Erika Moore, Ph.D., the Rhines Rising Star Larry Hench Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering (MSE), is the first Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering faculty member to be selected for the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (NTFA).
The 3M NTFA was created over 25 years ago and recognizes outstanding young faculty who excel in STEM research while demonstrating academic leadership. The award is intended to help them achieve tenure, remain in their teaching positions and conduct research. Awardees are nominated by 3M researchers.
“I’ve recently become familiar with Dr. Moore’s work at the intersection of biomaterials science and immunology. I also attended her February 3M Tech Forum seminar, during which I learned more about the research focus of her lab and current projects,” said Federica Sgolastra, Ph.D., Sr. Technical Supervisor of Biosciences at 3M and one of Dr. Moore’s nominators. “I was highly impressed by how much she had already accomplished in such a short time.
“Her focus on the areas of inflammation responses as well as model systems of macrophages that can simulate the M1 to M2 transitions represent a critical area of understanding the body’s response to damage, stimulus and ultimately healing. As a global leader in wound care, 3M has always been devoted to research and development to improve existing products and introduce new technologies through innovation. Dr. Moore’s work is well-aligned with the mission of 3M Health Care to identify new therapeutic targets in wound care.”
“It is a true honor to be nominated and awarded the 3M Non-Tenure Faculty Award by the 3MBiosciences Division,” Dr. Moore said. “As the first UF engineering faculty member to receive this award, it’s wonderful to connect my group’s work to 3M and further our research in understanding wound healing through immune cell manipulation.”
The award provides a discretionary research fund of $15,000 per year for up to three years to support Dr. Moore’s research.
“The Moore Lab is focused on developing preclinical models to investigate macrophage biology,” Dr. Moore said. “We’re also designing new materials to inform macrophage function and plan on leveraging in vivo animal models to assess our ability to manipulate the wound healing cascade.”
Since starting the lab in July 2020, Dr. Moore also received the Space Research Initiative grant and the National Institute of Health KL2 Scholar award, was recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, selected as a Keystone Fellow and invited to speak at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
“The support from the 3M NTFA will enable flexibility in designing preclinical models, working towards the integration of personalized medicine and isolating immune cell contribution to tissue repair,” Dr. Moore said. “I am deeply grateful to have been selected!”