Celeste Nelson
{{Short description|American academic}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Celeste Nelson
| image = Celeste Nelson at World Economic Forum.jpg
| caption = Nelson speaks at the World Economic Forum in 2017
| birth_name = Celeste M. Nelson
| birth_place = Colorado Springs, Colorado
| alma_mater = Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SB)
| awards = Tau Beta Pi
Phi Beta Kappa
Innovators Under 35
Sloan Research Fellowship
Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists
| fields = Developmental biology
Tissue engineering
Morphogenesis
Mechanobiology
| workplaces = Princeton University
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
| thesis_title = The regulation of endothelial cell form and function by VE-cadherin
| website = {{URL|https://cmngroup.princeton.edu}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|Aug|21}}{{cite web|url=https://cmngroup.princeton.edu/Nelson%20CV.pdf |title=CV |publisher=cmngroup.princeton.edu |access-date=2020-01-28}}
| thesis_year = 2003
| thesis_url = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57583282
}}
Celeste M. Nelson (born 21 August 1976) is a professor of chemical and biological engineering and the director of the program in engineering biology at Princeton University.{{Google scholar id}}{{EuropePMC|ORCID=0000-0001-9973-8870}} She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Early life and education
Nelson was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She became interested in biology as a teenager, but it wasn't until she spent time in a laboratory that she realised how much she enjoyed experiments.{{Cite journal|date=2016|title=Cell scientist to watch – Celeste Nelson|author=Anon|journal=Journal of Cell Science|language=en|volume=129|issue=21|pages=3961–3962|doi=10.1242/jcs.197509|issn=0021-9533|doi-access=free}} She studied biology and chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and graduated in 1998.{{cite web|url=https://www.aiche.org/sbe/community/bio/celeste-nelson|title=Celeste Nelson|date=2012-12-05|website=aiche.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-26}}{{cite web|url=https://cbe.princeton.edu/people/celeste-nelson|title=Celeste M. Nelson {{!}} Chemical and Biological Engineering|website=cbe.princeton.edu|access-date=2020-01-26}} Whilst at MIT Nelson was a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honour society and graduated in Phi Beta Kappa. Nelson moved to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for her graduate studies, working on biomedical engineering under the supervision of Christopher S. Chen.{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Celeste M.|last=Nelson|title=The regulation of endothelial cell form and function by VE-cadherin|year=2003|oclc=57583282}}
Research and career
Nelson was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) where she worked alongside Mina J. Bissell in the Division of Life Sciences.{{cite web|url=https://www2.lbl.gov/LBL-Programs/lifesciences/BissellLab/members.html|title=Bissell Lab|website=lbl.gov|access-date=2020-01-26}} Whilst at LBNL Nelson was awarded the outstanding performance award. She completed a course in embryology at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in 2007.
Nelson joined Princeton University as an assistant professor in 2007.{{cite web|url=https://cmngroup.princeton.edu/Celeste.htm|title=Nelson Group -- Celeste|website=cmngroup.princeton.edu|access-date=2020-01-26}} She was promoted to associate professor in 2012 and full professor in 2016. Her research considers how cells within tissues integrate complicated biological systems spatially and dynamically. At Princeton Nelson leads the Tissue Morphodynamic Laboratory, which combines engineering, cell biology and developmental biology.{{cite web|url=https://molbio.princeton.edu/people/celeste-m-nelson|title=Celeste M. Nelson|last=migradmin|date=2016-06-07|website=molbio.princeton.edu|language=en|access-date=2020-01-26}}{{cite web|url=https://ebics.net/events/distinguished-lecture-celeste-nelson|title=Distinguished Lecture Celeste Nelson {{!}} Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems|website=ebics.net|access-date=2020-01-26}}
She investigates the morphogenesis process that builds both the mammary gland and vertebrate lung. To interrogate the process by which organs generate their internal anatomies Nelson created a protocol to grow these structures in a laboratory.{{cite web|url=http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=954|title=Innovator Under 35: Celeste Nelson, 34|author=Anon|website=technologyreview.com|publisher=MIT Technology Review|language=en-us|access-date=2020-01-26}} She identified that during morphogenesis, long-range communication between individual cells within biological tissue determines the pattern formation. She identified several genes that are essential for branching tissue to properly develop and studied how they work together to coordinate the branching process. She showed that the signals that initiate tissue branching can also act to reawaken certain tumours. In 2018 she coordinated a Royal Society meeting on the mechanics of embryonic development.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2018/02/mechanics-development/|title=Mechanics of development |publisher=Royal Society|location=London|website=royalsociety.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2020-01-26}}
= Awards and honors =
Her awards and honors include:
