DDW’s Diana Turner speaks to Catherine Whittington, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at WPI, about her current work and the research that drives her.  

DT: Can you tell us what you do and what you’re working on at the moment?

CW: I teach classes in the biomedical engineering (BME) department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and run a research laboratory focused on developing experimental models of various disease conditions. 

My research programme is built around the theme of fibrosis, which is excess deposition of tissue that has implications in disease and healing if it goes unchecked. Right now, my research group is continuing to work on pancreatic cancer models to understand how stiffening tumor tissue (a key feature of pancreatic cancer) and obesity uniquely contribute to pancreatic cancer progression. Our pancreatic cancer work also includes metastasis, specifically how changes in tumours and the tissue surrounding tumours alter how pancreatic tumour cells and immune cells enter lymphatic vessels in early stages of metastasis. We have also been gaining traction in a new area of modelling uterine fibroids to investigate fibroid development, growth, and response to treatment, and our newest project area will be around skin modelling. The goal for all our models is to mimic specific features and behaviours observed in the body so we can use them to ask questions about the respective diseases and use them as test beds for therapeutic development in the future.  

DT: What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

CW: 2025 was a big year with receiving the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and being promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. The CAREER Award represents so much of what my research group and I have been working on since I started as a professor in 2018. I am in awe when I look at how so many trainees (high school, undergraduate students, graduate students) contributed to the work presented in the grant proposal. It may not be as obvious looking at the document itself, because it is just a snapshot, but I know where everything started and how each person played a role. I could not have achieved any of these successes without the trainees who do the work. 

DT: What scientific breakthrough has been most impactful to your research?

CW: None of the research that I do or have done in the past would be possible without everything that has been done to establish 3D cell/tissue modelling in fundamental biomedical research and translational work, including tissue engineering. I have been working with 3D cell/tissue models since graduate school at Purdue University where I learned to appreciate why they were important. Our ability to use dimensionality to capture various features of our body’s tissues helps us approximate certain behaviours and responses that do not always translate as well in 2D. I maintain that 3D is not necessarily the only way to go when it comes to disease modelling and drug discovery. However, 3D modelling can offer a way to recreate some interactions that might be critical for specific outcomes of interest, and it is worth including it in disease modelling and drug discovery. 

DT: What has been the best piece of career-related advice you have received?

CW: I have two pieces of advice that I make sure that students hear from me. Find mentors and ask a lot of questions. None of us are here to navigate life alone, and mentoring relationships are critical for providing support and guidance. If I did not have mentors at various stages of my career, including now, several things would have been more difficult than necessary. Also, when I was a postdoctoral fellow at Eli Lilly and Company, the directors of the postdoctoral program encouraged us to seek out people at the company to ask questions. I learned that more people were willing to take time to answer questions than I originally thought, and that is something that everyone (especially students) needs to hear. 

DT: What advice would you offer to someone hoping to pursue a career in a similar field?

CW: Beyond mentorship and asking questions, I would tell someone to be open to opportunities and go after things of genuine interest.  

We often do not know enough to plan everything perfectly, and some of the most valuable things about my career path have come from being receptive to the opportunities around me. My earliest example is when I got involved in undergraduate research at Louisiana Tech University. I did not know anything about research, but a professor advertised a position during class, and I decided to apply. I ended up working in a research lab for two years, and that is when I figured out that I enjoyed research and saw it as a career path. My experience set up me up for success in graduate school, and I am grateful for it. 

Motivation and passion are also important. It is difficult to get motivated about something if you are not genuinely interested in or passionate about it. This does not mean that everything will always go smoothly, but when you are in the trenches with your work, having a passion for it can be a strong factor to keep you going.  

DT: If you could make everyone read one book, article or academic paper, what would it be and why?

CW: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot. The book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman living in 1951 with cervical cancer whose cells became one of the most important cell lines used in research—HeLa cells. It goes into details of Henrietta’s diagnosis, the discovery that her cells persisted like no others, the controversy of how the cells were obtained, and conversations about consent and attribution. I read the book in graduate school but only knew of HeLa cells in name. I had little knowledge of how they had been used in so many scientific advancements and knew nothing about the person behind them. I thought the book did a great job of blending science and humanity in an accessible and engaging way that did not require scientific expertise (strong scientific communication). I resonated with the scientific elements of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks while learning about Henrietta Lacks as a person, not a specimen. I have used Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells to teach on social justice and medical ethics in an introductory biomedical engineering course. The book helped me frame her story in an accessible way and challenge students to think critically about the subject. 

From DDW Volume 26 – Issue 4, Fall 2025 – Read the digital issue