Julia Babensee

Julia Babensee is an Associate Professor in the Walter H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. She is affiliated with the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, the Georgia Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissue, and the Cell and Molecular Biology Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute. She also serves as a permanent member of the NIH Bioengineering, Technology and Surgical Sciences study section.

Research Focus: Dr. Babensee’s work centers on immunoengineering, specifically using biomaterial-based strategies to modulate immune responses for applications in regenerative medicine, autoimmunity, transplantation, and vaccines. Her research investigates biomaterial interactions with dendritic cells (key immune regulators) to improve host responses to combination products like tissue-engineered devices and vaccines.

Scientific Awards:

• Society for Biomaterials Pioneer Award

Advising and Professional Roles: She advised students and researchers such as Dinara Jones, Advika Srinivasan, Abigail Damico, Aiswarya Venkata Suresh Kumar, and Ivy Bell. She served as Program Chair for the 2012 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting and contributed to societies like the Society for Biomaterials as a Member-at-Large (2008–2009).

Education and Affiliations: Dr. Babensee earned her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Canada and completed postdoctoral training at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. She is actively involved in advancing biomaterials research through her lab at the Petit Biotechnology Building.