Kathryn Whitehead
Professor, Chemical Engineering
Courtesy Appointment, Biomedical Engineering
Kathryn A. Whitehead is a professor in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering (courtesy) at Carnegie Mellon University. Her lab develops drug delivery systems for RNA, proteins, and applications in maternal and infant health. She obtained bachelor and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering (Univ. of Delaware; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) before an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT. Whitehead is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the DARPA Director’s Fellowship, and the ASEE Curtis W. McGraw Research Award. She has also received the Controlled Release Society’s Young Investigator Award and served on its Board of Directors. Whitehead is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Controlled Release Society. In 2021, she gave a TED talk on the lipid nanoparticles (i.e., “fat balls”) used in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Her publications have been cited ~15,000 times, and her patents have been licensed and sublicensed for reagent and therapeutic use.
mRNA offers potential new treatment for pancreatic diseases
The future of medicine: using mRNA to treat disease
Katie Whitehead: Using Breast Milk to Improve Infant Drug Delivery
Nanotherapeutics: Improving Cancer Cell Treatment
Advanced Nanoparticle Research for Drug Delivery
Education
2007 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara
2002 BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware
Affiliations
Media mentions
Nature Chemical Engineering
Whitehead speaks about the future of chemical engineering research
ChemE’s Kathryn Whitehead spoke with Nature Magazine about the future of the field of chemical engineering, particularly her excitement about transporting RNA treatments to new organ destinations.
Chemical Engineering
Linking chemistry with immune response to advance drug delivery
By filling in the missing link between lipid chemistry and immune response, Kathryn Whitehead is helping to expand the use of lipid nanoparticles beyond RNA vaccines.
CMU Engineering
Designing nanoparticles for pregnancy-safe treatments
Researchers identify lipid nanoparticles that safely deliver mRNA to the placenta and non-reproductive organs during pregnancy without harming the fetus.
Keystone Symposia
Whitehead organizes symposium
ChemE’s Katie Whitehead co-organized the Keystone Symposium on Delivery of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics in Banff, Alberta, Canada in late January. Ph.D. alum Khalid Hajj (2019), postdoc Sai Yerneni, and Ph.D. student Mariah Arral also attended.
Arral earns bionanotechnology graduate student award at AIChE
ChemE Ph.D. candidate Mariah L. Arral won 3rd place in the 2023 Bionanotechnology Graduate Student Awards at the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) annual meeting.
Chemical Engineering
Arral honored as one of AIChE’s 35 Under 35
Ph.D. student Mariah L. Arral is honored in the education and outreach category of AIChE’s 35 Under 35.
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Whitehead highlighted for packaging mRNA for the pancreas
Research by ChemE/BME’s Kathryn Whitehead was featured as a Science Highlight by the NIBIB, part of the NIH. Whitehead's lab developed lipid nanoparticles that are designed to carry mRNA specifically to the pancreas.
CMU Engineering
Delivering mRNA therapeutics to the pancreas
Kathryn Whitehead is at the forefront of the mRNA delivery field, changing the chemistry of nanoparticle delivery vehicles to enable them to reach organs beyond the liver.
CMU Engineering
Mother’s milk cells key to novel infant disease therapy
Kathryn Whitehead is exploring ways to utilize the unique properties of breast milk to develop a novel approach to infant disease therapy.
Chemical Engineering
Whitehead featured on CBS Evening News
On Sunday, February 28th, CBS Evening News featured Carnegie Mellon Chemical Engineering Professor Kathryn Whitehead, who sat down with CBS’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Jon LaPook, to discuss the future of mRNA drug delivery.
Pittsburgh Business Times
Whitehead featured in Pittsburgh Business Times
In the Pittsburgh Business Times’ latest “Personalities of Pittsburgh” article, Paul Gough sits down with ChemE’s Katie Whitehead to discuss mRNA vaccines, science communication, Whitehead’s hobbies, and more.
BBC
Whitehead quoted on mRNA abilities
ChemE’s Katie Whitehead was quoted in BBC on the capabilities of mRNA.