September 13, 2007 — Please join us in congratulating Dr. Ellis Meng, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, who has just been appointed to be the holder of the prestigious Viterbi Early Career Chair.  The appointment recognizes Ellis’ exceptional distinction and promise as a junior faculty member in her field and will remain in effect as long as she remains in the Assistant Professor rank.

Ellis received a B.S. (1997) in Engineering and Applied Science in 1997 and M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2003) degrees in Electrical Engineering all from the California Institute of Technology. While at Caltech, she was a recipient of the Intel Women in Science and Engineering Scholarship, the Caltech Alumni Association Donald S. Clark Award, and a Caltech Special Institute Fellowship. In 2004, she joined the Biomedical Engineering Department at USC where she has setup the Biomedical Microdevices Laboratory. Her research focuses on developing novel micro- and nanotechnologies for biomedical applications. Areas of research include novel hybrid neural interfaces and the development of advanced medical implants for glaucoma management, intraocular drug delivery, and retinal prostheses. Ellis serves as the Thrust Leader for Interface Technology and is the Associate Director of Education and Student Diversity in the Biomimetic Microeletronic Systems NSF ERC. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award.