Gilda Barabino, Ph.D.

The United States is in the midst of a public health crisis, reeling from two serious pandemics: COVID-19 and systemic racism. Everyone is familiar with the impact of the virus. The categorization of racism as a pandemic may seem less obvious, but when viewed through the lens of systems engineering, racism in the American health care system can be seen to contain tightly linked problems of medicine, technology, design, leadership, and ethics. The intersections are myriad, bound in racial disparities that pervade all aspects of life, including such basic functions as the ability to breathe.

For Black people and other racially minoritized groups, the health care system—which should provide equitable treatment and care—is tainted by disparate access, poor quality of care, unequal outcomes, and distrust between individuals and health care providers. The extent to which racial biases lead to health care disparities is influenced by demographics; environmental, social, and economic conditions; and policies and practices that pervade all aspects of life… Download the full article.

On May 5, 2022, Olin College celebrated a milestone event two years in the making—the long-awaited and much celebrated inauguration of its second president and first Black woman president, Dr. Gilda A. Barabino.

Joined by delegates, trustees, students, staff, faculty, alumni, parents and guests from far and wide, the Olin Community gathered on a perfect New England spring day to hear personal stories and words of wisdom from honored guests, and to witness to President Barabino’s formal investiture ceremony… Continue reading.

Gilda A. Barabino, Ph.D., President of Olin College of Engineering, has been selected as president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Barabino was elected as an AAAS Fellow in 2010 and has been a member of the organization since 1987. She began her term on Feb. 24. After serving for one year as president-elect, Barabino will serve one year as AAAS president and then one year as chair of the AAAS Board of Directors.

Upon learning the news of her election, Barabino said: “Science has the power to change the world. Harnessing that power requires science for all in service of humanity. I am excited to join the leadership of AAAS and contribute to the advancement of its mission in new and transformative ways… Continue reading.

Olin College President Gilda A. Barabino has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the academy announced on Monday, October 19 at its annual meeting. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

Barabino’s election honors her leadership and contributions in shaping and transforming the face of biomedical engineering through the integration of scientific discovery, engineering applications, and the preparation of a diverse biomedical workforce to improve human health, and for her seminal discoveries in sickle cell research.

“I am truly honored by this recognition from the National Academy of Medicine because it comes from my peers and is an important validation that the connection between engineering and medicine, which is the foundation of my work, is recognized by others,” said Olin College President Barabino. “I believe that solving some of the world’s critical problems will depend on strengthening the link between these two disciplines and I am looking forward to continuing that cross-disciplinary exploration at Olin… Continue reading.

Dr. Gilda Barabino has been named the next president of Olin College of Engineering, effective July 1, 2020. Dr. Barabino’s unanimous selection by the Olin College Board of Trustees comes after a comprehensive search that drew interest from around the world.

Currently, Dr. Barabino is the dean of The Grove School of Engineering and the Daniel and Frances Berg Professor at The City College of New York. Dr. Barabino’s career is distinguished by her focus on interdisciplinary engineering scholarship, her record of research and academic accomplishments, and her leadership in higher education.

“Dr. Barabino is an extraordinary academic leader with a background of scholarly research and demonstrated success as a strategic thinker in engineering education,” said Ken Stokes, chair of the Olin College Board of Trustees. “Dr. Barabino’s skills as an educator promoting and effecting institutional change will serve her and the institution well. We are exceptionally pleased to welcome Dr. Barabino to Olin. The community looks forward to working with her to develop new learning approaches and to inspire lasting change in the design and delivery of engineering education beyond our campus… Continue reading.

Gilda A. Barabino, dean of The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, is the recipient of the 2019 AIChE Award for Service to Society. The award, which will be presented at the annual AIChE meeting in November, recognizes outstanding contributions by a chemical engineer to community service and to the solution of socially oriented problems.

Barabino is being acknowledged for her approach in using engineering principles to solve medical issues that include disease therapies and tackling health disparities, as well as for her public policy leadership to advance the engineering profession. She is also noted for her career-long efforts and transformative impact to broaden participation in the engineering fields and professoriate through advocacy, mentorship and professional development of underrepresented minority students and faculty… Continue reading.

National Academy of Engineering Elects 86 Members and 18 Foreign Members

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 86 new members and 18 foreign members, announced NAE President C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., on February 7, 2019. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,297 and the number of foreign members to 272.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

Individuals in the newly elected class will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2019… Click to see the full list.

The National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers presents its 2018 Dr. Joseph N. Cannon Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering to Gilda A. Barabino, dean of The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering this fall. The award recognizes her excellent achievements in chemical engineering.

Barabino will be honored at NOBCChE’s annual awards ceremony on September 20 in Orlando, Florida. The prize is named for NOBCChE co-founder Joseph Cannon, a noted chemical engineer and Howard University professor.

This is Barabino’s second national award announced this summer. In June she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring presented by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation. It honors excellence in STEM teaching and mentoring and is the nation’s highest honor bestowed upon mentors who work to expand talent in the STEM fields… Continue reading.

The City College of New York’s Gilda Barabino, Dean and Berg professor at the Grove School of Engineering, is a recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The award, presented by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy with the National Science Foundation, recognizes excellence in STEM teaching and mentoring.

PAESMEM also recognizes the critical roles mentors play outside the traditional classroom in the academic and professional development of the future STEM workforce. Colleagues, administrators, and students nominate individuals and organizations for exemplary mentoring sustained over a minimum of five years.

Mentors support learners from the kindergarten through collegiate levels, as well as those who recently have started their careers in STEM. They share their expertise and guidance with learners from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM… Continue reading.

Biomedical Engineer, Gilda Barabino talks about diversity in STEM Fields.

As a Biomedical Engineer, Gilda Barabino utilizes engineering principals to find solutions to health problems. Outside of the lab, she continues to make an impact in her community as an advocate for diversity in science and engineering.

