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​Elizabeth Nance, Ph.D.

Jagjeet and Janice Bindra Career Development Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering

Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies

Associate Professor of Bioengineering

Adjunct Professor of Radiology 

Affiliate Member of eSciences Institute | Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute | Institute for Human Development and Disability

Office: Benson Hall 243
Phone: 206-543-2216
Email: eanance@uw.edu

Full CV is available here

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Editor in Chief, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine

An AIChE Journal supported by Wiley Publishing

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Dr. Nance’s interdisciplinary background lies at the interface of engineering, neurosciences, data sciences, and translational medicine - she is an extensive collaborator in the pediatric, neurology, pathology and neurobiology fields. Elizabeth has expertise in (1) developing nanoparticles that are capable of focally targeting disease tissue and specific cells within the brain, while providing sustained action of a therapeutic agent; (2) evaluating uptake, distribution, and transport of nanoparticles in healthy and perinatal/neonatal models of inflammation-induced brain injury, and in other disease models or organs; (3) live animal imaging, live tissue imaging, and complex immunofluorescent staining and imaging; (4) developing neurobehavioral assessments of nanoparticle efficacy in neuroinflammation-mediated animal models of brain disease, in 3 different species (rabbit, rat, mouse); and (5) integration of multi-scale, multi-modal data sets to better understand the underlying biology and pathology, and implementation of nanotechnology as probes or therapeutics.

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Elizabeth joined the University of Washington in September 2015 as the first Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering. She received her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering under the advisement of Dr. Justin Hanes, and Bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University in Chemical Engineering. At NC State, she participated in undergraduate research in the lab of Dr. Bob Kelly, and in the lab of Dr. Steven Peretti. Prior to starting her faculty position, she completed a postdoc with Dr. Sujatha Kannan in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (research focus area in neuroscience) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

 

Elizabeth lives in Washington with her husband Dr. Tommy Wood, and their two boxers, Morgan and Bowen.

Awards

2024     Fellow, Controlled Release Society

2023     Vaughan Lectureship, CalTech University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

2022     Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training Award, University of Washington

2021     Distinguished Young Alumni Award, NC State Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

2021     Mellichamp Lectureship, Purdue University Davison School of Chemical Engineering

2020     ASEE Curtis W. McGraw Research Award Finalist (top 5 in U.S.)

2020     Jagjeet and Janice Bindra Endowed Career Development Professorship

2020     Bioengineering & Translational Medicine ‘Future’ Leader in the Field, BioTM Editorial Board

2020     Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training Award, University of Washington

2020     Celebrate Womxn award, University of Washington Residential Life

2019     Presidential Early Career Achievement in Science & Engineering (PECASE) award, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House

2019     Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, University of Washington

2019     Faculty Appreciation for Career Education & Training Award, University of Washington

2019     College of Engineering Junior Faculty Award, University of Washington

2018     Early Career Achievement Award in STEM, Association of Women in Science (AWIS)

2018     45 Under 45 Young Innovator Award in Nanobiotechnology, Nano Research Editorial Board

2018     NANOMED Young Inspiring Scientist, European Union’s Horizon 20/20 Program

2015     Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professorship, Luce Foundation

2015     30 Under 30 for Science & Medicine, Forbes Magazine

2015     Paper of the Year Award, Controlled Release Society

2014     Career Award at Scientific Interfaces Awardee, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

2014     Award for Research Excellence, Johns Hopkins Center for Nanomedicine

2014     Annual Scientific Award Winner, Society of Critical Care Medicine

2013     Annual Research Award Winner, Johns Hopkins Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine

2013     Postdoctoral Fellowship, Hartwell Foundation

2013     Applications in Neural Stereology Certification, Stereology Resource Center

2012     Award for Research Excellence, Johns Hopkins Center for Nanomedicine

2005     Frank and Doris Culbertson Endowed Scholarship, NC State University

2005     Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Society, Inducted

2005     Master Certification, College Reading and Learning Association

2004     Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Inducted

2003     All-South Female Soccer Player (All-American, High School)

2003     Regional Female Athlete of the Year (High School), North Carolina

2003     Regional Female Soccer Player of the Year (High School), North Carolina

1998     Good Citizen Award, Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington D.C.

Patents

  1. Kannan R., Kannan S., Nance E., Blue M., Johnston M.V., Baumgartner W., Zhang F., Wilson M.A., Slusher B. (2017). Dendrimer compositions and use in treatment of neurological and cns disorders. US 20170232120 A1

