ChBE News
For more information contact:
Josie Giles, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Contact Josie Giles josie.giles@chbe.gatech.edu
404-385-2299
ChBE Welcomes Assistant Professor Lakeshia Taite
Atlanta (July 16, 2008) — Although it has only been two years since Dr. Lakeshia Taite completed her doctoral and postdoctoral training, the native of Grove Hill, Alabama has already achieved an impressive number of accomplishments, including several awards. After earning her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where she participated in a computer-based honors program that included research experiences in chemistry and chemical engineering, she entered the graduate program at Rice University.
Dr. Taite completed her thesis work in bioengineering titled “Biocom-
patible Copolymers for Localized Cardiovascular Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering” in December 2005, and received the Ralph Budd Award for Best Engineering Thesis as well as the Outstanding Thesis in Bioengi-
neering award. Her research focused on development and application of nitric oxide-releasing materials for prevention of arterial disease and increasing patency of small-diameter vascular grafts, as well as development of biomimetic materials for the study of cellular interactions at the vascular wall. In addition to receiving two awards for her thesis, Dr. Taite was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Fellow and an NSF Integrated Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) Fellow in Cellular Engineering while at Rice. She also participated in research activities within the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology.
Prior to defending her thesis, Dr. Taite completed an NSF IGERT-sponsored internship in 2005 in the Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine and Pharmacobiology (LMRP) at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she gained research experience in combinatorial chemistry and gene delivery. The LMRP conducts research in the field of biomaterials, with applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery. The LMRP is one of the world’s premier research entities of its kind and tends to select research problems requiring a substantial understanding of biology and the development of novel materials. Additionally, Jeff Hubbell, who heads the group, is one of the top biomaterials researchers in the world. Dr. Taite’s acceptance as an intern at LMRP is a distinction reflective of her talent at such an early point in her professional career.
Dr. Taite joined the School in fall 2007 as an assistant professor after completing an eighteen-month postdoctoral fellowship in bioengineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her research focus while at Washington was on synthetic matrices for long-term protein storage, which was part of a collaborative effort funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenges in Global Health to develop a rugged microfluidics-based diagnostic device for improvement of global health.
A bright smile and infectious enthusiasm for her work are evident to both Dr. Taite’s students and colleagues. She says that she is very excited about being at Georgia Tech and although her research group is just now forming, her graduate and undergraduate researchers are eagerly beginning interdisciplinary research projects. The projects span several fields, including localized drug delivery, diagnostics, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine with the goal of producing biocompatible materials having broad clinical relevance.
After spending eighteen months dealing with the ceaseless rain in Seattle, Dr. Taite says that she is “glad to be back in the South, closer to home and family” and is looking forward to exploring Atlanta. When she is not in the lab, you are likely to find her relaxing with her favorite pastimes, including baking, reading about almost any subject, and listening to music.
The School welcomes Dr. Taite and looks forward to the contributions she will make to GT and the chemical and biomolecular engineering discipline.
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 16,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2003-2004 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $341.9 million in new research award funding.