SBME Symposium 2025

2025

This inclusive event welcomes students, researchers, industry professionals, and biomedical engineering enthusiasts alike to a day filled with insightful presentations and valuable networking opportunities. Be sure to RSVP by March 31st to secure your spot and reserve your lunch!

Please click here for more details and to register for the symposium:

Deadline to RSVP: March 31st

DR. CONNIE EAVES MEMORIAL LECTURESHIP: Dr. Claudia Fischbach

The Dr. Connie Eaves Memorial Lectureship for Women in Biomedical Engineering celebrates distinguished researchers who have made significant contributions to the BME field. This year’s recipient is Dr. Claudia Fischbach-Teschl, the James M & Marsha McCormick Director and Stanley Bryer 1946 Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. Don’t miss Dr. Fischbach-Teschl’s lecture titled “Tumor Engineering: Advancing Precision Medicine and Therapeutic Strategies” at this year’s Symposium.

Lecture Abstract:
Microenvironmental conditions contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and include altered cellular composition, extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and mechanical cues. However, our understanding of the specific mechanisms by which these microenvironmental perturbations impact the development, progression, and therapy response of cancer is relatively limited. More intricate models are needed to better understand the complex biochemical and biophysical interactions that drive tumor initiation, growth, metastasis, metabolic adaptation, and immune evasion. The fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering provide increasingly sophisticated tools and strategies to recapitulate and monitor relevant properties of tumor-microenvironment interactions. These approaches not only bear tremendous potential to advance our current understanding of cancer, but are also increasingly explored for more clinically relevant drug testing. Indeed, combining patient-specific cells with engineered culture systems promises to enhance the predictive power of precision medicine pipelines. This talk will highlight specific examples of how the microenvironment regulates the highly dynamic nature of cancer and will outline opportunities and challenges of the field of tumor engineering.

Dr. Claudia Fischbach’s Biography:
Claudia Fischbach-Teschl is the Stanley Bryer 1946 Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, Director of Cornell’s Physical Sciences Oncology Center (PSOC) on the Physics of Cancer Metabolism, and Associate Director of Cornell Nanoscale Science and Engineering Facility (CNF). She received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Regensburg, Germany and conducted her postdoctoral work at Harvard University in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her lab utilizes engineering tools and strategies to gain a better understanding of how tumor-microenvironment interactions regulate cancer development, progression, and therapy resistance with a focus on cell-ECM interactions. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.

Cellular interactions with their surrounding including other cells and extracellular matrix are critically important in the pathogenesis of cancer. However, current cancer research mostly studies cells in isolation and under conditions that do not recapitulate the mechanisms that affect tumor evolution in the human body. By exploring tissue engineering, microfabrication, and biomaterials strategies the Fischbach-Teschl lab engineers model systems that allow studying tumor cells under conditions that mimic those within patients. In particular, the Fischbach-Teschl lab uses these model systems to gain a better understanding of the biological and physical principles that influence tumor development, progression, and therapy response.