Rate My Professor Nastassja Lewinski

Nastassja A. Lewinski, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering magna cum laude and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2006 and 2011, respectively, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, from 2011 to 2014. Lewinski joined Virginia Commonwealth University as an Assistant Professor in 2014 and was promoted to Associate Professor. She serves as a research member of the Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering and Sciences since 2019 and a fellow of the Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems at the University of Virginia since 2019. Her career includes directing five graduate theses, ten capstone projects, and creating and teaching four graduate elective courses. She has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on 13 externally funded projects and has authored or co-authored 37 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Lewinski's research integrates biological and environmental compatibility into the design of engineered nanomaterials, with specializations in nanotoxicology, nanoinformatics, and sustainable nanotechnology. Her work encompasses nanoparticle cytotoxicity and exposure assessment, in vitro air-liquid interface exposures to nanoparticle aerosols, nanomedicine engineering, pharmacokinetics, occupational health and safety for nanomaterials, and green nanomaterials. Notable contributions include investigations into gold nanoparticle-mediated thermal therapies for cancer, nanoshell-mediated photothermal therapy for gliomas, and quantum dot biokinetics in ecosystems. Key publications include 'Cytotoxicity of nanoparticles' (Lewinski et al., Small, 2008), 'A New Era for Cancer Treatment: Gold-Nanoparticle-Mediated Thermal Therapies' (Kennedy et al., Small, 2011), and 'Key parameters and applications of extrusion-based bioprinting' (Tian et al., Bioprinting, 2021). She has received the AIChE 35 Under 35 Award (2017), Leenaards Nested Research Projects Award (2014), Whitaker International Scholar (2011), National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2008), and several other honors including the Barry Goldwater Scholarship (2005). Lewinski contributes to committees such as the VCU ADVANCE-IT Steering Committee, VCU Libraries Advisory Committee, and AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum Education Committee, and advises the AIChE@VCU Student Chapter.