Congratulations to the New Board Members

September 3, 2024

in BMES News,

A tight election for Board seats among an impressive slate of candidates vying for five volunteer leadership positions yielded the following results.

Kristen Billiar Secretary of the BMES Board of Directors Professor and Department Head, Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.	“It is an honor to have been nominated for the Secretary of BMES. The Society and its members have provided me with a strong scientific and educational community and wonderful mentorship for my professional growth and leadership skills. I believe the role of a professional society is to provide overall leadership to the field, serve as a unifying voice, and facilitate “grass roots” programs in industry, academia, and local chapters to advance the field. With an excellent new Executive Director and an active Board, we are in a strong position to continue to grow and fill that role.”
C. LaShan Hendrix Board of Directors Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati.	“I have experienced the increased diversity of BMES, and I want to help navigate our society into its new era. I believe that my lived experience and prior contributions to BMES make me an ideal candidate for the board of directors. I hope to help BMES become more inclusive and accessible. I want to help new members navigate the society and annual meeting to get the most out of it and to keep them coming back. I want to make BMES more inclusive of first-generation students to foster an inclusive environment.”
Michelle L. Oyen BMES Board of Directors Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Inaugural Director of the new Center for Women’s Health Engineering in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis.	“The rapidly expanding area of women's health and engineering has no current ‘home society’ and BMES has the opportunity to lead in this area. The participants come from all different areas of engineering including but not limited to mechanical, materials, electrical, optical, computer, information, and nanotechnology. Drawing such a diverse group of people together with a singular focus on improving both diversity and healthcare through engineering makes BMES a natural home for the topic of women's health as we head into the next exciting stage of development for this field.”
Melissa Mendoza-Seale Board of Directors – Industry/Government Senior Associate at Exponent	Melissa earned both her Ph.D. and BS in Biomedical Engineering. She specializes in tissue engineering, cellular biology, biomechanics, biomaterials science and in vitro assay development. She serves on the BMES Diversity Committee, the American Heart Association, and LatinXinBME.
Beth L. Pruitt Board of Directors Professor and Chair of Bioengineering; Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Director, NSF Research Training Program in Data Driven Biology; Director, NIH T32 Training Program in Quantitative Mechanobiology Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program.	“I am committed to the principles of supporting and including diverse voices, experiences, and views at the table, an imperative for bioengineers who are innovating solutions for all of humanity and our planet. BMES should be instrumental in bridging the translational gaps between training and developing an informed and inclusive workforce to industry to bedside providers. Advocating for and connecting with stakeholders and federal support will be essential in this effort.”