Tejal Ashwin Desai (born June 3, 1972) is Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering at Brown University. Prior to joining Brown, she was the Deborah Cowan Endowed Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It co ...

, Director of the Health Innovations via Engineering Initiative (HIVE), and head of the Therapeutic Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. She was formerly an associate professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

(2002–06) and an assistant professor at

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois s ...

(1998–2001). She is a researcher in the area of therapeutic

micro Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer *Chii Tomiya (都宮ち� ...

and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

and has authored and edited at least one book on the subject and another on

biomaterials A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose, either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one. As a science, biomateria ...

. In January 2022, she was appointed the dean of Brown University’s

School of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...

. She succeeded inaugural dean,

Lawrence Larson Lawrence E. Larson is an American electrical engineer, currently serving as acting provost of Brown University. Previously, he was the Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering and Founding Dean at the Brown University School of Engineering. He is a Fe ...

in September 2022.

Early life and education

Desai was born on June 3, 1972, in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...

, to Indian parents. She spent most of her childhood in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

. Desai attended Brown University, which allowed her to pursue both liberal arts courses as well as undergraduate courses in biomedical engineering. She received a Sc. B. from Brown in

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

in 1994. In 1998 she graduated with a Ph.D. from the joint

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

Bioengineering department, advised by

Mauro Ferrari Mauro Ferrari (born 7 July 1959) is a nanoscientist and leader in the field of nanomedicine. He served as special expert on nanotechnology for the National Cancer Institute (2003-2005) and was instrumental in establishing the Alliance for Nanote ...

Honors and awards

She was elected a fellow of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...

in 2012., fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), fellow of the Controlled Release Society (CRS), and she is a member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called 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, En ...

and the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 2010 ...

Select publications

* * *

Advocacy

Desai is a vocal advocate for inclusion and equity in STEM. She was recognized by the Northern California AWIS Judith Poole Award and the UCSF Chancellors Award for the Advancement of Women. As president of

, she led advocacy efforts for increased scientific funding and addressing workforce disparities in science/engineering.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Tejal A. 1972 births Living people American academics of Indian descent American nanotechnologists Brown University School of Engineering alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Members of the National Academy of Medicine