The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) has announced the appointment of David Schaffer as the Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biochemical Engineering. Schaffer is a professor of Chemical and Biolmolecular Engineering, Bioengineering, Molecular & Cell Biology, and the Director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center.
Schaffer's research program employs molecular and cellular engineering approaches to investigate biomedical problems. In particular, his lab focuses on the related areas of stem cell bioengineering and therapeutic gene delivery, with applications to diseases of the nervous system. He was recently awarded with a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub intercampus research award to collaborate with researchers from UCSF and Stanford for a research project entitled: Social network analysis of neuroimmune interactions in the developing human brain.
CBE Department Chair Jeffrey Reimer commented on the appointment, "Professor Schaffer is the nexus for biomedical research within CBE. His work spans a number of emerging biomedical subfields, including stem cell engineering, gene therapy, virology, and tissue engineering. His list of awards gives evidence to his preeminence in the field, and the Howe Chair affirms what all of us in CBE already know: Dave is a gem.”