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Cerasela Zoica Dinu is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University. She received her BS in physics and an MS in biophysics from the University of Bucharest, Romania. She received her PhD in biology from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany, working with Professor Jonathon Howard. After postdoctoral research with Professor Jonathan Dordick in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dinu joined WVU as an assistant professor in 2010. She was promoted to associate professor and associate chair in 2015, and to full professor in 2019. 

Since October 2021, Cerasela is serving as the Associate Dean for Student, Faculty and Staff Engagement. Learn more about the Engagement initiative that Cerasela is leading here. 

Other relevant employment history

• 08/12-present: Associate member of Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, WVU
  
• 08/11-present: Adjunct faculty professor, School of Pharmacy, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, WVU
  

Selected honors/ awards

• 2020 Statler College Outstanding Educator Award, 04/20
• 2019 Faculty Award for Distinction in Mentoring of Undergraduates in Research, 03/19
• 2019 Best Paper Award, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Alice Hamilton Award in Methods and Laboratory Science, (Stueckle, T.A., et al., "Short-term pulmonary toxicity assessment of pre-and post-incinerated organomodified nanoclay in mice." ACS Nano 12, 2292-2310/ 2018)
• 2018 University Faculty award for “Service, Curiosity, Respect and Appreciation,” 04/18
• CAREER award, National Science Foundation, 05/15-04/20
• University Nomination for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, 11/15

• HHMI 2016 Faculty Scholar Competition, College Nomination, 07/15
• University Nomination for the 2015 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program, 02/15
• Outstanding Researcher, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, WVU, 05/14
• Allen Meritous Manuscript Award, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, WVU, 05/2013
• Selected Participant in Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium, National Academy of Engineering, 06/11
• New Researcher of the Year, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, WVU, 05/11
• Tony B. Academic Award, LabAutomation 2011, Palm Springs, California, 01/11
• Outstanding Research, Conference Award (team effort), Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Chemical and Biological Defense Science and Technology Conference, Dallas, Texas, 11/09
• R13 NIH Travel and Conference Award, Gordon Research Conference on Chemical & Biological Terrorism Defence, Galveston, Texas, 01/09
• Young Scientist Award, European Materials Research Society, spring meeting, Nice, France, 06/06
• Keynote Speaker Award, Second Workshop on Bioprinting and Biopatterning, Charleston, South Carolina, 03/05

National appointments/editorial activities

• Serves on the editorial board of Current Analysis on Biotechnology
  
• Serves on the editorial board of Biosensors
  

Other national leadership roles

• Environmental Division executive committee, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2017-present
• External Advisory Board, Educating at the Interface: Nanotechnology‐Environmental Effects and Policy, Carnegie Mellon and Howard universities, 2012-2016
• WVU representative at the Coalition for Naitonal Science Funding, Investments in STEM Research and Education: Fueling American Innovation, 2015-2016
• Organizer of the 11th International Conference on Ceramic Materials and Components for Energy and Environmental Applications, 06/2015
• Chair of the technical committee for the Environmental Health and Safety & Standards, IEE NANO 2012, International Conference on Nanotechnology, 2012
• Program chair, AIChE, Nanomaterials for Biological Applications, Environmental Implications of Nanomaterials,Nanostructured Biomimetic and Biohybrid Materials and Devices (2012-present)
• Session chair, Biosensors, Biointerfaces and Implantable devices, Biomedical Engineering Society annual meeting, 2012
• Engineering art exhibition, National Science Foundation, 2011
• Faculty judge, AIChE national meeting, undergraduate student competition, 2013-present

About Dr. Dinu’s Lab

Members of Dr. Dinu’s research group conducts research at the interface of bioengineering and nanotechnology. We are a part of the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, at West Virginia University.