In this episode, I converse with Dr. Ritu Raman, a Bioengineer and a Postdoc in the renowned Langer Lab at MIT, funded by a Ford Foundation Fellowship and a L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship. Prior to that, Ritu completed her Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Biomedical Engineering, from Cornell University and received an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering as an NSF Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ritu is a member of the MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 Class of 2019 and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2018. Her upcoming book on Biofabrication, published by MIT Press, will be out in Fall 2021. 

Ritu currently focuses on designing responsive materials and devices for translational medical applications. We indulge in a terrific conversation on her fantastic journey in science; growing up in a family of engineers and initial interests of becoming an astronaut; fantastic mentors like Rashid Bashir and Bob Langer; confronting the ubiquitous imposter syndrome; integrating novel responsive biohybrid materials into implantable devices and prosthetics; translatability and quickness being antithetical to each other in medicine; and many more things!!