Kara L. Spiller
BS/MS biomedical engineering ’07, PhD biomedical engineering ’10
URBN Endowed Professor of Biomedical Innovation, Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems (Philadelphia)
Age 39
My Greatest Accomplishment
As a graduate student at Drexel, I initiated a collaboration with a laboratory in Shanghai, where I conducted research for nine months in 2009. Later, I conducted research on a Fulbright fellowship in Portugal. These experiences taught me the value of global collaboration for broadening perspectives and enhancing scientific creativity. Now, I require all of my graduate students to conduct research abroad. So far, I have advised more than 25 students conducting research in over a dozen different countries. Not only do my students report higher satisfaction in their chosen careers, our lab’s productivity has soared. The result has been more than 75 publications, 15 issued or pending patents, millions of dollars in research funding, and more than 100 research awards for me and my students, including the highly competitive NSF CAREER award and the international ASPIRE prize awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
How Drexel Helped Me
Drexel taught me how to seize opportunities to chart my own course. I tried out many new things as a Drexel student, and now as a faculty member, and the Drexel community has been continuously supportive.
Where I Hope to Be in Five Years
I hope to be leading efforts to use biomedical engineering to help patients by leveraging the power of diverse teams and following a solutions-driven process.
How I Pay It Forward
By training students to be world-class scientists and supporting them as they follow their own dreams.