University of California Irvine expert named 2023 Pew Scholar in the Biological Sciences

Quinton Smith, UC Irvine assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been named a 2023 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. The Pew Charitable Trusts supports outstanding biomedical researchers at the start of their careers. Pew has honored this year’s group of 22 early-career scientists by furnishing four years of funding for the pursuit of investigations to benefit human health and medicine. Smith received his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and his Ph.D. in 2017 from Johns Hopkins University, where he was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. At UCI, he focuses on studying human development biology, organ homeostasis, disease, and regeneration using miniaturized “organ-on-chip” model systems. The Pew Scholar citation highlighted Smith’s exploration of the way oxygen drives the establishment of adequate blood flow during placental maturation, a process that is impaired in preeclampsia. “Being selected as a 2023 Pew Biomedical Scholar and serving as a representative of the University of California, Irvine is truly an honor,” Smith said. “With the support of the Pew Foundation, my group aims to better understand preeclampsia, a disease that disproportionately affects African American women.” Smith was also recognized recently as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna Gray fellow and as a Keystone Symposia fellow, class of 2022.