Nance Lab
Disease-Directed Engineering
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 | Center for Human Development and Disability
Office: Benson Hall 243
Phone: 206-543-2216
Email: eanance@uw.edu
Editor in Chief, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine
An AIChE Journal supported by Wiley Publishing
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.
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, Parker and Bowen.
Awards
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
1998 Good Citizen Award, Daughters of the American Revolution, Washington D.C.
Patents
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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
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Hanes J., Nance E., Woodworth G. (2019). Rapid diffusion of large polymeric nanoparticles in the mammalian brain. USPTO 10307372
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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
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.
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.
To learn more, go to www.wcheuw.com
Service
UW Chemical Engineering Departmental service
2021 – 2022 Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair
2021 – present Department Diversity Committee, Member
2020 – present Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies
2020 – 2021 Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair
2020 Graduate admissions application reviewer, Ad hoc
2020 Undergraduate admissions application reviewer, Ad hoc
2020 – present Committee Chairs Advisory Council, Member
2019 – 2020 Faculty Search Committee, Co-Chair
2019 – present Undergraduate Affairs Committee, Member
2018 – 2021 Departmental Diversity Committee, Chair
2018 – 2019 Faculty Search Committee, Member
2017 – 2018 Faculty Search Committee, Member
2017 – present Microscopy Shared Laboratory, Lead
2016 – 2017 Strategic Planning Committee – Health and Medicine in ChemE, Member
2016 – present Annual Industry Event Committee, Lead/Faculty Advisor
2016 – present Women in Chemical Engineering (WChE), Seattle WA, Founder, Faculty Advisor
2016 – 2020 Discovery Days Department Committee, Co-Chair
2016 – 2018 Departmental Diversity Committee, Member
2016 – present UW Chemical Engineering Recruiter, AIChE Annual Student Conference
2016 – present Pre-health track, Faculty Advisor
2015 – present ABET committee: undergraduate curriculum accreditation, Member
2015 – 2020 Department Seminar Series, Committee Co-Chair
UW College of Engineering service
2020 – 2023 Council on Education Policy, Department of Chemical Engineering representative
2020 – 2021 COE DEIS Subcommittee, Committee Co-chair
2020 – 2021 COE Strategic Planning, Steering Committee Member
2020 COE Awards, Reviewer
2017 – present COE Advising & Orientation, Faculty Speaker
2016 – present 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
2021 UW Husky 100 Award, Ad hoc Reviewer
2020 UW STARS Program, Research Supervisor
2018 – present UW Royalty Research Fund, Ad hoc Reviewer
2017 – present UW New Husky Advising & Orientation, Faculty Speaker
2017 – present Pre-Health Planning: Getting Great Recommendation Letters, Panelist
2017 – 2019 Faculty Senate Chair’s Council
2016 – present Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Cancer, Steering committee member
2016 – present 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
Editorial Responsibilities
2021 – 2026 Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, Associate Editor
2020 – 2022 Springer Publishing, Book Editor: Engineered Biomaterials for Neural Applications
2018 – 2019 Science Translational Medicine Associate Scientific Advisor
Proposal 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 – present UW-Fred Hutch Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Cancer, Reviewer
Conference and Professional Society Organization
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 – 2021 AIChE Area 22B Co-Chair (two-year term), Programming committee
Conference Session Chairing
2020 AIChE Training Chemical Engineers for Medical Careers Session, Co-Chair
2020 AIChE NIH, FDA, and CDC Funding Opportunities and Strategies Chair, Chair
2020 AIChE Chemical Engineering Principles Advancing Medicine Session, Co-Chair
2020 AIChE Applications of Data Science to High Throughput Experimentation Session, Topical Conference in Molecular and Materials Data Science, Co-Chair
2019 - 2021 AIChE Topical Plenary: Topical Conference in Molecular and Materials Data Science (Invited Talks), Co-Chair
2019 - 2021 AIChE Bionanotechnology: Plenary (Invited Talks), Co-Chair
2019 AIChE Medical Devices II Session, Topical Conference on Chemical Engineers in Medicine, Co-Chair
2018 - 2021 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
Community service
2021 All For Her Podcast, speaker
2021 STEMM 4 Girls, speaker
2021 AIChE Women in ChemE (WIC), consultant and local chapter organizer/founder
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 – present USC Women in Chemical Engineering Chapter, Palo Alto, CA, external advisor
2018 – present 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 on the faculty market
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 (IMP, now Thread), Baltimore MD, High School Family Director
2005 – 2006 North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Advisor: Dr. Robert Kelly
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
Journal Referee
Accounts of Chemical Research, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, ACS Nano, ACS Omega, ACS Sensors, Acta Biomaterials, 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, Neurochemistry International, NeuroReport, Pharmaceutics, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, Science Translational Medicine, Theranostics