Sarah Shelton

Sarah Shelton, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Joint Biomedical Engineering Department between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. She is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she applies engineering principles to cancer research through the development of innovative microphysiological models.

Dr. Shelton specializes in building microfluidic, organ-on-chip models to study how cells interact with and shape the tumor microenvironment. Her research focuses on understanding cellular transport and function within 3D engineered systems that mimic specific tissues, with particular emphasis on immune microenvironment interactions in cancer. She investigates how these interactions drive disease progression or influence treatment response, including the development of vascularized micro-tissues using patient-derived cells for personalized medicine applications. Her work bridges engineering, biology, and clinical medicine to create predictive models for cancer treatment assessment.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on vascular biology within cancer models, tumor microenvironment mechanics, and immunotherapy applications. The research shows increasing sophistication in microphysiological system design and a growing emphasis on translating these models to clinical applications, particularly in personalized cancer treatment assessment. Her work spans fundamental biological questions about cell mechanics and metastasis through to practical applications for evaluating immunotherapies.

• Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2021
• NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award, National Cancer Institute, 2016 – 2023
• Integrative Vascular Biology Training Program Fellowship Trainee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013 – 2016
• Dean's Doctoral Fellowship, NCSU College of Engineering, 2012 – 2013
• Graduate Merit Award, NCSU College of Engineering, 2012
• Cancer Nanotechnology Summer Institute Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 2011

Dr. Shelton actively collaborates with scientists and engineers across various disciplines as part of the 'Translational Predictive Biology' cluster at UNC. Her research program has secured significant funding from the National Cancer Institute and other sources, supporting her innovative work in developing predictive models for cancer treatment response. She is involved in mentoring students and postdoctoral researchers in interdisciplinary approaches to cancer research.

Her laboratory at the Biomedical Partnership Center in Raleigh focuses on designing microfluidic, organ-on-chip models that enable detailed observation of cellular interactions within engineered tissue environments. The team combines biological, engineering, and imaging approaches to study vascularized systems and their role in cancer progression and treatment response, with particular interest in metastasis and immunotherapy applications.