October 24, 2025
Meet our new faculty: Mark Daley
Mark Daley, chemical and biomolecular engineering | Photo by Rick Smith
My research focuses on: I work to develop in vitro models of the human heart, or “hearts in a dish,” to study cardiac toxicity and disease. This is done by guiding stem cells to become heart muscle cells, which beat like a living heart! By measuring their response to different drugs, environmental chemicals, and disease stimuli, we can predict the corresponding effect in humans. This technology will be invaluable in the future of drug discovery and risk assessment, making future medicines and chemicals safer while reducing reliance on traditional animal models.
This fall, I am teaching: ES 232: Biomaterials Science and ES 254: Engineering Thermodynamics
What students can expect from me: My goal is to empower all my students to be comfortable melding analytical problem-solving skills with the messiness and complexity of the real world. Accordingly, I focus my teaching on supporting an in-depth understanding of scientific principles with diverse opportunities to apply course material. I couple this academic objective with an approach that promotes bidirectional communication and transparency to understand my students’ and support their personal, professional, and academic growth.
Getting to know me: When I am away from work, I love to get outside hiking or running. I also love to stay inside reading fantasy and science fiction, and am an avid podcast listener, especially NPR and anything related to politics.
