Dr. Sara Pedron-Haba is a biomedical engineer, with experience in the development of platforms that address a variety of clinical needs, from cardiovascular diseases to cancer and neurodegeneration. She is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the design and implementation of biomaterial platforms to investigate the mechanisms of brain cancer progression and provide high throughput screening of effective therapeutic interventions. She received her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain) followed by a Senior Research Scientist position at Philips Research (The Netherlands). After moving to the University of Illinois she established brain organotypic models for assessing the role of the tumor microenvironment on glioblastoma. Currently, Dr. Pedron-Haba is using these platforms to understand how stroma supports tumor cell growth with the ultimate goal of applying this knowledge to the clinic and implementing targeted therapies that alter critical tumor-microenvironment interactions. Dr. Pedron-Haba is committed to creating initiatives that achieve equity and broad participation of women in all areas of science, technology, and engineering. She is a Board Member of the Association of Women in Science (AWIS) – Chicago, leads supporting groups of scientists for professional development and works actively to increase diversity in the biomedical field with programs that enhance the presence and retention of students underrepresented in medicine and engineering.