PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Tejal Desai, dean of the Brown University School of Engineering, has been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s largest general scientific societies.
Elected by their peers, this year’s group of new fellows includes nearly 500 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for distinguished achievements throughout their careers. AAAS cited Desai’s “seminal contributions to the development of innovative biomaterials and drug delivery technologies using advanced micro and nanosystems, and for inspired leadership in the field of bioengineering.”
AAAS announced the new fellows on Thursday, March 26.
“Being named a fellow of the AAAS is incredibly meaningful, as I have long admired the organization’s dedication to advancing science and serving society,” Desai said. “This recognition reflects the collective efforts of my lab members and collaborators to develop therapeutic delivery systems that make a tangible difference in patients' lives. I look forward to continued advances in research and translation here at Brown engineering."
Desai, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown in 1994, returned to College Hill as the University’s second dean of engineering in 2022. Over the past four years, she has guided the continued expansion of the oldest engineering program in the Ivy League, which became the School of Engineering in 2010. Her priorities as dean include growing the school’s research enterprise in ways that harness the vast expertise of Brown faculty and direct it toward solving real-world challenges.
In her research, Desai uses micro- and nanoscale techniques to develop ways of targeting and delivering therapeutics to specific places in the body. Along with her students and collaborators, she has developed biomaterials aimed at enhancing tissue regeneration, as well as platforms that improve the delivery of therapeutics and modulate the immune system. Desai has published over 290 research papers that have been cited collectively over 27,000 times. Her work has generated more than 30 U.S. patents issued or pending.
Desai has earned recognition as one of MIT Technology Review’s Top 100 Young Innovators, one of Popular Science’s Brilliant 10, and as the winner of the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Inventors, as well as past president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS fellow is a lifetime honor. Desai joins a distinguished group of 28 current Brown faculty members who are AAAS fellows.