Driven by curiosity. Driving changeBiography
Professor Róisín Owens leads the Bioelectronic Systems Technology (or BEST) group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Her research is centred on harnessing the power of engineering for interfacing with biological models.
Róisín obtained her BA in Natural Sciences (Modern Biochemistry) from Trinity College Dublin and completed her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Southampton University. Her career in research began with two postdoctoral fellowships at Cornell University followed by a stint as a Principal Investigator at Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne starting in 2009.
She joined the University of Cambridge in 2017 and is a Professorial Fellow of Newnham College, where she serves as Director of Studies in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. She is the author of over 150 publications.
Research interests
- Application of electronic materials for monitoring biological systems in vitro
- The gut-brain axis
- Tissue engineering using composite conducting polymer/bio-polymer scaffolds
Professor Owens’ group develop iterative improvements in both biological models, and the electronic devices that can monitor them. She and her team are developing better bioelectronic systems that are predictive of their real biological counterparts, for use in drug discovery and therapeutics research.
Awards and achievement
- Professorial Fellow – Newnham College, Cambridge
- AstraZeneca Award from the Biochemical Society (2024)
- Laureate, Suffrage Science Award (2019)
Teaching and supervision
Professor Owens teaches and supervises across undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Professor Róisín Owens
Professor of Bioelectronics
Bioelectronic Systems Technology research group leader Member of National Science Advice Forum (Irish Govt)