SCOTT S. VERBRIDGE, PHD

Associate Professor

Scott Verbridge is a primary faculty member in the Virginia Tech – Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES), and the Virginia Tech Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics (BEAM). He directs the Laboratory of Integrated Tumor Ecology (LITE), and additionally has affiliate appointments in the Virginia Tech Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Verbridge earned B.S. degrees in physics and applied mathematics from the University of Rochester in 2002, graduating summa cum laude, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. His research during his undergrad years included projects in theoretical astrophysics, high energy plasma physics, and experimental condensed matter physics, advised by Drs. James Knauer and Eric Blackman. He then earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Cornell University in 2007 and 2008 respectively, working in the field of nanobiotechnology. His doctoral research was advised by Drs. Harold G. Craighead, and Jeevak M. Parpia, pioneers in nanotechnology and low temperature physics. Prior to joining the Virginia Tech faculty in 2012, Dr. Verbridge carried out postdoctoral work on tumor engineering jointly in the departments of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Cornell, working in the NIH-funded Physical Sciences-Oncology Center, advised by Drs. Claudia Fischbach and Abraham Stroock.

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Verbridge has authored papers on topics ranging from low temperature physics to cancer, in journals including Science, Science Signaling, the Biophysical Journal, Nano Letters, Physical Review Letters, Nature Protocols, and Biomaterials, in addition to numerous conference proceedings, a co-edited book, and multiple patents. His published work has been cited over 10,000 times on Google Scholar, and his research has been featured in popular science and news outlets including Scientific American, the BBC, The Discovery Channel, and MSNBC. He has served as Principal or Co-Investigator on federal, state, industry, and university grants amounting to over $15 million for his work on tumor engineering and cancer therapy.

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Dr. Verbridge also teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses on biomedical engineering, quantitative cell biology, and cancer therapeutics. He has recently been named a Virginia Tech College of Engineering Faculty Fellow, and was a recipient of the 2017 NSF CAREER Award, and the 2020 Liviu Librescu Award. In addition to his research and teaching efforts, Dr. Verbridge currently serves on the editorial board for the journal Scientific Reports, and also serves as a frequent reviewer on panels for the NIH, NSF, and multiple international funding agencies. Dr. Verbridge was inducted into the Hilton High School Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019.