Diversity in Life Sciences

Dr. Yvon Woappi (Pronounced: E-Von wah-PEE) is an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, and the Endowed Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Dermatology in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He equally holds a tertiary faculty appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University. Yvon earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences as a Grace Jordan McFadden Fellow at the University of South Carolina. He went on to complete his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, studying skin stem cell renewal in wounds, inflammation, and cancer. He joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in 2021 as an Instructor of Dermatology, then was recruited to Columbia University as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2022. Yvon’s laboratory studies synthetic tissue regeneration, a systems bioengineering approach that manipulates cellular heterogeneity in tissue to enhance its regenerate function. Yvon’s research accomplishments have earned numerous distinctions, prizes, and awards, including the MIT Rising Star Award and designation among the “1000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America” by Cell Press News and the Community of Scholars. Yvon is also an inaugural recipient of the NIH MOSAIC fellowship from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and is an ardent proponent of inclusive excellence. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family, and going on nature walks.