Alumnus to talk about journey to become researcher

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will host Dr. Yvon Woappi ’11, an assistant professor of dermatology at Columbia University, for a public lecture on April 11 as part of the Carol A. Baker Speaker Series.

The free talk, “Cultivating Success: Navigating Academia from UPB to Columbia,” will take place at 7 p.m. in Rice Auditorium in Fisher Hall. Light refreshments will be served.

Woappi is director of the Synthetic Regeneration and Systems Physiology Laboratory, which he founded in 2022, and an assistant professor of dermatology in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

The Woappi Lab is studying new ways to treat extensive injuries to tissues and organs. He and his team are looking for natural substances in the body that help wounds heal faster. They also are developing artificial gene therapies to boost tissue regrowth and studying how the body’s immune system reacts to wounds

Woappi’s research accomplishments have earned distinctions, prizes, and awards, including the MIT Rising Star Award and designation among the “1000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America” by Cell Press News and the Community of Scholars. He is also an inaugural recipient of the NIH MOSAIC fellowship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which provides mentoring, support, and most importantly, money to set up his own research lab. 

Woappi was born in Douala, Cameroon, and immigrated to the United States during middle school. He was introduced to research as a biology undergraduate at Pitt-Bradford, where he worked with Dr. Om Singh, who taught biology at Pitt-Bradford from 2008 through 2016.

Woappi says his undergraduate research experience is one reason he prioritizes mentoring researchers in his own lab. After receiving his Bachelor of Science from Pitt-Bradford, he earned a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston before setting up his own research lab at Columbia. 

Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time with his wife and children and going on nature walks. He is equally an avid chess player. 

Dr. Carol Baker, for whom the biology guest lecture series is named, is a biologist and was the vice president and dean of academic affairs at Pitt-Bradford from 1989 until 2002. The Baker Speaker Series brings scientists to campus who can speak to the public about their research and meet with Pitt-Bradford students and faculty.

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