Biography
Dr. Evangelia Bellas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Temple University. Prior to joining Temple University, Dr. Bellas was a postdoctoral fellow in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University and Bioengineering at University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Dr. Christopher Chen where she developed 3D in vitro adipose tissue disease models. She received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University mentored by Dr. David Kaplan. Her Ph.D. research focused on developing long-term volume stable silk biomaterials for soft tissue regeneration. This work resulted in 2 patents and a start-up. Before starting her Ph.D., Dr. Bellas was at Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Drs. Robert Langer and Daniel Kohane, where she worked on biomaterial, drug delivery solutions for prevention of peritoneal adhesions and controlled release formulations for long-term pain management. Her current research focuses on the development of fat-on-chip and (dys)functional adipose tissue models to study how vascularization and interactions with the microenvironment impact tissue health and function and funded by NIH, NASA, NSF, Lipedema Foundation and VentureWell. She is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2021), Biomedical Engineering Society- Cell and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovators Award (2021), Biomedical Engineering Society- Cell and Molecular Bioengineering Rising Star Award (2023) and the American Society for Matrix Biology- Junior Investigator Award (2023). She is an elected council member for Cell and Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group of the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Dr. Bellas is active in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and served as the Biomedical Engineering Society’s Diversity Committee Chair (2019-2022), currently serving as an outgoing chair. She also serves as the elected vice-chair for the BME Council of Diversity Chairs.
Labs: BellasFATLab
Google Scholar: Google Scholar
Research Interests
- Adipose Tissue
- Angiogenesis
- Microenvironment
- Cell Mechanics
- Obesity
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Lipedema
- Disease Models
- Soft Tissue Regeneration
- Biomaterials
- Tissue Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Courses Taught
|
Number |
Name |
Level |
|---|---|---|
|
BIOE 0844 |
The Bionic Human |
Undergraduate |
|
BIOE 0944 |
Honors Bionic Human |
Undergraduate |
|
BIOE 4461 |
Capstone Elective: Principles of Tissue Engineering |
Undergraduate |
|
BIOE 5461 |
Principles of Tissue Engineering |
Graduate |
|
BIOE 5600 |
Bioengineering Graduate Seminar |
Graduate |
Selected Publications
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Struss, M.M., Anvari, G., & Bellas, E. (2024). Flow Cytometry Strategies for Rapidly Characterizing Heterogeneous Adipocyte Populations in 3D In Vitro Constructs. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.30.578065
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Struss, M. & Bellas, E. (2024). Microphysiological Modeling of Vascular Adipose Tissue for Multi-Throughput Applications. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.30.578061
-
Anvari, G., Struss, M., & Bellas, E. (2024). Simulated Microgravity Enhances Adipocyte Maturation and Glucose Uptake via Increased Cortical Actin Remodeling. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.30.578049
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Anvari, G. & Bellas, E. (2021). Hypoxia induces stress fiber formation in adipocytes in the early stage of obesity. Sci Rep, 11(1), p. 21473. England. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-00335-1
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Berger, A.J., Anvari, G., & Bellas, E. (2021). Mechanical Memory Impairs Adipose-Derived Stem Cell (ASC) Adipogenic Capacity After Long-Term In Vitro Expansion. Cell Mol Bioeng, 14(5), pp. 397-408. United States. doi: 10.1007/s12195-021-00705-9
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Caprio, N.D.i. & Bellas, E. (2020). Collagen Stiffness and Architecture Regulate Fibrotic Gene Expression in Engineered Adipose Tissue. Adv Biosyst, 4(6), p. e1900286. Germany. doi: 10.1002/adbi.201900286
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Hammel, J.H. & Bellas, E. (2020). Endothelial cell crosstalk improves browning but hinders white adipocyte maturation in 3D engineered adipose tissue. Integr Biol (Camb), 12(4), pp. 81-89. England. doi: 10.1093/intbio/zyaa006