Russell Lab @ UIC
Physiology | Biophysics | Bioengineering
Brief Biography
Dr. Brenda Russell is Professor of Physiology,
Biophysics, Bioengineering and Medicine, and Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Research,
and has been at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 1988. Dr. Russell (formerly Brenda Russell Eisenberg)
received her Ph.D. in Physiology, 1971 under the direction of Professor Sir Andrew Huxley (Nobel Laureate), at the University of
London, England. She has done research into muscle adaptation at Duke, UCLA, Rush University and
UIC. She has NIH funding and has served on Study Sections for NIH and the American Heart Association.
She was the recipient of the 2010 Illinois Biotechnology Institute iCON Innovation Award, considered
by many to be the region's most prestigious honor for life sciences educators and researchers.
Dr. Russell is former editor of The American Journal of Physiology: Cell Section; Cell & Tissue
Research and editorial board member of many journals, including Circulation Research and The Journal
of Applied Physiology. She has written reviews, book chapters and well over 100 publications in
peer-reviewed journals. Some of her material is now incorporated into textbooks - including the widely
used Gray's Anatomy and Berne and Levy's Physiology.
Scientific Background: Dr. Russell's scientific training, background, experience, and productivity encompass a range of disciplines and forge linkages in the continuum between quantitative biology, bioengineering and physiology. Her current NIH support funds two collaborative projects, one on heart failure for regulation of protein synthesis and remodeling of cell shape, and the other for tissue engineering with development of a novel cell culture system using bioengineering and surface chemistry modification. Many of her studies have been done in close collaboration with clinicians (heart failure, muscular dystrophies, urinary incontinence).
Administration: Dr. Russell has served as Director of the Graduate Division of Cell Biology at Rush (1977-1988). At UIC she has been Associate Dean of the Graduate College (1994-1997), Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (1997-1999) and Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Research (1999 to present). She has been the university Research Integrity Officer since 1996.
Major research often requires collaboration and interdisciplinary resources. Dr. Russell has chaired several cross-disciplinary task forces at UIC including regenerative medicine with stem cells (clinical, basic biomedical and bioengineering), environmental science and policy (public health, political science, pollution and geology), tobacco-related research (prevention psychology, basic biomedical, cancer, clinical treatment), bioinformatics (computer science, genomics, health informatics, biotech entrepreneurs), and structural biology (proteomics, crystallography, molecular biology). She is the UIC Scientific Director for the Chicago Biomedical Consortium fostering interactions with the University of Chicago, Northwestern University to enable and encourage interdisciplinary research that is beyond the range of a single institution and thereby to promote educational, health and commercial developments that will benefit the Chicago community at large.
Business: Dr. Brenda Russell and Dr. Tejal Desai (UCSF) founded Cell Habitats, Inc an early-stage biomedical device company developing an easy-to-administer, microdevice that allows the natural repair and regeneration of damaged tissue. Its first application will be to restore normal cardiac function after a heart attack. They have one patent on file and two patents pending.
Dr. Russell is married and has four children, Ben (1969), Emily (1973), Jill (1974) and Sally (1979).
Last updated November 18, 2011
© Copyright 2000-2012 Brenda Russell, PhD