About

Since 2005, Dr. Leach has mentored 14 graduate students, 51 undergraduates and 13 others (HS students, postdocs, technicians) of which 55% are women and 20% are from underrepresented groups in STEM. Her mentees have achieved a number of honors, including the 2007 UMBC salutatorian, the 2008 UMBC valedictorian, and a Gates-Cambridge Scholarship. Dr. Leach is the PI of the NIH ESTEEMED Scholars Program that supports biomedical research training for 33 STEM freshmen and sophomores. Dr. Leach has also served as a mentor in the Hill-Lopes Scholar Program (support and mentoring for undergraduate women in STEM), CWIT, and the NSF I-cubed program. She has also served on the MARC U*STAR Steering Committee and selection committees for the UMBC Goldwater Fellowship and Undergraduate Research Program.

Research Interests

Jennie Leach is an Associate Professor and the Graduate Program Director of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering at UMBC. Dr. Leach’s research expertise is in the areas of hydrogel biomaterials, neural tissue engineering, cell response in three-dimensional microenvironments, drug delivery and sensors for cell/tissue engineering. Particular interest centers on delineating quantitative relationships between properties of three-dimensional scaffolds and the elicited signaling mechanisms of cells grown within the materials. Current work focuses on 1) biomaterials to support neural regeneration and transplant of neural stem cells; 2) drug delivery and biotransport; and 3) novel biosensor platforms. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Maryland Stem Cell Research Consortium.

Teaching Interests

Material and energy balances, Senior laboratory, biomedical engineering

Selected Classes

Intellectual Contributions

Jiao, Yun Leach, Jennie B. Szeto, Greg Microglial depletion with CSF1R inhibitor during chronic phase of experimental traumatic brain injury reduces neurodegeneration and neurological deficits. (submitted in 2019, published in 2020) vol. 2402-19 Journal of Neuroscience

Presentations

Nicholson, Howard (Author & Presenter) Simpson, Laura (Author) Leach, Jennie B. (Author) Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Poster “Prevention of RNA Aptamer Degradation to Create Biosensors for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (Nov 1, 2019)