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| Laura Epps | |
|---|---|
| Name | Laura Epps |
| Birth date | 1979 |
| Birth place | Richmond, Virginia |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Biomedical engineering; regenerative medicine; tissue engineering |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Howard University |
| Alma mater | Howard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Langer |
| Known for | Biomaterials for neuronal repair; spinal cord injury scaffolds; stem cell–biomaterial interfaces |
| Awards | NIH Director’s New Innovator Award; NSF CAREER Award |
Laura Epps
Laura Epps is an American biomedical engineer and regenerative medicine researcher known for pioneering biomaterial scaffolds and cell-delivery systems aimed at neural repair. Her work bridges translational efforts at institutions such as Howard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with clinical needs encountered at centers like Johns Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Epps's research integrates principles from tissue engineering, stem cell biology, and materials science to address spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative disease.
Epps was born in Richmond, Virginia, and raised in a family engaged with Howard University Hospital and local community health initiatives. She completed a Bachelor of Science at Howard University where she studied under faculty associated with the National Institutes of Health summer programs and collaborated with researchers linked to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epps pursued graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in the laboratory of Robert Langer. During her doctoral training she worked closely with investigators from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and interacted with clinicians from Massachusetts General Hospital and researchers affiliated with the Broad Institute.
After completing postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University in collaboration with the School of Medicine neurosurgery department, Epps accepted a faculty position at a research-intensive university where she established an interdisciplinary laboratory. Her group formed partnerships with the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and industry collaborators including biotech firms in the Cambridge, Massachusetts and Baltimore innovation ecosystems. Epps has served on advisory panels for the Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research Service and participated in consortia with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association. She has lectured at conferences organized by the Society for Neuroscience, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society.
Epps developed patterned biomaterial scaffolds that guide axonal growth and modulate the local inflammatory response after spinal cord injury. Her laboratory combined biodegradable polymers originally characterized in the Langer lab with extracellular matrix cues studied by groups at the Wyss Institute and Harvard Medical School to promote neuronal survival. She introduced hydrogel formulations that encapsulate induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neuronal progenitors—building on methods from the Salk Institute and protocols influenced by Shinya Yamanaka’s reprogramming discoveries—to improve engraftment and functional recovery in preclinical rodent models. Collaborations with teams at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine assessed electrophysiological integration of grafted neurons using techniques pioneered at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Epps's publications explored biomaterial-mediated modulation of macrophage phenotypes, integrating insights from immunology groups at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Ragon Institute. She advanced microscale scaffold architectures inspired by work at the Wyss Institute and MIT Media Lab to create anisotropic conduits that recapitulate white matter tract organization described in human neuroanatomy studies at the Human Connectome Project. Her team validated functional outcomes with behavioral assays adapted from paradigms used by investigators at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Michigan.
Epps also contributed to translational strategy, coordinating with regulatory-science experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and clinical trial units at Massachusetts General Hospital to design first-in-human pathways for cell–scaffold combination products. She mentored trainees who secured fellowships from the NIH F31 and fellowships connected to the Fulbright Program and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Epps received early-career recognition including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. She was named a finalist for the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize during her doctoral studies and later received a young investigator award from the Society for Neuroscience. Additional honors include a translational research prize from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and invited lectureships at the Royal Society and the National Academy of Medicine symposia. Epps has been listed among promising innovators by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and awarded pilot grants from the Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program.
Epps is an advocate for diversity in STEM, participating in outreach with programs at Howard University, Morehouse College, and the National Society of Black Engineers. She serves on the board of an academic nonprofit that partners with historically Black colleges and universities and mentors junior faculty through networks associated with the National Institutes of Health Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Outside the laboratory, she engages with arts and science initiatives connected to the Smithsonian Institution and community health projects in the Baltimore and Richmond regions.
Her legacy includes a cadre of trainees now at institutions such as Stanford University, Columbia University, Duke University, and industry roles within biotech hubs in San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Through interdisciplinary collaborations spanning Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and clinical centers like Cleveland Clinic, Epps's contributions have influenced the direction of biomaterials approaches to neural repair and informed ongoing clinical translation efforts.
Category:American biomedical engineers Category:Women engineers