Meenal Datta, assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, has received a Young Investigator Program (YIP) award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).

The AFOSR YIP is one of the nation’s most selective research early-career awards in science and engineering. It recognizes young faculty who show outstanding promise for significant scientific breakthroughs.

Datta’s research focuses on the relationship between immune cells and physical forces in the body, and her lab performs health science in space (e.g., in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS)) to benefit humans on earth. This recent work on the ISS led Datta to consider the health challenges soldiers may face in extreme environments on earth or even in space domains.

Datta’s lab will investigate how unique combat force stressors affect immune cell phenotype and function with the goal of better understanding the drivers of immune dysfunction among military personnel. Her lab will then test pharmacological interventions that restore immune function on 3-D tissue models serving as soldier avatars, informing future preventative care and interventional strategies for soldiers in stressful situations on earth and in space.

Datta teaches in the Notre Dame Bioengineering Graduate Program, the Materials Science and Engineering doctoral program, and in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (concurrent appointment). She joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2021.