Tzanakakis named AIMBE Fellow

Professor Emmanuel S. Tzanakakis of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts University has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. The AIMBE recognizes Fellows for their contributions to engineering and medical research, practice, and education.

Tzanakakis was selected for outstanding contributions to stem cell bioprocessing and optogenetic technologies for diabetes. His research seeks to develop solutions for therapies and regenerative medicine through optogenetics and stem cell and tissue engineering. In particular, he focuses on the scalable derivation of functional cells with applications for the treatment of diabetes.

Tzanakakis joined Tufts’ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering as an associate professor in 2014 and was promoted to full professor in 2019. Previously he was an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the director of the Stem Cell Culture, Banking, and Training Facility at the Western New York Stem Cell Culture and Analysis Center.

Tzanakakis is a past recipient of the James D. Watson Investigator Award from the New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research, while his research has received support from agencies including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota and did his postdoctoral training at the Stem Cell Institute of the University of Minnesota and at the Diabetes Center of the University of California, San Francisco.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is a select honor – membership is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers in the country. Fellows of AIMBE develop innovative approaches to medical and biological engineering education, make major advancements in new and traditional research areas, and are among the most accomplished and distinguished peers in their fields.