- 2007 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellow{{cite web|url=https://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/fellowship-directory/nelson-celeste/|title=Nelson, Celeste|website=packard.org|publisher=The David and Lucile Packard Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2009 E. Lawrence Keyes, Jr Faculty Advancement Award{{cite web|url=https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2009/05/26/junior-faculty-awards-recognize-outstanding-research-and-teaching|title=Junior faculty awards recognize outstanding research and teaching|date=2017-04-19|website=engineering.princeton.edu|publisher=School of Engineering and Applied Science|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2009 Princeton Engineering Commendation for Outstanding Teaching
- 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Molecular Biology
- 2010 Innovators Under 35 awarded by MIT Technology Review
- 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Allan P. Colburn Award{{cite web|url=https://www.aiche.org/community/awards/winners/28876|title=Winners: Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications by a Young Member of the Institute |publisher= AIChE|website=aiche.org|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2012 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
- 2014 Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science Distinguished Teacher Award{{cite web|url=https://cbe.princeton.edu/news/nelson-receives-seas-distinguished-teacher-award|title=Nelson Receives SEAS Distinguished Teacher Award {{!}} Chemical and Biological Engineering|website=cbe.princeton.edu|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2016 Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
- 2016 Princeton University President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching{{cite web|url=https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2018/05/31/faculty-commended-outstanding-teaching|title=Faculty commended for outstanding teaching|date=2018-11-20|website=engineering.princeton.edu|author=Anon|publisher=School of Engineering and Applied Science|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Faculty Scholar{{cite web|url=https://www.hhmi.org/programs/biomedical-research/faculty-scholars|title=Faculty Scholars Program|website=HHMI.org|language=en|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2017 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Life Sciences{{cite web|url=http://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/americas-top-young-researchers-named-finalists-2017-blavatnik-national-awards-young-scientists/|title=America's Top Young Researchers Named Finalists for 2017 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists {{!}} Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists|website=blavatnikawards.org|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2018 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in Life Sciences{{cite web|url=http://blavatnikawards.org/news/items/announcing-finalists-2018-blavatnik-national-awards-young-scientists/|title=Announcing the 2018 Blavatnik National Awards Finalists {{!}} Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists|website=blavatnikawards.org|access-date=2020-01-26}}
- 2018 Princeton University Engineering Commendation for Outstanding Teaching{{cite web|url=https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2019/08/01/faculty-commended-outstanding-teaching|title=Faculty commended for outstanding teaching|date=2019-09-24|website=engineering.princeton.edu|publisher=School of Engineering and Applied Science|author=Anon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-26|archive-date=2021-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620192452/https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2019/08/01/faculty-commended-outstanding-teaching|url-status=dead}}
= Selected publications =
Her publications include:
- Tissue Morphogenesis: methods and protocols{{Cite book|title=Tissue Morphogenesis: methods and protocols|last=Nelson|first=Celeste|publisher=Springer|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4939-1163-9|oclc=892847750}}
- Cell shape, cytoskeletal tension, and RhoA regulate stem cell lineage commitment{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Celeste M.|date=2004|title=Cell shape, cytoskeletal tension, and RhoA regulate stem cell lineage commitment|journal=Developmental Cell|volume=6|issue=4|pages=483–495|doi=10.1016/S1534-5807(04)00075-9|pmid= 15068789|doi-access=free}}
- Of extracellular matrix, scaffolds, and signaling: tissue architecture regulates development, homeostasis, and cancer{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Celeste M.|date=2006|title=Of extracellular matrix, scaffolds, and signaling: tissue architecture regulates development, homeostasis, and cancer|journal=Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology|volume=22|pages=287–309|doi=10.1146/annurev.cellbio.22.010305.104315|pmid=16824016 |pmc=2933192 }}
- Modeling dynamic reciprocity: engineering three-dimensional culture models of breast architecture, function, and neoplastic transformation{{Cite journal|last=Nelson|first=Celeste M.|date=2005|title=Modeling dynamic reciprocity: engineering three-dimensional culture models of breast architecture, function, and neoplastic transformation|journal=Seminars in Cancer Biology|volume=15|issue=5|pages=342–352|doi=10.1016/j.semcancer.2005.05.001|pmid=15963732 |pmc=2933210 }}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Celeste}}
Category:American women scientists
Category:People from Colorado Springs, Colorado
Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni
Category:Princeton University faculty