Nancy Allbritton, current University of Washington College of Engineering dean and professor of bioengineering and 2009-2019 UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering Chair, will receive the 2021 Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award, the premier recognition by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) for outstanding achievements and leadership in the science and practice of biomedical engineering. She will accept the award at the BMES annual meeting on Oct. 7 in Orlando, Fla.
Dr. Allbritton’s research focuses on biomedical microdevice development. She is an international expert on multiplexed single-cell assays, microfabricated platforms for high-content cytometry combined with cell sorting, and microengineered stem-cell-based systems for re-creating human organ-level function. Her work has resulted in 45 issued and pending patents and led to 15 commercial products. She has co-founded four start-up companies based on her research discoveries: Protein Simple (acquired by Bio-Techne in 2014), Intellego, Cell Microsystems and Altis Biosystems.
She has been nationally recognized for her research and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors.
Dr. Allbritton will deliver a plenary lecture on her research in designing biomedical microdevices for simplicity and reliability during the BMES meeting. The UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering joins the chorus of those applauding Nancy for this well deserved honor!