Katharina Maisel, an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Maryland (UMD), has been named the 2025 Outstanding Young Engineer by the Maryland Science Center, a nonprofit based in Baltimore. Established in 1988 to recognize the important contributions of Maryland’s young engineers, the award annually honors one professional aged 35 or younger in academia, or 40 or younger in other sectors, who have made exceptional contributions to engineering.

Maisel’s research focuses on the intersection of engineering, biology, and medicine. Her lab uses in vitro modeling, nanotechnology, and immunoengineering approaches to study diseases at mucosal surfaces and develop new treatments. By examining the role of stromal cells in disease progression, her work identifies new therapeutic targets and design strategies that could improve how diseases are treated.

One area of particular interest for Maisel’s team is the lymphatic system, which plays a central role in shaping long-lasting immune responses. Her team investigates how to deliver therapies directly to lymph nodes, a method shown in preclinical research to improve the effectiveness of treatments such as cancer immunotherapy.

Maisel’s path to biomedical engineering began with a love of math and physics, but not a clear vision of an engineering career. Encouraged to “just try it,” she discovered biomedical engineering as a way to combine her interest in the human body with problem-solving skills from engineering. 

Her graduate work at Johns Hopkins University in drug delivery introduced her to nanoparticles and strategies for targeting drugs to specific sites in the body. During her postdoctoral work as an NIH Fellow at the University of Chicago, she shifted into basic immunology, gaining expertise in the lymphatic system and respiratory immunology, knowledge she now integrates into her current research.

Maisel joined UMD in 2019, where she is a member of the UMD Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences and an affiliate of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.

“Since I volunteered at the Maryland Science Center when I was a graduate student, winning this award feels like coming full circle with some of the work I did during that time,” Maisel says. “It also emphasizes that I am looking to grow the next generation of scientists. That is why I am an academic, to inspire the next generation.”

—Story by Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices