Dr. Nicole Friend is an NIH F32-supported postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she engineers dynamic biomaterials to investigate how extracellular matrix properties regulate cell and tissue function. Her research integrates biomaterials engineering, vascular biology, and multicellular tissue models, with particular interests in dynamic cell-matrix interactions and immune-vascular communication.

Nicole received her B.S. in Bioengineering: BioSystems from the University of California San Diego in 2017 and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2023. Her doctoral research focused on engineering natural and synthetic biomaterials to study and promote vascularization, while her postdoctoral work has expanded this foundation through training in dynamic biomaterials and the development of materials with spatiotemporal control over the cellular microenvironment.

Nicole is currently pursuing tenure-track faculty positions, with the goal of establishing an interdisciplinary research program at the intersection of biomaterials engineering, tissue biology, and disease modeling. Her future laboratory will leverage advanced chemistries and complementary biomaterial platforms to engineer human tissue models that enable mechanistic investigation of complex biological processes. Through this approach, she aims to establish broadly applicable experimental systems that advance our understanding of tissue function and disease progression.

To learn more about Nicole's background, you can download her CV below!