  2. Hanes J., Nance E., Woodworth G. (2019). Rapid diffusion of large polymeric nanoparticles in the mammalian brain. USPTO 10307372

  3. ​Nance E., Joseph A., Nyambura C., Pfaendtner J., Wood T. Formulation and efficacy of enzyme-loaded polymeric nanoparticles. Provisional Patent Application 63/221,827 filed 7/14/2021

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Women in Chemical Engineering

In January 2016, Elizabeth founded Women in Chemical Engineering (WChE), an organization for graduate and undergraduate student women ChemEs, and their male allies, focused on empowering, strengthening, and promoting the network of women ChemEs across all levels, while not enabling self-stereotyping or stereotype threat.

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The organization's first chapter started at UW. The 2nd chapter was founded in 2018 at the University of Virginia, and the 3rd chapter was founded in 2019 at the University of Southern California.

 

If you are interested in starting a WChE chapter at your institution, please contact eanance@uw.edu

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To learn more, go to www.wcheuw.com

Leadership
Current in Bold

UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

2023 – present  Invent@Seattle Children’s, Steering Committee member

2023 – present  UW Faculty Senate, Faculty Conciliator

2022 – 2023      UW Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Chair

2021 – 2022      UW Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair

                                    Tenure-track Assistant Professor search

                                    Teaching Assistant Professor search

2020 – 2021      UW Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair

                                    Tenure-track Assistant Professor search

                                    Teaching Assistant Professor search

2020 – 2021      UW College of Engineering DEIS Subcommittee, Committee Co-chair

2020 – 2021      UW College of Engineering Strategic Planning, Steering Committee Member

2020 – present   UW Chemical Engineering Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies

2019 – 2020      UW Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair

2018 – 2021      UW Chemical Engineering Diversity Committee, Chair

2017 – 2019      UW Faculty Senate Chair’s Council

2017 – 2023      UW Chemical Engineering Microscopy Shared Laboratory, Lead

2016 – 2021      Fred Hutch Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Cancer, Steering committee member

2016 – 2023  Women in Chemical Engineering (WChE), Seattle WA, Founder, Faculty Advisor

 

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

2024 – 2028      NIH Innovations in Nanosystems and Nanotechnology (INN) Study Section, Standing Member

2022 – present  Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, Editor in Chief

2021 – 2022      Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, Associate Editor

2021 – 2022      13th Hershey Conference on Developmental Brain Injury, Planning committee

2020 – 2022      Controlled Release Society Central Nervous System Focus Group, co-founder and vice chair

2020                 AIChE Chemical Engineers in Medicine: Topical, Programming committee

2019 – 2020      AIChE Molecular and Materials Data Science: Topical, Programming committee

2019 – present  AIChE Area 22B Co-Chair, Programming committee

2018 – present   WChE National Coordinator for new chapters – 5 new chapters have been founded since 2018

 

ADVISORY BOARDS, EDITORIAL BOARDS, & BOARD OF DIRECTOR ROLES

2023 – present  Journal of Controlled Release Editorial Board Member

Service
Current in Bold

SERVICE - UNIVERSITY

UW Departmental service

2022                 Bioengineering Promotion & Tenure Review Committee, Member

2022                 Bioengineering Graduate admissions application reviewer, Ad hoc

2021 – 2022      Medical Science Training Program Interview Committee, Member

2021 – present  Chemical Engineering Department Diversity Committee, Member

2020                 Chemical Engineering Graduate admissions application reviewer, Ad hoc

2020                 Chemical Engineering Undergraduate admissions application reviewer, Ad hoc

2020 – present   Chemical Engineering Committee Chairs Advisory Council, Member

2019 – 2020      Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Affairs Committee, Member

