Cynthia A Reinhart-King

Cynthia "Cindy" Reinhart-King is an American biomedical engineer and Department Chair of Bioengineering at Rice University. Her research considers cell motility and adhesion. She serves as president of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Early life and education Reinhart-King studied chemical engineering and biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She studied integrin-mediated signaling alongside Doug Lauffenburger. She moved to the University of Rochester for postdoctoral research, studying atherosclerosis with Bradford Berk. She has monitored disease progression at the molecular, cellular and tissue level. Her analytical strategy combines cellular imaging with mechanical measurements, histology and biochemical assays. She showed how the cellular matrix stiffens after tumor formation, promoting tumor growth and impacting the effectiveness of cancer treatments. The lab has also shown that metastatic cancer cells leaving tumors travel in clusters and "draft" off each other through tissue to preserve energy as they form new tumor sites.

Reinhart-King has also investigated diabetic retinopathy. This condition can cause blindness in diabetic patients.

In 2021, Reinhart-King became President Elect of the Biomedical Engineering Society. She was made Senior Associate Dean for Research at Vanderbilt University in 2022. She has been involved with science policy, serving as an expert advisor to the federal government of the United States on biotechnology and biomanufacturing. In 2024, Reinhart-King joined Rice University as the John W. Cox Professor of Bioengineering and chair of the Bioengineering department.

Awards and honors 2010 Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award 2011 NSF Faculty Early Career Award 2013 Cook Award for commitment to women's issues, Cornell University 2015 Zellman Warhaft Commitment to Diversity Award 2016 Elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering 2017 Elected Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society 2018 Biomedical Engineering Society Mid-Career Award 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Inaugural New Voices Fellow 2019 Grace Hopper Distinguished Lecture 2022 University Distinguished Professor, Vanderbilt University 2023 Edward White Service Award, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering 2022-2024 President of the Biomedical Engineering Society

Selected publications

Personal life Reinhart-King is married to Michael King, the E.D. Butcher Chair of Bioengineering at Rice University.