Fischell Institute Intern Spotlight: Alexandra Tombleson

Alexandra Tombleson, a junior studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, spent her summer working with Fischell Institute affiliate EternusBio Inc., a medical device company developing personalized oral hygiene products.

As an intern, Tombleson contributed to three projects spanning smart dental technology, therapeutic delivery systems, and regenerative dental materials.

One of Tombleson’s projects focused on developing a mobile application to receive and visualize continuous streams of oral health data from a proprietary dental implant prosthesis. The prosthesis incorporates smart technology through embedded systems engineering.

In another project, Tombleson optimized and commercialized a magnetic nanoparticle therapeutic carrier platform to help with targeted drug delivery. Her contributions included conducting customer discovery, developing business models, evaluating clinical acceptance criteria, and describing the technology in grant proposals.

Tombleson’s third project developed a novel regenerative dental filling. She created cement formulations with varying ingredient concentrations, tested their compressive strength, and evaluated their material properties. Alongside this experimental work, she researched competing products and formulations.

"The work that I am doing keeps me incredibly busy and excited, as I get the chance to explore many different subfields that interest me deeply," she said. "Each day helps me understand what my future could look like, how I can apply the skills I'm learning in school, where I can continue to grow, and gives me the opportunity to gain professionalism and independence by learning through action."

Originally from New York, Tombleson chose Johns Hopkins University for her undergraduate studies. After touring campus and speaking with current biomedical engineering students about the program and campus culture, she knew it was the right fit.

In high school, she contributed to the validation and clinical integration of a novel, non-invasive pulmonary imaging system and participated in an engineering elective course that introduced her to the engineering design process, design documentation, computer-aided design (CAD), prototype iteration, and biomedical engineering. Those experiences gave Tombleson the confidence to pursue a degree in STEM.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, Tombleson hopes to begin her career in industry. She is interested in research and development, life sciences consulting, project management, software development, and quality management within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. After gaining industry experience, she hopes to pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

Outside of the lab, Tombleson enjoys reading and works as a marketing intern in the Center for Bioengineering, Innovation and Design at Johns Hopkins. She recently reread Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder's biography of physician and humanitarian Paul Farmer and his efforts to improve access to healthcare, particularly tuberculosis treatment, around the world. The book was a gift from a former research mentor during her time conducting pulmonary medicine research and continues to inspire her as she works toward her engineering degree.

“Alexandra is truly one of a kind. No matter what challenge or project is thrown her way, she tackles it with relentless determination and genuine joy,” said Sam Choe, CEO of EternusBio. “Beyond her work ethic, she is an exceptional talent and an even better human being. The sky is the limit for her!”

Published October 22, 2026