Auguste among top African-Americans in technology

SAN FRANCISCO, California and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - December 9, 2009  - Debra Auguste, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), has been named to the Tenth Annual 50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology list.

"The honorees are each an example of the critically important role of African-American innovators, educators, policymakers and executives to shape the future of the global economy,” said John William Templeton, president/executive editor of San Francisco-based eAccess Corp., which has produced the list since 1999. “During a transformational national administration, they represent the role models to propel new generations into the careers of the future.”

Debra Auguste received her S.B. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 2005. Before joining Harvard, she was a postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 2004-2006.

The focus of the Auguste lab is to develop novel biomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering. She is interested in directing the behavior and differentiation of cells, in most cases human embryonic stem cells, by controlling their three-dimensional cellular microenvironment.

The design criteria requires the synthesis of new, biomimetic materials in coordination with regulating the rate of molecule release, immune response, targeting, and degradation. These systems are investigated for potential use in cell-based therapies.

Auguste and her other Honorees will gather for a 10^th anniversary symposium in San Francisco on Jan. 15, 2010 to design an innovation and equity agenda for the nation.