Gilda A. Barabino, Berg Professor and Dean of The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, is the winner of the 2017 Pierre Galletti Award presented by the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.  AIMBE’s highest individual honor, it recognizes a member’s contributions to public awareness of medical and biological engineering, and to the promotion of the national interest in science, engineering and education.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AIMBE is a non-profit organization representing 50,000 individuals and the top 2% of medical and biological engineers. Barabino is AIMBE’s current president.

The Galletti Award is the latest honor received by Barabino. Last fall, she was elected an AIChE Fellow by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. It is the highest grade of membership and is achieved only by election by the AIChE board of directors.

In addition, Barabino was also awarded AIChE’s 2016 William W. Grimes Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering. That honor was in recognition of her outstanding achievements as a distinguished role model for underrepresented minorities in chemical engineering. It applauded her mentoring, contributions to the community and her excellent scientific contributions to the advancement of chemical engineering.

In this latest episode of MAKE IT COUNT, meet Dr. Gilda Barabino, Dean of the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York…a true pioneer and woman of her time. She is a biomedical engineer, who as an African-American, a woman, has broken stereotypes and achieved the highest honors in her field. Dr. Barabino shares about some of the challenges she’s faced to get to where she is today, her thoughts on race, and how she leverages her success in service of others. A must watch!

Dr. Barabino is Berg Professor and Dean of The Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York (CCNY). She holds appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering and the Sophie Davis School of Medicine.

She is a noted investigator in the areas of sickle cell disease, cellular and tissue engineering, and race/ethnicity and gender in science and engineering. She consults nationally and internationally on STEM education and research, diversity in higher education, policy, workforce development and faculty development.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) named its 2016-2018 President of its Board of Directors at its 25th Annual Event, April 3-4, 2016 in Washington, DC. Dr. Gilda A. Barabino, Dean and Berg Professor at The Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York (CCNY), was elevated from the President-Elect to the President of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering during the Event. Dr. Barabino, a class of 2007 inductee of the College of Fellows for significant contributions in developing in vitro microscopy-based flow adhesion assays to characterize sickle cell adhesion mechanisms, was previously elected to the President-Elect position by the entire AIMBE College of Fellows during the February 2015 Board of Directors Election.

Gilda Barabino, dean of the Grove School of Engineering, was one of four experts invited to Washington on July 28 to brief the U.S. Congressional Sickle Cell and Research & Development Caucuses on promising new technologies to treat sickle cell disease.

The briefing, “Gene Editing and the Path to a Cure for Sickle Cell Disease,” provided an opportunity for the researchers to discuss recent breakthroughs in gene-editing technology. Two such technologies are CRISPR/Cas-9 and TALENs, which have made gene editing faster and cheaper.

“While sickle cell disease is the first molecular disease, having been discovered over 100 years ago, long-lasting treatments and a widely available cure remain elusive,” Barabino told the Congressmembers. “New research discoveries in the application of gene editing tools provide significant advantages compared to previously existing technologies and hold great promise for a cure for sickle cell disease.”

Barabino also used her time to press the case for diversity in biomedical research.

Grove School of Engineering Dean Gilda Barabino and her research team now have a permanent place to call home.

The Barabino Laboratory officially opened on July 8, giving Barabino and her seven-member team a dedicated space in which to conduct their work on vascular and orthopedic tissue engineering research. For the past two years, Barabino and her team shared an adjacent space with the lab of Distinguished Professor Mitch Schaffler, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The 2,100-square-foot lab, which occupies two rooms on the fifth floor of Steinman Hall, contains state-of-the-art equipment that will aid the research into bone abnormalities, sickle cell disease and cartilage tissue engineering. That equipment includes an inverted fluorescence microscopy, a cell separator, a tabletop ultra-centrifuge, a real-time PCR, a texture analyzer, a particle analyzer and a micro plate reader.

“I want to apply engineering principles to solving problems in medicine,” Barabino said before the ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the lab’s official opening. For example, she said, “we use engineering systems to look at abnormal blood flow in sickle cell disease.”

New deans of engineering and science bring academic excellence, management expertise and research accomplishments

Following an extensive nationwide recruiting process, The City College of New York today announced the appointment of two outstanding academicians, administrators and researchers who will bring new leadership to the College’s programs in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics):

Dr. Gilda Barabino, dean of the Grove School of Engineering

Dr. Tony Liss, Martin and Michele Cohen Dean of Science

“These two superb additions each bring to City College scholastic excellence, management expertise and research accomplishments,” said Provost Maurizio Trevisan in announcing the appointments. “They join us at a time of unprecedented growth, and their leadership will play a crucial role in the development of the new City College Center for Innovation and Discovery, scheduled to open next year on our South Campus.”

BMES President Gilda Barabino was named Dean for the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York, according to Maurizio Trevisan the CCNY provost.

Barabino currently serves as professor of biomedical engineering in the Coulter Department of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, where she also serves as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies.

Barabino will join City College on September 1, 2013.

Gilda Barabino was elected president of the Biomedical Engineering Society, it was announced at the 2011 BMES Annual Meeting in Hartford, Connecticut. She begins her two-year term in October 2012 at the Society’s next annual meeting in Atlanta. Barabino is the first underrepresented minority and second woman to be elected president of BMES since it was established in 1968.

Barabino commented on her new role: “My vision for BMES, our profession and the institutions and entities that represent biomedical engineering, is that we practice and are characterized by diversity inclusion and that we serve as a model for others in doing so. Diversity inclusion is a term coined to denote a characteristic where an institution demonstrates through its policies and practices that diversity is central to its mission – this characteristic is essential to drive future innovation in our field. I will work tirelessly to lead by example and anticipate that others will follow suit.”