Debbie Chachra, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Materials Science
781-292-2546
debbie.chachra@olin.edu
She came to MIT from the University of Toronto, where she received her master’s and doctoral degrees in materials science. Her graduate research utilized techniques drawn from both engineering and biology to characterize the changes that occur in bone tissue as a result of disease, pharmaceuticals, or other interventions. In addition to her research, she lectured and ran tutorials in first- and second-year materials science for a number of years and was involved in academic governance at several levels.
Debbie earned a bachelor’s degree in applied science at the University of Toronto. During her undergraduate years, she spent two summers performing research in biomaterials and low-energy particle physics, making her an enthusiastic advocate for undergraduate research. She also co-founded a summer camp at the University of Toronto to expose students in grades five to eight to science and engineering.
She was a recipient of a National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellowship and a Medical Research Council of Canada graduate fellowship, as well as numerous other academic honors.