Written by Delia Alkhatib, edited by Christina Nowicki and Lisa Volpatti

Starting in STEM

Dr. Lisa Volpatti was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Although she is now a distinguished scientist, she only discovered research during her junior year of college. After a semester of conducting research using biomaterials to make artificial blood vessels, she decided she wanted to pursue a career in academia.

In high school, Lisa’s AP Chemistry teacher encouraged her to study chemical engineering at Pitt. He knew (even before she did) that she would go on to pursue a Ph.D. Lisa, on the other hand, was unfamiliar with the concept of research. She jokes that when prompted to fill out a survey of “lab experience” for the Society of Women Engineers during her sophomore year, she wrote “Gen Chem I Lab.” Not knowing about research, she completed an internship after her sophomore year at a chemical process plant, where her role was to scale up the reactions from the benchtop to medium-sized reactors. While she notes that this is important work, Lisa decided that being a process engineer was not the path for her. She wanted to be more freely creative to push the boundaries of science, a freedom that she found in the biomaterials research lab her junior year.

Pursuing further education

Following her undergraduate degree, Lisa continued her education at the University of Cambridge in the UK, where she received a research-based master’s degree in chemistry on a Whitaker International Fellowship. She then moved from Cambridge, UK to Cambridge, MA to complete her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her thesis focused on improving diabetes therapies with biomaterials. Her goal was to create a drug that diabetic patients could give themselves once in the morning and not have to worry about measuring blood sugar or injecting insulin multiple times per day.  She developed an insulin delivery system that achieved this goal in diabetic mice. By self-regulating, this system would better manage blood sugar and also ease the burden placed on diabetic patients.

In 2020, Lisa moved to Chicago to begin her postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago. Currently, she is working at the intersection of immunology and engineering. In January 2024, she will begin a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering Departments at Northwestern University, where she will continue researching in the area of immunoengineering. Lisa is motivated to stay in academia in hopes of developing new technologies and therapies with the potential to help millions of people around the world. She is also excited to mentor and inspire students to pursue their passions.

She believes that everyone should work on something they’re passionate about and she feels that passion in her own research every day in the laboratory. The scientific challenges she faces fuel her motivation to engineer new therapies for a variety of diseases. Currently, Lisa is investigating new technologies that could treat some of the leading causes of death around the globe, including heart disease and cancer. Lisa enjoys the freedom to investigate, discover, and explore in academic research.

“Balancing work and life is key for success.”

While Lisa enjoys spending time working on her research, she also likes to have some activities outside the laboratory. Lisa enjoys running, swimming, and biking as ways to reduce stress and clear her mind. Last year, she ran the Chicago marathon and found that long runs were helpful when preparing for faculty applications. She believes that mental and physical health should always be priorities and that balancing outside life with work can help in being more productive and avoiding burning out.

“Be your own advocate!”

Lisa’s advice to upcoming students is to be your own advocate, to take opportunities that exist, and to make opportunities when they don’t. It can be really hard to advocate for yourself, especially as a female scientist. Even though she struggled with confidence early on, Lisa has learned throughout her career that “you’ll never know if you don’t ask.”  As an example, when Lisa learned about the possibility of obtaining funding to go to the University of Cambridge for a master’s degree, her heart was set on it. She sent so many emails – to professors who could be potential advisors at Cambridge, to professors at Pitt who could read her application materials, to people who were awarded fellowships in the past, and to mentors who could advocate on her behalf. She did everything in her power, including asking for help from others, to accomplish her goal of going abroad. While she was rejected from many fellowships that she applied for, she successfully received the Whitaker International Fellowship, which turned out to be the best fit for her goals. She encourages others to persevere in the face of adversity, noting that it is never too late to find your passion.

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