Rebecca Willits

Professor and Chairperson, Chemical Engineering
Affiliated Faculty, Bioengineering

Contact

r.willits@northeastern.edu
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

Social Media

Office

201F Cullinane
617.373.2989

Lab

216 Egan

Research Focus

Mechanobiology of neural systems; Systems for nerve regeneration; Diversity and equity in engineering

Education

PhD, Cornell University, Chemical Engineering, 1999
MS, The Johns Hopkins University, Chemical Engineering, 1996

Honors & Awards

AIMBE Fellow
BMES Fellow
ELATE Fellow (2017-18)

Professional Affiliations

American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Biomedical Engineering Society
Golden Key Honor Society
National Center for Regenerative Medicine
WEPAN
Society for Biomaterials

Research Overview

Mechanobiology of neural systems; Systems for nerve regeneration; Diversity and equity in engineering

The overarching goal of my research team is to understand how mechanical, chemical, and electrical factors of three dimensional environments alter cell behavior. To this end, a focus has been to enhance neural cell response in 2D and 3D after biochemical and mechanical manipulations.

Materials for Tissue Engineering Lab

Over the past 18 years, the Materials for Tissue Engineering Laboratory has manipulated the extracellular environment to increase neural differentiation, nerve regrowth, and Schwann cell proliferation in vitro and increase functional nerve recovery in vivo.

Materials for Tissue Engineering

Selected Research Projects

Toward a Mechanotransduction Mimic of the Neural Stem Cell Niche
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
Collaborative Research: Professional Preparation of Underrepresented Minority PhD’s and Post-Docs for a Career in Engineering Academia
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation

College Research Initiatives

Department Research Areas

Selected Publications

Stevens KR, Masters KS, Imoukhuede PI, Haynes KA, Setton LA, Cosgriff-Hernandez E, Lediju Bell MA, Rangamani P, Sakiyama-Elbert SE, Finley SD, Willits RK, Koppes AN, Chesler NC, Christman KL, Allen JB, Wong JY, El-Samad H, Desai TA, Eniola-Adefeso O. Fund Black scientists. Cell. 2021;184(3):561-5. Epub 2021/01/28. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.011. PubMed PMID: 33503447.
Jassim, A.H., Cavanaugh, M., Shah, J.S. et al. Transcorneal Electrical Stimulation Reduces Neurodegenerative Process in a Mouse Model of Glaucoma. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 858–870 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02608-8
Pylypiv, G., C. Fouad, W. Lanzinger, R. K. Willits. Effect of Intraoperative Electrical Stimulation on Recovery after Rat Sciatic Nerve Isograft Repair. Neurotrauma Reports, November 2020. https://doi.org/10.1089/neur.2020.0049
Silantyeva, E., R.K. Willits, M.L. Becker. Post-fabrication Tethering of Molecular Gradients on Aligned Nanofibers of Functional Poly(ԑ-caprolactone)s. Biomacromolecules. 20(12):4494-4501, 2019. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.biomac.9b01264
Motta, Cecilia M.M., K.J. Endres, C. Wesdemiotis, R.K. Willits and M.L. Becker. Enhancing Schwann Cell Migration Using Concentration Gradients of Laminin Derived-peptides. Biomaterials. 218:119335, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119335
Cavanaugh M, Silantyeva E, Pylypiv Koh G, Malekzadeh E, Lanzinger WD, Willits RK, Becker ML. RGD-Modified Nanofibers Enhance Outcomes in Rats after Sciatic Nerve Injury. J Funct Biomater. 2019 May 29;10(2) PubMed PMID: 31146396; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6637389.
Philip, D.#, Silantyeva, E.#, Becker, M.L., and R.K. Willits. RGD-functionalized nanofibers increase early GFAP expression during neural differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. Biomacromolecules, #co-first authors. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.9b00018

Undergraduate

Oct 12, 2021

Fall 2021 PEAK Experiences Awardees

Congratulations to the COE student recipients of the Fall 2021 PEAK Experiences Awards. The PEAK Experiences Awards are a progressively structured sequence of opportunities designed to support learners as they continue climbing to new heights of achievement in undergraduate research and creative endeavor throughout their Northeastern journeys. ASCENT AWARDS Shana Broitman, COE’23, “Overcoming STING Silencing […]

Graduate

Apr 26, 2021

Congratulations RISE: 2021 Winners

Congratulations to our engineering students who won awards at the RISE:2021 Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo!

Faculty

Sep 02, 2020

New Faculty Spotlight: Rebecca Willits

Rebecca Willits joined the Chemical Engineering department in July 2020 as Professor and Chair.