Amy Rowat

Amy Rowat is an Associate Professor of biophysics at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and the first Marcie H. Rothman Presidential Chair in Food Studies. Her scientific research focuses on understanding the physical and mechanical properties of cells in diseases such as cancer. She also organizes public events on the science of cooking.

Rowat is the recipient of several awards including the National Science Foundation (NSF) BRITE Fellow award (2022), the NSF CAREER Award (2013), and the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award with distinction for Undergraduate Mentorship (2021).

Early life and education Amy Rowat grew up in Guelph, Ontario. She completed a B.Sc. in Physics and a B.A. (Asian Studies, French and Math) at Mount Allison University. After her bachelor studies, she studied at the Technical University of Denmark (M.Sc. Chemistry) and the University of Southern Denmark (Ph.D. Physics). For example, irregularities in the shape of the cell nucleus can be used as biomarkers to diagnose the presence of diseases like breast cancer. Rowat is currently developing high-throughput techniques with microfluidic devices to image and measure deformability in various cell types.

Science and Food Amy Rowat is the founder and director of Science and Food, a non-profit organization at UCLA. One part of the organization is a chef-in-residence program that allows students to learn from chefs in a teaching kitchen. Along with other professors in the Science and Food organization, Rowat teaches a course in which students explore the parallels in food and science through cooking. One problem she is tackling is understanding the mechanical cues for cell growth, which may translate to better scaffolds for plant-derived meats.