separations, SLAS Technology, Small, Soft Matter, SpringerPlus, Stem Cell Reports, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells and Development, Stem Cell Research and Therapy, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, Therapeutic Delivery, Tissue and Cell, Tissue Engineering: Part A, Tissue Engineering: Part C, Toxicology, Toxins, Translational Neurodegeneration, Translational Research, and World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Media:

• Press release on collaboration with Aspect Biosystems: aspectbiosystems.com
• Our lab's work has been featured on the SCRIBE blog produced by ICORD. http://icord.org/2015/07/a-new-and-improved-technique-for-neural-stem-cell-engineering http://icord.org/2014/08/new-innovations-in-stem-cell-tissue-engineering
• Featured in NuGEN's Next Generation Sequencing guide as a success story prodinfo_ngs.pdf
• Featured in NuGEN's February Newsletter newsletter_022010.html
• Webinar available online http://nugeninc.webex.com/