معرفی
Dr. Helen Zha is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). She holds affiliations in the Biochemistry and Biophysics graduate program and the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine. As Associate Director of the NY Fashion Innovation Center, she bridges academic and industrial innovation. Her research focuses on biomimetic materials, particularly the synthesis of silk-mimetic polymers and their applications in regenerative medicine, sustainable materials, and biotechnology.
Educated at MIT (B.Sc., 2007) and Northwestern University (Ph.D., 2013), Dr. Zha completed postdoctoral training at Eindhoven University of Technology and UC Berkeley. She joined RPI in 2018 as a tenure-track faculty member.
Her research interests span biomaterials design, biopolymer synthesis, and sustainable material upcycling. Key projects include converting plastic waste into recombinant proteins and developing anti-angiogenic nanostructures for medical applications. Her work emphasizes the interplay between molecular design and functional properties of materials.
Dr. Zha has received prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER Award and NIH R35 MIRA Early Career Grant. She chairs the Biomaterials program area of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and actively contributes to professional societies like the Society for Biomaterials.
Her lab, the Bioinspired Materials Lab, explores bio-inspired material systems with applications in energy storage, drug delivery, and environmental remediation. Current projects include silk fibroin coatings for neural regeneration and nano-silica additives for sodium batteries.
