Caroline Elizabeth Cvetkovic

Caroline Elizabeth Cvetkovic serves as a Teaching Assistant Professor in Bioengineering and an Affiliate at the Siebel Center for Design, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research bridges neural tissue engineering and engineering education, with significant contributions to both fields.

Her bioengineering research centers on astrocytes, skeletal muscle, and biobots, utilizing bioengineered neural organoids to study neural immunomodulation and astrocyte reactivity. Key projects include cytokine delivery systems for neuroinflammation treatment and development of tissue-engineered muscle constructs. In engineering education, she pioneers integration of entrepreneurial mindset and science communication into undergraduate laboratory curricula, focusing on real-world skill development.

Publication trends reveal dual expertise: advancing neural tissue engineering models while innovating pedagogical approaches. Her bioengineering work targets neurodegenerative disease modeling through bioactuators and biobots, whereas educational research emphasizes commercialization training and communication skills essential for modern engineering careers. Recent outputs span high-impact journals (Biomaterials, Journal of Cell Biology) and engineering education conferences (ASEE, IEEE Frontiers in Education).

Dr. Cvetkovic's work demonstrates significant scholarly impact with 62 Mendeley readers for her 2022 neural organoids study and coverage by 6 news outlets. She actively collaborates across disciplines, evidenced by co-authorship with researchers in bioengineering, neuroscience, and education.