Younghye Song

Dr. Younghye Song serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering within the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas, with additional affiliation in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Cell & Molecular Biology. Her research develops pro-regenerative scaffolds and in vitro disease models using biomaterials to advance therapeutic strategies for cancer and neural injuries.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University (Advisor: Dr. Claudia Fischbach)
• B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (Honors Research Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Hollinger)
• Postdoctoral Training, University of Florida (Advisor: Dr. Christine Schmidt)

Dr. Song's research centers on Biomaterials, Tumor Microenvironment, and Regenerative Medicine, with emphasis on pancreatic cancer perineural invasion and spinal cord injury. Her lab pioneers decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogels, nerve composite scaffolds, and stem cell-based therapies. Key projects include modeling cancer-nerve crosstalk through extracellular vesicles and developing tissue-engineered testbeds for fibrotic scarring.

Recent publications (2021-2025) reveal dominant themes in pancreatic cancer neuroscience (7 articles), neural regeneration (5 articles), and decellularization techniques (4 articles). Her work demonstrates strong translational focus, with 2023-2025 studies increasingly incorporating stem cell therapies and educational innovations in biomaterials curriculum design.

Awards and Honors:

• Outstanding Researcher in Biomedical Engineering, University of Arkansas
• Dean’s Award of Excellence Rising Star Research Award, College of Engineering
• Outstanding Teacher in Biomedical Engineering
• Early Career Editorial Board Member, ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Medical Technology
• Postdoc Excellence Award, University of Florida
• MOGAM Science Foundation Fellow, Korea
• Swanson Graduate Fellow, Cornell University

Dr. Song actively mentors four PhD students (Kuczwara, Van Vu, Ala-Kokko, Kunt) and a postdoctoral fellow (Gregory). Her lab alumni include seven graduate students now at institutions like AstraZeneca, Yale School of Medicine, and Vanderbilt University. The Therapeutic Testbed Engineering lab maintains active collaborations across biomedical engineering and cancer research domains, with current projects focused on translating decellularized scaffolds into clinical applications for nerve regeneration and cancer therapeutics.