Melody A. Swartz (born April 1969) is a professor and vice dean for faculty affairs at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

who pioneered research in engineering complex tissues. Her most cited work "Capturing complex 3D tissue physiology in vitro" has been cited over 1784 times. Her research is focused on understanding the role of the

lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphoid organs, lympha ...

regulating immunity in homeostasis and diseases, particularly cancer. She was previously director of the Institute of Bioengineering at the

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

. She was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

in 2023, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium in 2023, and the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

in 2020.

Education

Swartz was born in Illinois. She earned her undergraduate degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

(1991) and her PhD in chemical engineering at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(1998). She did her postdoctoral work in the pulmonary division at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

Career

Swartz began her career working at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, from 1999 to 2004 as an assistant professor in the chemical, biomedical and bioengineering departments. She served various roles in the

from 2003 to 2016. first as an assistant professor in the institute of bioengineering, then becoming an associate professor in 2007, finally getting a professorship in 2010 and becoming the institute's director in 2012 until 2014. In 2014 Swartz took over a part time role in the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne as she began to transition to working in the

's Ben May department of Cancer Research and the

Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) is the first school of engineering at the University of Chicago. It was founded as the Institute for Molecular Engineering in 2011 by the university in partnership with Argo ...

, of which she jointly became a professor of both. Swartz is a member of multiple committees at the University of Chicago including the committee on immunology. and the committee on cancer biology. Swartz is a member of many college boards and advisory councils. She is a part of MIT's Koch Institute's scientific advisory board and has previously served as a strategic scientific advisory board member for the Basel Research Center for Child Health.

Academia

Swartz main focus of research throughout her career has been topics relating to cancer, lymphatic immunology and immunotherapy. Swartz' most cited article "Capturing complex 3D tissue physiology in vitro" was published in March 2006. She talks about creating 3D tissue models in the vitro software. Discussing some design principles for recreating the interwoven set of both biochemical and mechanical cousin the cellular microenvironment and implementing these principles. Emphasizing the involvement of epithelial tissues in 3D models. She mentions two crucial foundations that were crucial for the future of the field. First foundation was the spatial arrangement of cell-surface receptors and the temporal sequence they are presented. The other was a toolbox of biomaterials that should be used for the formation and maintenance of 3D tissues in vitro. This article has been cited 2806 times most recently in 2024 in the article "The potential of graphene coatings as neural interfaces".

Editorial positions

Swartz is on many journals' editorial boards. She has served on the editorial board of ''Angiogenesis'', a journal covering topics on cellular and molecular mechanisms (2011–present). Swartz is also on the editorial boards of '' Cancer Immunology Research'' (2013–present) and '' Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology'' (2015–present).

Honors

*Swartz has received various honors and awards throughout her career. *On February 7, 2023, Swartz was elected 1 of 106 new members of the

for her work on cancer immunotherapy and vaccination. On that day Swartz was also announced as one of eight international members of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium for her work in lymphatic vascular biology, immunology and immunotherapy. *On October 19, 2020 Swartz was announced as a new member of the

. *In 2018 Swartz was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. *In 2012 Swartz was made a fellow of the

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.6 billion and ...

References

External links

Biophysics.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swartz, Melody Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Living people 1969 births MacArthur Fellows Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences University of Chicago faculty Johns Hopkins University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American women engineers 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American women engineers Members of the National Academy of Medicine