Michelle L. Oyen

Washington University in St. Louis

Michelle L. Oyen is the inaugural Director of the new Center for Women’s Health Engineering, based in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to her current appointment, she was on the faculty at the University of Cambridge (2006–18) in the UK and then briefly at East Carolina University (2018–21). Michelle has degrees in Materials Science and Engineering (BS), Engineering Mechanics (MS), and a PhD in Biophysical Sciences. She has worked on many problems in tissue biomechanics and biomimetic materials. She has researched engineering approaches to pregnancy and women’s health for over twenty years, particularly in methods to prevent, diagnose, and intervene in preterm birth. Current research projects include multi-scale modeling of placenta function, microstructural fracture models for amniotic sac rupture, and physical properties of the healthy and pathological uterus.

Juan G. Santiago

Stanford University

Juan G. Santiago received PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995. His research includes the development of microsystems for on-chip chemical and biochemical analysis, methods for DNA quantification and hybridization, and electric-field based deionization methods. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. In 2022, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves and has served as an editor of several journals and has co-founded several companies in microfluidics. Santiago serves as Editor-in-Chief of the new journal Flow by Cambridge University Press. 32 of his ex-PhD students and ex-postdocs have continued in microfluidics research including 24 professors at major universities, eight in corporate labs, and four in microfluidic startup companies. He has authored and co-authored over 200 archival publications and is a named inventor on 56 patents, 26 of which are currently licensed.

Denisse Aranda

Blue Origin