Michelle Digman to Lead Department of Biomedical Engineering

June 11, 2024 - Michelle Digman has been appointed the next William J. Link Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She will take the reins from the outgoing chair, Zoran Nenadic, on July 1, 2024.

Associate Professor Digman is director and co-investigator of the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics and director of the W.M. Keck Nanoimaging Lab. As department chair, she will lead and manage the department’s teaching, research and outreach efforts. She is committed to fostering a sense of community among students, scholars and researchers in BME.

“I have always looked up to our former chairs and in particular our current chair Zoran Nenadic, who showed steadfast leadership during one of the most challenging periods we have faced, the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Digman. “Under his guidance, our department not only navigated trying times but also experienced substantial growth.”

Digman serves as the Stacey Nicholas Endowed Chair for Diversity in Engineering Education, adviser to the Samueli School’s Office of Outreach, Access and Inclusion, and BME associate dean for graduate affairs. She also served for five years as co-equity adviser for the school. “I hope these experiences, coupled with the distinction of being the first woman faculty chair in our department, will contribute notably to our department's continued growth,” said Digman. “My focus will remain on leading our department through a lens of advancing equity, diversity and inclusion, creating opportunities for our students and making an impact on our community.”

Digman joined the UCI faculty in 2013. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, a master’s degree and doctorate in chemistry from University of Illinois at Chicago and did postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in physics. 

Her research focuses on quantitative spatial and temporal correlation spectroscopy, protein dynamics during cell migration, characterizing metabolic alterations in cells and tissues, and developing novel imaging technologies. She was inducted as a fellow of AIMBE in 2022 and is an Allen Distinguished Investigator and Scialog Fellow. She has also won several awards including the 2023 UCI Early Career/Emerging Innovator of Year Award, Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award at the LEAD, NSF CAREER award and the Hellman fellowship. 

– Lori Brandt