MAB Alumni

Maddalena Di Piazza (‘22) currently works for Cepheid, a company specializing in point-of-care molecular diagnostics. She credits the MAB program’s clinical shadowing and capstone requirements with helping to prepare her to tackle real-world challenges within the biotechnology industry. “My job requires me to be creative in solving tough problems, and quickly assess the feasibility of new technologies,” she says. “I can confidently say that I wouldn't be where I am today without my experience in the MAB program.”

After many years as a hand surgeon and surgery instructor, Christopher Allan got his Masters of Applied Bioengineering to expand his research role. Currently a research associate professor in the UW Orthopaedics Musculoskeletal Systems Biology Lab, he’s the principal investigator in a Department of Defense-funded clinical trial, assessing the safety and efficacy of the research team’s negative-pressure wound therapy glove for hand injuries.

MAB grad Sandra Oluoch (‘20) is a scientific data engineer with the Allen Institute in Seattle, WA. She was drawn to the MAB program by a desire to transition from more traditional lab research to computational analysis. “[The program] gave me the skills I needed to network and break into a different career field,” she says. “The internship requirement helped me get my foot in the door in this field.”

Alumna Jay Walcott (MAB ’19) is in her third year in the joint Ph.D. program at Georgia Tech and Emory. Her research involves bioprinting with stem cells to create cardiac tissues. As a MAB student, Jay enjoyed the clinical rotations. “While the procedures we witnessed were great to see, it was really inspiring to know we were working on projects that clinicians and patients actually cared about,” Jay said.