Blaise Pfaff

Biography Paragraphs
Blaise

Blaise Pfaff is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Through his research, Blaise creates and modifies biomaterials for tissue regeneration. More specifically, he wants to leverage properties of hydrogels (for e.g. contact lens- wet and squishy but can dry out and become stiff and frail) to help the body heal itself in places that typically never heal or take a long time to do so. He focuses primarily on cartilage, but has also worked with bone and diabetic wounds. 

Blaise is a fellow of the University’s Biotech Training Program (BTP). Through the BTP fellowship he is organizing a Day of Caring, where the he and his colleagues will share their stories and act as mentors to local high school students who aim to pursue degrees or careers in science, engineering, or medicine. 

Blaise is one of two PhD Plus Liaisons from Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2020-2021. Alongside his fellow PhD+ Liaisons, Blaise will collaborate with institutional and departmental teams on the broader goals of the AAU PhD Education initiative; namely, to make the full range of PhD career pathways visible, valued and viable for all students. He believes that the AAU PhD+ Liaison program provides an opportunity to advance diversity in STEM. As a disadvantaged high school student, he was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to Penn State through the Millennium Scholars Program (based off the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC) which aims to increase the diversity of PhDs in STEM. Through that program, he learned the importance of diversity and opportunity in research and education. He wants to share that experience and advocate for individual needs of students. He believes that through the course of our work to increase diversity in graduate education, it is important to remember that students are individuals, coming from different backgrounds, with different interests, and it is important to treat them as such in order to nurture their success. 

 
ABOUT THE LIAISON PROGRAM 

As a professional development experience for advanced graduate students, PhD Plus Liaison program affords the opportunity to collaborate with department leaders and PhD Plus administrators to identify ways in which field-specific training and education can be enhanced through the implementation of programs, practices, and activities broadly related to professional development. 

In 2020-2021, eight liaisons will provide student leadership on the University's AAU PhD Education initiative and represent the four participating departments: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, English and Religious Studies.