Tejal Ashwin Desai is a Professor in Physiology, Division of Bioengineering at University of California, San Francisco

University of California, San Francisco

The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...

 and head of the Therapeutic Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. She was formerly an associate professor at Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 (2002–06) and an assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...

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

Microtechnology

Microtechnology is technology with features near one micrometre .In the 1960s, scientists learned that by arraying large numbers of microscopic transistors on a single chip, microelectronic circuits could be built that dramatically improved performance, functionality, and reliability, all while...

 and nanotechnology

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

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

Background

Dr. Desai attended Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 where she received a Sc. B. in Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering

Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...

 in 1994. In 1998 she graduated with a Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from the joint UCSF/UC Berkeley Bioengineering department http://bioegrad.berkeley.edu/http://www.bioengineering.ucsf.edu/, advised by Mauro Ferrari .

Dr. Desai has always been interested in science and outreach, in particular to minority students and women.http://nanozone.org/Who.htm

Awards and recognition

Dr. Desai has received many honors for her work in micro and nanostructure

Nanostructure

A nanostructure is an object of intermediate size between molecular and microscopic structures.In describing nanostructures it is necessary to differentiate between the number of dimensions on the nanoscale. Nanotextured surfaces have one dimension on the nanoscale, i.e., only the thickness of the...

d materials for tissue engineering

Tissue engineering

Tissue engineering is the use of a combination of cells, engineering and materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physio-chemical factors to improve or replace biological functions...

 and drug delivery

Drug delivery

Drug delivery is the method or process of administering a pharmaceutical compound to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals. Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well...

:

1999 Crain's Chicago Business "40 under 40" Award: For leadership and innovation

1999 MIT's TR100

TR35

The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...

 Award: Technology Review Magazine's Top 100 Young Innovators

2000 National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

 CAREER Award

2002 McGowan Institute Award for Contributions to Regenerative Medicine

2002 Johnson and Johnson Focused Giving Award

2003 EURAND http://www.eurand.com/ Grand Prize Award for Outstanding Research in Oral Drug Delivery

2003 Globus Indus Technovator Award (presented by MIT) http://technovators.mit.edu/

2003 Popular Science

Popular Science

Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...

's "Brilliant 10" Top Scientists in the Nation

2004 INDIA New England Woman of the Year

2006 EURAND http://www.eurand.com/ Grand Prize Award for Innovative Approaches to Drug Delivery

2006 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from UC Berkeley

2007 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Award