Ellen Knapp

Chemical and Biological Engineering Adjunct Faculty

I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the City College of New York and currently work as a Senior Scientist for the Molecular Pharmaceutics group within Pfizer. My work is focused in early stage oncology drug research and involves characterizing physiochemical properties, early stage formulation development and identifying/mitigating biopharmaceutics risks of small molecule therapeutics from early discovery to Phase 1 Clinical trials.

My previous research experience is varied. During my postdoc, I worked in collaboration with industrial partners as part of a multidisciplinary membrane science initiative at CU Boulder. My research focused on characterizing functional properties of membrane materials using nanoparticle tracking to study and develop models for transport behavior through membranes. My dissertation research focused on the stability of and interactions between novel materials (anisotropic Janus particles) at the air-water interface. In graduate school, I established academic and industrial collaborations with four institutions (University of Melbourne, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Corning Incorporated) through a compelling vision and strategy that motivated others. Through these partnerships, I secured thousands of dollars in research funding and I have written a number of scientific publications.

Additionally, I have worked as a research intern for Corning Incorporated and was employed as a technician at a battery startup company (Urban Electric Power). These multidisciplinary collaborations and varied environments have made me an adaptable researcher able to synergize with diverse teams and to quickly adjust to new laboratories and new problems.