Chinedu Ude earned his bachelor’s degree in 2004 from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, and his PhD in 2014 from The National University of Malaysia — both in physiology. He currently is serving a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut, where he is developing biomimetic scaffolds to support complex tissue regeneration and investigating slow-release drug delivery systems. At Washington University, St. Louis, he worked in the orthopedic department on the treatment of non-union bone fracture, and in the optical radiology department, he identified, characterized, and regenerated resident skeletal/progenitor cells retained following cancer treatment to target antibodies of interest. Future research will explore yet-to-be-uncovered signaling pathways leading to cell differentiations and tissue regeneration as well as noninvasive biomimetic chelators to salvage implants after arthroplasty-related toxicity sets in. Ude has led high school students in an immersive summer program that introduces the field of regenerative engineering and fosters leadership in STEM, and he mentors UConn biomedical engineering students in the independent study program. Recognizing that personal contact with students is vital, he will stress his availability and willingness to help. In addition, he will encourage thinking in rational ways so that it can be applied to unfamiliar situations and emphasize learning through trends and directions rather than memorization of facts.