2018 – 2019      Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Member

2017 – 2018      Chemical Engineering Faculty Search Committee, Member

2016 – 2017      Chemical Engineering Strategic Planning Committee – Health and Medicine in ChemE, Member

2016 – 2023      WChE Annual Industry Event Committee, Lead/Faculty Advisor

2016 – 2020      Chemical Engineering Discovery Days Department Committee, Co-Chair

2016 – 2018      Chemical Engineering Departmental Diversity Committee, Member

2016 – present  UW Chemical Engineering AIChE Annual Student Conference, Recruiter

2016 – present  Chemical Engineering Pre-health track, Faculty Advisor

2015 – present  Chemical Engineering ABET committee: undergraduate curriculum accreditation, Member

2015 – 2020      Chemical Engineering Department Seminar Series, Committee Co-Chair

 

UW College of Engineering service

2020 – present  Council on Education Policy, Department of Chemical Engineering representative

2020                 COE Awards, Reviewer

2017 – present  COE Advising & Orientation, Faculty Speaker

2016 – 2019      Engineering Discovery Days, Faculty Participant and Exhibit Leader

2016 – 2018      NSF STARS Scholarship grant, Faculty Mentor

2016 – 2017      UW SWE Welcome night, Speaker

 

University of Washington service

2022                 UW Mary Gates Symposium, Abstract Reviewer, Session Chair

2021                 UW Husky 100 Award, Ad hoc Reviewer

2020                 UW STARS Program, Research Supervisor

2018 – 2021      UW Royalty Research Fund, Ad hoc Reviewer

2017 – 2021      UW New Husky Advising & Orientation, Faculty Speaker

2017 – present  Pre-Health Planning: Getting Great Recommendation Letters, Panelist

2016 – 2021      STEMM Prep program, Distance Learning Center, Research Mentor

2016 – 2019      UW Goldwater Candidate Selection Committee, Member

2016 – 2018      UW WiSE Bridge-Up Summer Research Program, Research Mentor

2016 – 2018      UW Math Academy, Workshop host

2015 – 2018      Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE), UW Chapter, Seattle WA, Faculty Mentor, speaker

 

SERVICE - PROFESSIONAL

Editorial Responsibilities

2020 – 2022      Springer Publishing, Book Editor: Engineered Biomaterials for Neural Applications

2018 – 2019      Science Translational Medicine Associate Scientific Advisor

 

Proposal Reviewer

2023                 NIH Bioengineering of Neuroscience and Vision Technologies (BNVT) Study Section, Ad hoc Reviewer

2022                 NIH Nano Study Section, Ad hoc Reviewer

2022                 M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Ad hoc Reviewer

2022                 Engineering Cancer Cures Program, Ad hoc Reviewer

2021                 NIH Nano Study Section, Ad hoc Reviewer

2019                 Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research, Ad hoc Reviewer

2019                 Arkansas Breast Cancer Research Program Pilot Award Program, Ad hoc Reviewer

2019                 NIH National Center for Advancing Translation Sciences Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, Ad hoc Reviewer

2019                 National Science Centre (Poland), Ad hoc Reviewer

2019                 Charles Hood Foundation, Ad hoc Reviewer

2018                 Luxembourg National Research Fund, Ad hoc Reviewer

2018                 NSF BMAT Division Study Section, Rotating Member

2018                 NSF GRFP Reviewer

2017                 NSF CISE Division Study Section, Rotating Member

2017 – 2021      ITHS TL-1 Fellowship Selection Committee, Reviewer

2016 – 2021      UW-Fred Hutch Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Cancer, Reviewer

 

Journal Referee

Accounts of Chemical Research, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, ACS Nano, ACS Omega, ACS Sensors

Acta Biomaterials, Advanced Healthcare Materials, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Analytical Chemistry

Biomaterials, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, Cell Biology and Toxicology, Current Drug Metabolism

