Margaret Bennewitz, Ph.D.

PhD, biomedical engineering, Yale University, 2012

MPhil, biomedical engineering, Yale University, 2011

MS, biomedical engineering, Yale University, 2009

BS, bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, 2007

Biography

Dr. Margaret Bennewitz received her BS degree in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007 and her PhD from Yale University in Biomedical Engineering in 2012. At Yale, she specialized in MRI cell tracking and contrast agent development for the diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme. After completing her doctorate, Dr. Bennewitz accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in the M+Visión Program, a collaborative venture between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and hospitals and laboratories in Madrid, Spain. One of her projects involved the early detection of ovarian cancer through identifying characteristics of precursor lesions that could be imaged using optical microscopy. During her second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Bennewitz developed an in vivo multiphoton microscopy technique (qFILM) for visualizing blood cell trafficking within the pulmonary microcirculation of live sickle cell disease mice and received an NIH NRSA F32 Fellowship to pursue this work. Dr. Bennewitz joined the faculty at West Virginia University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering in August 2017. Dr. Bennewitz is utilizing the complementary qualities of MRI and in vivo fluorescence imaging to study breast cancer in her research group. There are three main areas of emphasis targeting breast cancer: 1) development of new targeted MRI nanoparticle contrast agents for early detection, 2) use of in vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy to elucidate the role of the tumor microenvironment, including neutrophils, platelets, NETs, and extracellular vesicles in promoting breast cancer metastasis to the lungs, and 3) inhibition of breast cancer metastasis through creation of targeted drug delivery approaches.