About Joel
Joel Finbloom joined the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in January 2023 as an Assistant Professor of Nanomedicine and Chemical Biology. A central theme of the Finbloom lab's research is the design of bacteria-interfacing nanomaterials to improve biomedical applications.
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Joel started his scientific career in 2008, spending four summers at the NIH under the mentorship of Dr. Kathryn Zoon, researching cellular therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy. He earned his BA with honors in chemistry from Northwestern University, conducting research on dynamic peptide nanomaterials in the lab of Professor Samuel Stupp. He received his PhD in chemistry at the University of California Berkeley, working in the lab of Professor Matthew Francis. There, Joel developed activatable probes for disease detection, supramolecular reactions for bioconjugation, and self-assembling virus-like particles for drug delivery. Joel then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in bioengineering at the University of California San Francisco, working in the lab of Professor Tejal Desai and developing nanomaterials to advance antimicrobial drug delivery and regenerative medicine.
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Outside of research, Joel is passionate about mentorship, science communication, and advancing EDI in STEM. His non-scientific pursuits include travel, spending time in nature, and trying new food.
