Leeya Engel
Israel Institute of Technology
Micro- and Nanofabrication Technologies for Cellular Cryo-electron Tomography Studies
Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique that provides unparalleled three-dimensional visualization of complex biological architectures within intact, hydrated cells.We present a new class of nanopatterned TEM grids, customized for cryo-ET, that can provide cells with programmed topographical cues that better mimic an in vivo environment.
About Leeya Engel
Leeya Engel is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a Glazer Foundation Faculty Fellow at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She holds a B.Sc. in physics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in materials engineering and nanotechnologies from Tel Aviv University. Her doctoral work focused on developing electroactive polymer micro-actuators and was recognized by a number of awards including the Nellie Yeoh Whetten Graduate Student Award from the American Vacuum Society (AVS). As a ChEM-H Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, Leeya developed novel bio-MEMS as well as technologies for applying cryogenic electron microscopy to image cellular ultrastructure. Her lab at the Technion, founded in 2022, bridges nanofabrication, mechanobiology, and electron microscopy to study nanoscale biological structures and the mechanics that shape them.