Drug Delivery & Translational Research, Environmental International, FASEB Journal, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Journal of Controlled Release, Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, Journal of Neuroinflammation, Journal of Reproductive Immunology, JoVE, Nano Research, Nanobiomedicine, Nanomedicine

Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine, Nature Reviews Materials, Nature Nanotechnology,  Neurochemistry International, NeuroReport, Pharmaceutics, Science, Science Advances, Scientific Reports

Science Translational Medicine, Theranostics

 

 

Conference Session Chairing

2022                 Drug Carriers in Medicine and Biology, Gordon Research Conference, Discussion Lead

2022                 Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting, Nervous System Delivery Session, Chair

2020                 AIChE Training Chemical Engineers for Medical Careers Session, Topical Conference on Chemical                                  Engineers in Medicine, Co-Chair

2020 – 2022      AIChE Chemical Engineering Principles Advancing Medicine Session, Topical Conference on                                            Chemical Engineers in Medicine, Co-Chair

2020                 AIChE Applications of Data Science to High Throughput Experimentation Session, Topical

                         Conference in Molecular and Materials Data Science, Co-Chair

2019 – present  AIChE Bionanotechnology: Plenary (Invited Talks), Co-Chair

2019                 AIChE Medical Devices II Session, Topical Conference on Chemical Engineers in Medicine, Co-Chair

2019 – 2021      AIChE Topical Plenary: Topical Conference in Molecular and Materials Data Science (Invited Talks),                                Co-Chair

2018 – present AIChE Bionanotechnology Graduate Student Award Sessions I and II, Co-Chair

2017                 Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting, Overcoming Biological Barriers Session, Chair

2016 – 2018      AIChE Bionanotechnology Drug and Gene delivery Sessions I and II, Co-Chair

2016                 American Society of Mechanical Engineering Nano-Biotechnology Meeting, Graduate Student Award                            Session, Co-Chair

 

Conference Abstract Reviewer

2020 – 2021      Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting

2017 – 2018      Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting

2017                 Western Conference on Perinatal Research

2016                 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Nanoengineering for Medicine and

                                 Biology Conference

 2014 – present   American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting

 

SERVICE – PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY

2023                 AIChE IDEAL Conversation: Negotiation Strategies - what are the best practices to advocate for yourself?; panelist

2023                 CRS Young Scientist Committee Editor’s Perspective on Publishing Panel, panelist

2022                 Northwest Science Writers Association, guest speaker and public lecture “Nanotechnology and uses for brain disease”; September 15, 2022

2021                 STEMM 4 Girls, speaker

2021                 AIChE Women in ChemE (WIC), consultant

2021                 WChE-USC, guest speaker

2020                 Horizons by Hopkins Professional Development Conference, speaker and panelist

2020                 Experiences of Black STEM in the Ivory: A Call for Disruptive Action, organizing committee

2019 – 2022      USC Women in Chemical Engineering Chapter, Palo Alto, CA, external advisor

2018 – 2021      UVA Women in Chemical Engineering Chapter, Charlottesville VA, external advisor

2018 – 2021      STEM Career Fair, Bellevue School System, Bellevue WA, Speaker, event consultant

2016 – present  Faculty candidate mentor for chemical engineering and biomedical engineering candidates

2015 – 2017      STEM Career Fair, Bellevue School System, Bellevue WA, Panelist

2013 – 2015      Children’s Science Center, Herndon VA, Science Writer, Communications and Marketing

2013 – 2014      Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Bethesda MD, Member, Revenue Strategic Action Team

2012 – 2013      Thread (formerly Incentive Mentoring Program), Baltimore MD, Director of Post-Graduate Affairs, Co-Chair of the Professional Development Academy

2008 – 2015      Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Bethesda MD, Member, Maryland Chapter Fundraising

2008 – 2010      Incentive Mentoring Program (now Thread), Baltimore MD, High School Family Director

2003 – 2005      Prevent High School DropOut (PHD) Mentoring Program, Raleigh NC, Founder and Director

1996 – 1999      Loaves and Fishes, Charlotte NC, Mecklenburg County Food Drive Organizer

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