Dr. Elisabeth Prince is a polymer chemist who designs sustainable soft materials for applications in biomedicine. Elisabeth began her research career in 2013 at the University of Windsor, where she investigated therapeutic targets for the protozoan parasite toxoplasma gondii. She received her honours bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto in 2016 where she specialized in biological chemistry.

Prince developed an interest in polymer and materials science during her summer research internships in the Kumacheva Group at the University of Toronto, where she developed shape-specific synthesis techniques for palladium nanocrystals and studied the self-assembly of colloidal liquid crystals in microdroplets. After graduating with high distinction, Elisabeth began her PhD in Polymer and Materials Chemistry under Prof. Kumacheva’s supervision.

During her PhD, Elisabeth designed sustainable biomimetic hydrogels that mimic the structure and properties of native biological tissues. She showed that these novel materials support the growth of patient-derived microtumors, which will allow them to serve as a platform for developing personalized cancer therapies. Elisabeth is currently an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow in Professor Jeremiah Johnson’s group at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, where she is translating her expertise in materials chemistry to tackle the global plastic waste crisis.