Princess Imoukhuede (born 1980) is an American chemical engineer who is an associate professor at the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. She was awarded the 2018

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students. Enrollment is generally offered to inc ...

Distinguished Leadership Award and the 2018 Nano Research Young Innovators Award in Nanobiotechnology. Her first name is 'Princess' and she holds no royal title or position in any capacity.

Early life and education

Imoukhuede grew up in

Matteson, Illinois Matteson () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,073 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Chicago. History The area encompassed by modern Matteson was settled in the late 1800s, primarily by people of Germa ...

. She was involved with

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

as a child, and competed in

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

from the age of eight. By the time she was in eighth grade she had become interested in science, and her parents gave her a chemistry set to play with at home. Imoukhuede attended the

. Imoukhuede was an undergraduate student in biomedical engineering at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT), where she performed undergraduate research under the supervision of Robert S. Langer on the incorporation of adenoviruses in a liposome-based gene therapy system. In her freshman year she was honoured at the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...

, and was the first woman from MIT to qualify for the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. Whilst at MIT, Imoukhuede took part in athletics, serving as captain of the varsity track and field team. Imoukhuede was described by Roger Crosley, then MIT Director of Sport, as “the best weight thrower we ever had in track and field”. After earning her bachelor's degree, Imoukhuede moved to the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, where she worked with Henry A. Lester on the structure of the

GABA transporter GABA transporters ( Gamma-Aminobutyric acid transporters) belong to the family of neurotransmitters known as sodium symporters, also known as solute carrier 6 ( SLC6). These are large family of neurotransmitter which are Na+ concentration dependen ...

and

Förster resonance energy transfer Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer, resonance energy transfer (RET) or electronic energy transfer (EET) is a mechanism describing energy transfer between two light-sensitive molecules ( chromophores). ...

Research and career

Imoukhuede was a postdoctoral scholar at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, where she specialised in biomedical engineering in the laboratory of Aleksander Popel. She started working on the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR) in ischemia and cancer. After completing her postdoctoral research, Imoukhuede joined the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

. Imoukhuede studies the mechanisms that regulate angiogenic signalling, including

tyrosine kinase receptor Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are the high-affinity cell surface receptors for many polypeptide growth factors, cytokines, and hormones. Of the 90 unique tyrosine kinase genes identified in the human genome, 58 encode receptor tyrosine kinase ...

VEGF receptor VEGF receptors are receptors for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). There are three main subtypes of VEGFR, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Also, they may be membrane-bound (mbVEGFR) or soluble (sVEGFR), depending on alternative splicing. Inh ...

s and

platelet-derived growth factor receptor Platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGF-R) are cell surface tyrosine kinase receptors for members of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) family. PDGF subunits -A and -B are important factors regulating cell proliferation, cellu ...

s. In 2019 Imoukhuede and

Sarah K. England Sarah K. England is a physiologist and biophysicist and the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Washington University School of Medicine. England conducts research on cation channels in uterine smooth muscle to u ...

partnered to improve the efficacy and safety of

oxytocin Oxytocin (Oxt or OT) is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. It plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Oxytocin ...

during labour. Imoukhuede is developing a computational model that could be used to predict the function of oxytocin receptor function.

Awards and honours

* 2017

National Science Foundation CAREER Award The National Science Foundation CAREER awards, presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through research and education, and the integration of these endeavors i ...

* 2019

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineer ...

Futures Researcher

Selected publications

Her publications include: * ''Subcellular Trafficking, Pentameric Assembly, and Subunit Stoichiometry of Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Containing Fluorescently Labeled α6 and β3 Subunits'' * ''Quantification and cell-to-cell variation of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors'' * ''Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of VEGF-neutralizing antibodies'' * ''Sex differences in cancer mechanisms''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imoukhuede, Princess 1980 births Living people African-American chemists African-American women academics American women academics African-American academics People from Matteson, Illinois Washington University in St. Louis faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Johns Hopkins University fellows