Josiah Smith

Graduate Student, Department of Chemical Engineering

As a child, I took apart and (tried to) re-assemble most of my toys, fascinated by how all the small parts worked together. I work together with researchers based in the Medical School and the Life Science Center at Mizzou to combine our knowledge and to make advances that would be impossible without each other. As a chemical engineer, the lab I am a part of – the Biomodulatory Materials Engineering Laboratory (BioMEL) – works to design materials that bridge basic biology research with clinical applications, such as my project in cancer treatment. Now I follow that same desire to understand how machines work to help design intelligent, powerful new cancer therapeutics to help leukemia (blood cancer) patients. Some kinds of leukemia, such as what we focus on, are very hard for physicians to treat. I work with very small structures that can make traditional cancer therapies much more effective and could open-up new, safer treatment options.

Instagram: @josiahsmith42

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