Sally Wang Joins Princeton Bioengineering Institute - Innovators Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Sally Wang (BIOE Ph.D. ’23), a postdoctoral researcher in Fischell Institute Director Bill Bentley’s Biomolecular and Metabolic Engineering lab, has accepted a position as a postdoctoral research associate in the Princeton Bioengineering Institute - Innovators (PBI2) Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

The fellowship fosters community and collaborative work within the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute (ODBI) at Princeton University. Awarded fellows work with two or more Princeton faculty to establish an interdisciplinary research plan for bioengineering projects.

“I am excited about this opportunity to further my research at Princeton,” said Wang. “The University of Maryland has been my home for so long, but I’m looking forward to this new chapter.”

Wang’s research at UMD focused on tools that connect biological systems to electronics through electrogenetics.

Recently, she co-led a paper in Nature Communications about how her team successfully connected E. coli bacterial cells to a network of electronics using chemical reactions and genetic engineering. By making this connection, the team was able to demonstrate how electronic signals can control the biological processes of cells in real time.

Wang will continue this research through her fellowship.

“This work can be transformative. Imagine harnessing all the mature, developed technologies built for electronics (like AI) to help monitor or control your body or industrial organisms, for example, with ease and precision,” she said.

Inspired by Bentley, Wang plans to become a principal investigator and run a lab. She hopes to mentor the next generation of scientists and engineers.

“Dr. Bentley has been an incredible advisor,” said Wang. “I am thankful for the freedom he has given me to fail, learn, grow as a scientist, and discover how to be an engineer.”

Wang departs Bentley’s lab mid June and will start her new position in August.

Published June 6, 2024