Leadership & Contact

Physical Address

Biomedical Partnership Center
1001 William Moore Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606

Contact Us

Sarah Baker, Executive Assistant
Phone: 919-515-8113
Email: compmedinst@ncsu.edu

Leadership

Dr. Jorge Piedrahita

Co-Director

Dr. Piedrahita is charged with co-Directing a research institute involving faculty representing multiple departments and several colleges within NC State, plus Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest. He supports interactions between clinical and basic research groups by developing mechanisms that encourage and facilitate those interactions. When investigators come together, learn about each other’s research, and discover areas of collaboration, veterinary and human patients receive the benefits of this scientific community. In addition, he is committed to student mentoring and directs two CMI-based training grants, an NIH T32 for graduate students and an NIH T34 for undergraduates.

Email: japiedra@ncsu.edu

Ashley Brown

Co-Director

Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. She received a B.S. from Clemson University in Biosystems Engineering in 2006 and a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in Bioengineering in 2011. Dr. Brown performed postdoctoral studies in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and she was an American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Brown joined the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State and the UNC Chapel Hill in 2015. Her research focuses on developing novel soft materials for a variety of biomedical applications including augmentation of hemostasis, enhanced wound healing, drug delivery for thrombosis, evaluation and modulation of cellular mechanotransduction and development of biosynthetic constructs for regenerative medicine.

Dr. Brown’s research has been supported by a variety of sources including NIH, NSF, AHA, and DOD. Dr. Brown has been actively involved in leadership positions in several national societies including the American Society for Matrix Biology (ASMB), Society for Biomaterials (SFB), and Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). She currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer Elect for the SFB and previously served as as a Council Member for ASMB and Student Affairs Sub-Committee Chair for BMES. Dr. Brown’s research has been recognized by numerous awards. She is an NSF CAREER Award recipient, a 2019 Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator, and Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator. She received the Young Investigator Award from both the American Society for Matrix Biology and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine-AM Societies in 2020, and the Mid-Career Award from the Society for Biomaterials in 2022. In 2023 she was named an AIMBE Fellow, and AHA Fellow, and was recognized as one of Georgia Tech’s 40 under 40 alumni. Due to Dr. Brown’s interest in translating microgel-based materials into clinical use, she co-founded Selsym Biotech, Inc. in 2019, which is a start-up company focused on development of hemostatic and pro-healing therapeutics.

Email: aecarso2@ncsu.edu

Leadership Contacts

Melanie Simpson, Co-Director, Chemistry of Life Division: msimpso3@ncsu.edu

Yevgeny Brudno, Co-Director, Chemistry of Life Division: brudnolab@med.unc.edu

Cristina Lanzas, Co-Director, Emerging & Infectious Diseases Division: clanzas@ncsu.edu

Frank Scholle, Co-Director, Emerging & Infectious Diseases Division: fscholl@ncsu.edu

Lauren Schnabel, Co- Director, Functional Tissue Engineering Division: lvschnab@ncsu.edu

Rohan Shirwaiker, Co-Director, Functional Tissue Engineering Division: rashirwa@ncsu.edu

Michael Nolan, Co-Director, Translational Pharmacology & Physiology Division: mwnolan@ncsu.edu

Santosh Mishra, Co-Director, Translational Pharmacology & Physiology DIvision: skmishra@ncsu.edu

Thomas Theis, Director of Entrepreneurship: ttheis@ncsu.edu

Jessica Gluck, Director of Education & Training: jmgluck@ncsu.edu

Eleanor Hawkins, Clinical Research Representative: echawkin@ncsu.edu

Matthew Fisher, Musculoskeletal Group Head & Program Manager, Comparative Molecular Medicine Training Program: mbfisher@ncsu.edu

Carolyn Veale, Program Manager, U-TEAM Undergraduate Training Program: cpveale@ncsu.edu

Associate Member Committee Representatives:

Hisham El-Shaffey–Chemistry: helshaf@ncsu.edu

Jacob Thompson–Biomedical Engineering: jdthomp5@ncsu.edu

Alejandro Valdes–Chemistry: mvaldes@ncsu.edu

Andrew Ratchford–Microbiology: awratchf@ncsu.edu