Shelly R. Peyton

Shelly R. Peyton is an American chemical engineer who is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Tufts University. Her research considers the development of biomaterials to investigate metastatic cancer and potential new therapies.

Early life and education Peyton was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University, where she majored in chemical engineering. She was a member of the ultimate frisbee team. Peyton moved to the University of California, Irvine, where she worked on tissue engineering for the cardiovascular system in the research group of Andy Putnam. Peyton moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was appointed a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow. At MIT, Peyton was trained in stem cell biology by Linda Griffith. Together they investigated mesenchymal stem cell migration. In particular, Peyton is interested in the role of stem cells in the metastatic spread of breast cancer. Specifically, the three-dimensional tumour spheroids allow Peyton to precisely control and study the response of biological tissue to cancer cells and therapies. In particular, PREP provides funding to doctoral students from historically marginalized groups. 2013 Pew Biomedical Scholar 2015 National Science Foundation CAREER Award

Selected publications

Personal life Peyton married her wife in 2016. Peyton is involved with various initiatives to support LGBTQIA+ researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Biomedical Engineering Society, and was encouraged to do so by Naomi Chesler.