Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, University Professor and the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Sciences at Columbia University, has been named the North American laureate of the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award. Now in its 28th year, the prestigious annual award is presented to five outstanding women in STEM from Africa and the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America.
Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic, was honored for her pioneering work in human tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Her contributions in developing “organs-on-a-chip” and biological substitutes to repair, maintain, or improve tissue have been instrumental in recapitulating organ physiology.
At Columbia, Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic’s Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering is a home to the national Tissue Engineering Resource Center funded by the National Institutes of Health. Her lab is also part of CELL-MET, the multi-institutional National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in Cellular Metamaterials. In addition to her lab, Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic directs Columbia’s Center for Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Dr. Vunjak-Novakovic earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Belgrade University in Serbia.