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Tatiana Segura

Segura

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Tatiana Segura is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, and Dermatology at Duke University. She received her B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and her doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.  She began her career in Biomaterials research during her doctoral work working with Prof. Lonnie Shea. She designed hydrogels for local non-viral gene delivery, a topic that she still works on today. She continued her Biomaterials training during her postdoctoral work with Jeffrey Hubbell. There she worked on the design of hydrogels and self-assembled polysulfides for gene delivery. She began her independent career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering reaching the title of Professor. At UCLA she participated actively in service culminating with her election as department Vice Chair and running the Graduate Program. At Duke she has continued to be heavily involved in service at the department, school, and university level. In only 5 years, she has Chaired 6 committees, and participated in at least 6 more, is the direct mentor to two young assistant professors, is the Co-director of the Center for Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering and serves as MPI of the T32 Biotechnology Training grant. Notably she is currently the Chair of the BME department Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee. 

 

Prof. Segura’s research is centered on biomaterials and in engineering biomaterial-soft tissue interactions to promote repair and regeneration. Together with her lab members, she designs new biomaterial interventions that can promote brain plasticity after stroke, promote scarless healing in skin wounds, induce tolerance of transplanted skin, and promote constructive immune responses after biomaterial implantation. Currently, her lab has 12 graduate students, 4 postdoctoral scholars, 2 master students, 1 plastic surgery resident, 16 undergraduate students, one high school student, and one research associate. 

 

Professor Segura has received numerous awards and distinctions during her career, including being named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, receiving the Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, a Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and a National Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. She was also named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE). Professor Segura has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and reviews and has over 10,000 citations. Her laboratory has been continuously funded since 2008 with several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor of Biomedical Engineering
  • Professor in Neurology
  • Professor in Dermatology
  • Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

Contact Information

Education

  • Ph.D. Northwestern University, 2004
  • B.S. University of California, Berkeley, 1999

Research Interests

The design of biomaterials to promote endogenous repair and reducing inflammation through the design of the geometry of the material, and delivering genes, proteins and drugs.

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

  • Clemson Award for Contributions to Literature. World Biomaterials Conference. 2024
  • Senior Member. National Academy of Inventors. 2023
  • Silver Medal. Acta Biomaterialia. 2021
  • 15 d/e Plenary Award. AICHE Food, Pharmaceutical, and Bioengineering Division. 2018
  • College of Fellows. American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. 2016
  • Outstanding Young Investigator Award. American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. 2009
  • National Scientist Development Grant. American Heart Association. 2009
  • Exploratory Research Grant Award R21. NIBIB. 2008
  • CAREER Award. National Science Foundation. 2008
  • F32 Postdoctoral NRSA Fellowship. National Institutes of Health. 2004
  • Dissertation Henderson Fellowship. Northwestern University. 2003
  • NIH Predoctoral Biotechnology Training Grant. Northwestern University. 2000

Courses Taught

  • NEUROSCI 495: Research Independent Study 3
  • NEUROSCI 494: Research Independent Study 2
  • NEUROSCI 493: Research Independent Study 1
  • EGR 491: Projects in Engineering
  • EGR 393: Research Projects in Engineering
  • BME 792: Continuation of Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
  • BME 789: Internship in Biomedical Engineering
  • BME 771: Bioconjugation in drug biomaterials and drug delivery systems
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 394: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Wilson, KL; Joseph, NI; Onweller, LA; Anderson, AR; Darling, NJ; David-Bercholz, J; Segura, T, SDF-1 Bound Heparin Nanoparticles Recruit Progenitor Cells for Their Differentiation and Promotion of Angiogenesis after Stroke., Advanced healthcare materials, vol 13 no. 25 (2024) [10.1002/adhm.202302081] [abs].
  • Segura, T, From Soft Microgel Assemblies to Advanced Healthcare Materials., Advanced healthcare materials, vol 13 no. 25 (2024) [10.1002/adhm.202402905] [abs].
  • Kurt, E; Devlin, G; Asokan, A; Segura, T, Gene Delivery From Granular Scaffolds for Tunable Biologics Manufacturing., Small, vol 20 no. 31 (2024) [10.1002/smll.202309911] [abs].
  • Wang, MF; Ouyang, Y; Segura, T; Muddiman, DC, Optimizing neurotransmitter pathway detection by IR-MALDESI-MSI in mouse brain., Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, vol 416 no. 18 (2024), pp. 4207-4218 [10.1007/s00216-024-05354-1] [abs].
  • Curvino, EJ; Roe, EF; Freire Haddad, H; Anderson, AR; Woodruff, ME; Votaw, NL; Segura, T; Hale, LP; Collier, JH, Engaging natural antibody responses for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease via phosphorylcholine-presenting nanofibres., Nat Biomed Eng, vol 8 no. 5 (2024), pp. 628-649 [10.1038/s41551-023-01139-6] [abs].

Affiliate Topics in Materials Research