Alexis Peña is a material innovator with over 10 years of experience in tissue engineering and biomaterials. She completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in May 2023, training in the lab of Dr. Jennifer Elisseeff at the Translational Tissue Engineering Center. Peña’s doctoral research focused on characterizing human cell/tissue therapies and biomaterials for musculoskeletal injuries and disease. She led the Phase 2 clinical testing for an off-the-shelf, ECM-based biomaterial for soft tissue reconstruction by managing the manufacturing of the tissue biologic product, conducting the laboratory analysis of clinical samples, and supporting the biomaterial technology’s regulatory and grant documentation (IRB, HRPO, FDA, DoD). She helped secure government funding for her translational research, an NSF-GRFP, and a DoD CTA to advance the clinical evaluation of biomaterial technology. Peña has 3 years of technology transfer experience through her internship at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures on the Corporate Partnerships team. To date, she has co-authored 9 publications spanning regenerative medicine strategies and in vitro cell platforms to ultimately provide tissue engineering and regenerative medicine solutions. Peña will apply her expertise in manufacturing and tissue engineering strategies to innovate materials for the textile industry.