Biography

Dr. Samantha Meenach is currently an Associate Professor and the Victor J. Baxt Endowed Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island (URI) with joint appointments in chemical engineering and pharmaceutical sciences. She is originally from Kentucky and obtained her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky. Her doctoral research focused on the development of magnetic hydrogel nanocomposites for the treatment of cancer via hyperthermia and drug delivery. Following postdoctoral training in the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University, Samantha returned to Kentucky as a NIH NCI Cancer Nanotechnology Postdoctoral Trainee in the Colleges of Pharmacy and Engineering. There her research focused on the development of aerosol nanotherapeutics for the treatment of lung cancer. 

Since starting at URI in the fall of 2013, the work of the Meenach group has focused on the development of aerosol therapeutics for the treatment of pulmonary diseases, nanoparticle systems capable of penetrating physiological barriers, as well as in vitro techniques for the analysis of these systems. Dr. Meenach is currently the Training Core Director of the Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE), where her responsibilities include training not only students involved in the biomedical sciences but also providing participating faculty and mentors with professional development activities. 

Dr. Meenach’s professional passions include mentoring and working to enhance JEDI initiatives at her university, across the state of Rhode Island, and beyond. She is a Certified Facilitator of Entering Mentoring through the Center of Improvement in Mentored Experiences in Research and regularly facilitates inclusive mentoring workshops for graduate students, postdocs, and scholars to improve mentoring in research. Dr. Meenach currently holds several leadership positions, as URI’s Graduate Assessment Coordinator, Director of the Rhode Island Summer Undergraduate Research Consortium (RI-SURC), Program Director of the RI Center for Mentoring Excellence, and Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Committee, among others. She is currently advising three Ph.D. students and 7 undergraduate students in their research endeavors, including 7 women and 4 students from underrepresented backgrounds. 

In a personal capacity, Dr. Meenach is a first-generation college student from rural Kentucky who never imagined pursuing engineering, let alone a Ph.D. or faculty position. She lives in Rhode Island with her husband, Stephen, and their two crazy cats, Lexi and Evie. Outside of academics, Samantha is an avid reader and loves playing games, traveling, kayaking, and yoga. She regularly answers questions on the nature of her purple hair and prominent tattoos, as evidently, they are “unusual” in the world of engineering academia. The “interesting facts” that Samantha regularly shares when meeting people is that she has an unusual affinity towards squirrels (which she oddly shares with one of her graduate students), has traveled to all 50 states in the U.S., and whole-heartedly believes in the “fake it til you make it” mentality.