When it comes to shaping what’s next for biomedical engineering, Katharina Maisel, PhD ’14, is leading the charge. The Johns Hopkins alum was recently recognized with the 2025 Outstanding Young Engineer award from the Maryland Science Center.
Presented at a ceremony at the Science Center on May 15, the annual award celebrates academic powerhouses aged 35 and under who have made exceptional contributions in the early stages of their careers. Maisel joins a distinguished group of past recipients from Hopkins BME, including professors Jordan Green and Warren Grayson.
For Maisel, who volunteered at the Maryland Science Center as a graduate student, this honor feels like a full circle moment. “This is a meaningful recognition for me because it emphasizes why I became an academic— to inspire and grow the next generation of scientists,” she said.
Maisel is doing just that as an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Maryland (UMD), where she leads the Maisel Lab. Her group focuses on studying the lymphatic system, a vital part of our immune system, and how it creates long-lasting immune responses.
The ultimate goal of their discoveries is to improve how we treat diseases. To do this, her team innovates with tools like microfluidics, designing specialized lab platforms. These platforms enable them to precisely study how immune cells interact with surrounding tissues (stromal cells) and track the movement of disease-related molecules within these tissues during inflammatory diseases.
A key application of the work is in cancer immunotherapy, where Maisel’s team is pioneering methods to deliver treatments directly to lymph nodes. This targeted strategy has proven highly effective in strengthening the immune system’s ability to fight cancer.
Despite her notable work in engineering, Maisel didn’t initially envision a career in the field.
“I got the advice that since I liked math and physics, that I should apply for engineering anyway,” she said. “I ended up loving it and then discovered this area where I could combine my passion for biology and the human body with engineering.”
That interest eventually led Maisel to Johns Hopkins, where she joined the research group of chemical engineer Justin Hanes, a professor of ophthalmology. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in biomedical engineering, she advanced ongoing research into the development of nanocarriers and their delivery vehicles for improving drug delivery to the gastrointestinal tract. After earning her doctorate, Maisel continued her postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago, where her focus shifted to immunology and the lymphatic system. This experience laid the groundwork for her current laboratory, which merges nanotechnology with immunoengineering.
Maisel also credited her time at Hopkins for shaping her innovative mindset, which was inspired by her three key advisors—Hanes, biophysicist Richard Cone, and clinician scientist Craig Hendrix.
“My graduate studies taught me to think outside the box and really understand both the clinical needs as well as the basic science question that we can address using engineering tools,” she said. “This way of thinking defines every project in my lab today.”
Watch the full video below to learn more about how Maisel and her team are paving the way for the next generation of cancer treatment.