Treena Livingston Arinzeh is professor of biomedical engineering at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
, joining in 2022. She was formerly a Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the
New Jersey Institute of Technology
{{Infobox university
, name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology
, image = New Jersey IT seal.svg
, image_upright = 0.9
, former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.stem-cell therapy. Arinzeh takes part in the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
's Project Seeds program, opening up her lab for high school students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds for summer internships.
Early life and education
Arinzeh was born in 1970 and raised in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.
. She became interested in science by conducting imaginary experiments in the kitchen with her mother, who was a home economics teacher. She was encouraged to pursue a
STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
career by her high school physics teacher.
Arinzeh studied Mechanical Engineering at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
, receiving a B.S. in 1992. She earned a M.S.E. in biomedical engineering from
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 ...
in 1994. She continued her graduate studies at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, completing a PhD in
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
in 1999.
Research and career
Arinzeh worked for Baltimore-based Osiris Therapeutics as a product development engineer. In 2001, she returned to academia and started working at the
New Jersey Institute of Technology
{{Infobox university
, name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology
, image = New Jersey IT seal.svg
, image_upright = 0.9
, former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...
(NJIT) in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. where she founded the first Tissue Engineering and Applied Biomaterials Laboratory at NJIT in the fall of 2001. She currently still works at NJIT as Professor of
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
. She has published over 60 journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters.
Her current research focuses on systematic studies of the effect of biomaterial properties on
stem cell
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
differentiation. She is known for discovering that mixing stem cells with scaffoldingHere a "scaffold" is a three-dimensional structure (may be porous), seeded with cells and implanted into a tissue. allows regeneration of bone growth and the repair of tissue damage. She also discovered that one person's stem cells could be implanted in another person without causing an adverse immune response. In 2018, she received an QED award to work on the recovery time and cost patients experience after bone grafting procedures.
She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the
Biomedical Engineering Society BMES (the Biomedical Engineering Society) is the professional society for students, faculty, researcher and industry working in the broad area of biomedical engineering. BMES is the leading biomedical engineering society in the United States and was ...
(BMES).
She is currently a co-PI and the Director of Diversity of the NSF Science and Technology Center on Engineering Mechano-Biology, which is a multi-institutional center with the University of Pennsylvania and
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 ...
. In addition, Arinzeh actively tries to increase representation of minority students in biomedical engineering by being a mentor as part of the Project Seeds program supported by the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
. Every summer, she invites 40 to 50 teens from under-represented groups to her lab to learn about engineering and her research.
In 2018, Arinzeh was selected to be a Judge for
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
scientific journal's newly created Innovating Science Panel Award.
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
Select Publications
* 2017: Three-dimensional piezoelectric fibrous scaffolds selectively promote mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. ''Biomaterials''.
* 2015: The effect of PVDF-TrFE scaffolds on stem cell derived cardiovascular cells. ''Biotechnology & Bioengineering.''
* 2015: An investigation of common crosslinking agents on the stability of electrospun collagen scaffolds. ''Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.''
* 2013: Examining the formulation of emulsion electrospinning for improving the release of bioactive proteins from electrospun fibers. ''Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.''
* 2005: "A comparative study of biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics for human mesenchymal stem-cell-induced bone formation" ''Biomaterials.''