Deborah Leckband

Deborah Leckband is the Reid T. Milner Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, holding appointments in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (50%) and the Department of Chemistry (50%). She serves as Director of the Bioengineering Graduate Program and is an Affiliate in Biochemistry within the Grainger College of Engineering. Her research focuses on bio-interfaces and mechanotransduction, integrating biophysical and surface analytical approaches to study cell adhesion, mechanotransduction pathways, and biomaterial design.

Education: Postdoctorate at MIT and UC Santa Barbara (1988–1992), Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University (1988), and B.S. in Chemistry from Humboldt State University (1982). Professional affiliations include the Biophysical Society, American Institute of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, and American Chemical Society.

Research Interests:

• Mechanotransduction in vascular and epithelial tissues
• Biophysical mechanisms of cadherin-mediated adhesion
• Biomaterials for protein stabilization and drug delivery
• Microfabrication tools for studying cell-material interactions

Awards:

• 2021 Langmuir Lectureship Award

Grants and Collaborations:

• NSF grants with Susan Leggett (bioengineering) and Joon Kong (chemical engineering)
• Collaborations with Martin Gruebele (chemistry) on protein stability in hydrogels

Labs & Teams: Leads the Leckband Research Group, focusing on bio-interfaces and cellular mechanics. Active in developing microfluidic platforms and biomaterials for biomedical applications.