Two J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering alumni have been recognized by the university in this year’s “40 under 40” awards, which honor outstanding young alumni whose achievements positively impact The Gator Nation® as they go greater in their communities and professions. Even though 2020 was a challenging year medically, economically and socially, these Gator engineers moved forward in their chosen fields.

JAMAL LEWIS

Jamal Lewis (Ph.D. BME ’12) is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Lewis’ Immuno-modulatory Biomaterials Laboratory focuses on the development of biomaterial systems that can manipulate the immune system. The group aims to design the next generation of immunotherapeutics for applications in immune-related diseases. This multidisciplinary work incorporates aspects of biomaterials engineering, drug delivery and immunology.

Prior to his professorship, Dr. Lewis was Senior Scientist at OneVax, LLC, a pre-clinical biotechnology company located in Alachua, Florida, that harnesses the intellectual and research advances of University of Florida faculty for applications in the advancement of human health, specifically Type 1 diabetes.

Dr. Lewis was a Post-Doctoral Associate in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, where he also received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2012. Dr. Lewis completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Florida A&M University in 2004, and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2007 from North Carolina State University.

Dr. Lewis’ research, educational and entrepreneurial efforts have been supported by the NIH. His honors and awards include the prestigious NIH Early Stage Investigator Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), Regenerative Medicine Workshop Young Faculty Award, and the CMBE Young Innovator Award.

CHELSEA MAGIN

Chelsea Magin (BSMSE’06, MSBME ’08, Ph.D. BME ’10) is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering, Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver- Anschutz and the Principal Investigator of the Bio-inspired Pulmonary Engineering Laboratory. Her team invents biomaterials and engineers models that recreate the micro-architecture of lung tissue to better understand the mechanisms underlying chronic pulmonary diseases and discover new treatments. Dr. Magin’s work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Magin has extensive experience in the conception, development and translation of medical devices into commercial products. As the Director of Product Development for Sharklet Technologies, Inc., she led a research and development team that designed medical devices to control biological adhesion.

Dr. Magin earned her B.S. with highest distinction in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida in 2006 with internship experience at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. This was followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida with Dr. Anthony Brennan in 2008 and 2010, respectively. She was both a University of Florida Alumni Fellow and a Clare-Booth Luce Graduate Fellow. Her doctoral research focused on biomaterials to control adhesion properties. She completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Anseth Research Group, developing tunable biomaterials to study stem cell differentiation and heart disease.

At home in Denver, Dr. Magin is a Rocky Mountain Gator Club member, an avid cyclist, and loves to throw pottery in her spare time.