Bioengineering welcomes three new faculty

The Department of Bioengineering is pleased to officially announce Chelsea Magin has taken the position of assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, with joint appointments in pediatrics and medicine. Magin has held an affiliate appointment in bioengineering for the past three years and has played an important role in the department. She helped create new courses for engineering students, teaches one of the most popular industry-focused electives, and is spearheading the launch of a Society for Biomaterials chapter at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. She received the 2019 Colorado Bioscience Association Educator of the Year Award recognizing her excellence in teaching, mentorship, and outreach.  

This year Magin has been awarded a NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award and an R01 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. These prestigious awards will allow her to pursue exciting research into creating realistic in vitro models of pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly lung disease. Dr. Magin and her team in the Bioinspired Pulmonary Engineering Lab hope to use their models to identify new life-saving treatments for future use in patients.

The department also is excited to announce the promotion of Brisa Peña from research instructor to assistant research professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology. Peña has been a research instructor in the Department of Bioengineering and in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology since 2017. She has taught the graduate Clinical Experiences course, the Cell and Molecular Biology course, guest lectured in many additional courses, and served as a mentor to students pursuing research as well. Peña has conducted cardiology research on the Anschutz Medical Campus, and has been a part of many cross-campus collaborations between Bioengineering and other departments. With the recent award of a K25 grant, Peña will have greater opportunity to continue her research, testing to find the most efficient method to deliver regenerative miRNAs for cardiac tissue engineering.

Finally, the Department is pleased to announce that PhD candidate Mary Bevilacqua will be added to the faculty as well, in the role of instructor. Bevilacqua started at CU in 2019, and has already contributed greatly to the work of the department. She stepped in to fill a faculty teaching role in spring 2020, taking on a class of more than 50 undergraduate students with ease. She also has been collaborating with other faculty to integrate additional design training and improve the way the department mentors students in order to give them the best opportunities possible upon graduation.

Congratulations and welcome aboard!