Rebecca L. Carrier

Rebecca L. Carrier is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University and affiliated faculty in Bioengineering and Biology. Her research focuses on biological systems-material interactions, spanning intestinal tissue engineering, retinal regenerative medicine, and oral drug delivery.

• Education: PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT (2000), BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1995)

Research Interests: Carrier’s work advances understanding of compound transport in biological systems and develops biomimetic biomaterials. Key areas include lipid impact on oral absorption, mucus barrier mechanics, and retinal/intestinal tissue engineering. The Advanced Drug Delivery Research Lab employs engineering principles to create disease models and therapeutic delivery systems.

Publication Trends: Recent articles highlight interdisciplinary approaches to drug transport modeling, mucosal barrier engineering, and biomaterials for organoid culture. Studies integrate chemical engineering, microbiology, and biomedical applications.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Fellow, Controlled Release Society (2024)
  • Distinguished Faculty Award (2024)
  • AIMBE Fellow (2018)
  • Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award (2017)
  • NSF CAREER Award (2008)

Advising & Grants: Carrier advises PhD and capstone design students, including Ronak Ansaripour’s award-winning team. She secured NIH grants for lipid absorption studies and a Spark Fund award for algorithm-driven drug delivery optimization. Collaborations include research with University College Dublin (2024).

Labs & Teams: The Advanced Drug Delivery Research Lab (ADDRES) investigates retinal cell transplantation, gut microbiome interactions, and mucosal barrier dynamics. Lab values emphasize diversity, anti-racism, and ethical scientific collaboration.