Elizabeth Wayne is a TED Fellow and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.
Dr.Wayne received her bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania where she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and Moelis Access Science Scholar. Dr. Wayne continued her education at Cornell University, where her research on the role of immune cells in cancer progression and their potential as drug delivery carriers was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute Physical Sciences in Oncology Network and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2016, Dr. Wayne earned her PhD in biomedical engineering where her work in immune cell-mediated drug delivery resulted in several publications and a technology patent. Afterwards, she completed a National Cancer Institute Cancer Nanotechnology Training Program Postdoctoral Fellow in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Wayne’s current research is at the interface of macrophage biology and biomaterials where her lab develops strategies to enhance therapeutics delivery and diagnostics tools.
Dr. Wayne is a strong advocate for women in science and entrepreneurship. She has been a chief organizer in the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWIP) at Cornell as well as a panelist and workshop leader at CUWiPs held at Yale and Harvard. She has received awards for her advocacy including the Constance and Alice Cook Award. In 2017, Dr. Wayne was featured in the Super Cool Scientists: A Women in Science Coloring Book. She is also the co-host of the show PhDivas, a podcast that tells the stories of women in leadership and higher education. Dr. Wayne has been featured in various publications including PBS News Hour, Nature Careers, Nature Medicine, Bust Magazine, The Atlantic, and the LA Times.