Sharon Fleischer

Dr. Sharon Fleischer is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic’s research group at Columbia University. She received her Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Tal Dvir at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. During her Ph.D, she developed advanced biomaterials to engineer functional cardiac tissues for regenerative medicine applications. Sharon’s current postdoctoral research is focused on developing engineered models of the human heart and harnessing them for investigating cardiac disease mechanisms and drug screening. Dr. Fleischer received multiple fellowships and awards, including the Adams and Rothschild Fellowships, the Rappaport Award for Biomedical Research, and was named a Rising Star in Engineering in Health from Columbia and John Hopkins Universities. She published over 25 articles in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including PNAS, Advanced Materials, Nature Materials, and Cell Stem Cell. Dr. Fleischer’s long-term goal is to become a principal investigator and harness her knowledge in biomaterials, tissue engineering, and stem cells to develop advanced tissue models that recapitulate the complexity of human organs in order to elucidate molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating organ development, growth, and communication in health and disease.