New Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Eno Ebong
Assistant Professor
Dr. Eno Ebong joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in the summer of 2013 as an assistant professor. Both the university-wide support system for the faculty and students, and the innovative and collaborative spirit both on campus and with industry, are what attracted her to Northeastern.
Dr. Ebong obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining the department, she worked at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, as a research scientist. In her research, she used rapid cryopreservation and transmission electron microscopy techniques to define the structure and blood flow pattern induced reorganization of the endothelial cell sugar coat, called the glycocalyx, which sheds in vascular disease. She studied the mechanisms by which the glycocalyx participates in the conversion of blood fluid forces into endothelial cell functions and dysfunction associated with vascular health and disease, respectively. Her long-term career goal is to identify mechanically-regulated cellular and molecular targets and develop novel tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. She is enthusiastic and passionate about research, and is most interested in research that will integrate fluid mechanics with endothelial cell biology to study the sugar biology, or glycobiology, of vascular health and disease within the next few years.
Her future goals for the Department are to contribute to its health related research efforts, aid in improving its graduate program, and support the strength of experiential undergraduate education. She is interested in developing new interdisciplinary courses that reflect the dynamic and rapidly evolving nature of engineering and biomedicine. She also hopes to teach courses in cell biology for engineers and cardiovascular biomechanics, and looks forward to teaching fluid mechanics and transport and mechanics of materials. Dr. Ebong hopes to make an impact on students in laboratory research conducted in conjunction with formal courses for independent study or to fulfill thesis requirements for degree completion, and influence students as a quality teacher as she teaches both undergraduate and graduate level courses.
Dr. Ebong is a strong believer in student-centered teaching and expects challenges when delivering well-organized courses, while adapting the courses to the students’ input in real-time. She is eager to help undergraduates benefit in their academics and professional careers and her plan is to advise them on and connect them with diverse academic and professional career opportunities. With her academic experiences and affiliations, she can link them to opportunities at MIT, RPI, CUNY, CCNY, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the National GEM Consortium, and other academic or non-academic institutions. As a collaborator with Temple University and Georgia Institute of Technology and through her analytical and medical device industry experience from Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, and Philips, she can provide advice to students on careers paths in industry.
This academic year 2013, Dr. Ebong looks forward to recruiting undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels students as researchers, and expects them to work together with her as a team, be very engaged and productive, be willing to learn new techniques, and have an interest in interdisciplinary research. Her plan is to train engineering students to conduct biomedical research and no prior biological research experience will be required
Although Dr. Ebong is very engaged in her research, in her free time she enjoys spending time with her immediate and extended family. Being of West African origin, she and her family pray, play sports, and party together.