Cecilia Giachelli, the W. Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Endowed Chair and Professor of Bioengineering, is among 12 University of Washington faculty inducted to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2016. UW faculty make up half of the 24 new members, who will be formally inducted in September during an annual meeting at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Eleven other UW Bioengineering core and adjunct faculty have been elected to the Academy since 2000.
Dr. Giachelli, a longtime University of Washington faculty member, has made important contributions to the Department of Bioengineering and to the School of Medicine, where she serves as adjunct professor in both pathology and in oral sciences and was previously the deputy director of the University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials research center.
Dr. Giachelli is internationally recognized for her work in the area of vascular calcification leading to the development of molecular and cellular therapies for chronic kidney disease and atherosclerosis. Projects have included mechanistic studies for novel therapeutic targets and treatment for ectopic calcification in disease, traumatic injury, and medical devices, as well as identifying biomimetic strategies for biointerfaces in soft and hard tissue regeneration.
Her many honors include the University of Washington Postdoctoral Fellow Association Mentor of the Year Award, a Jack W. Coburn Lectureship from the American Society of Nephrology, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association and fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.