Allie Obermeyer

Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Columbia University

Contact Information:
500 W 120th St.
New York, NY 10027
aco2134 at columbia.edu

Personal Bio:

Prof. Allie Obermeyer’s research interests are at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and materials science and are motivated by a goal to improve human health and engineer solutions to climate change. Her research group focuses on understanding and engineering biomolecular phase separation to create protein-based materials.

Dr. Obermeyer earned her B.S. from Rice University, where she worked in the lab of Seiichi P.T. Matsuda, and her Ph.D. at the University of California Berkeley, where she worked in the laboratory of Matthew Francis as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She completed postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked in the laboratory of Bradley Olsen as an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow. She started her independent career in the Chemical Engineering Department at Columbia University in January 2017. She has earned an NSF CAREER Award and an NIH MIRA for her work on develop protein and polymer-based materials for applications in synthetic biology.

She is involved in translating basic research to real-world solutions. She is a co-founder of Werewool, a venture-backed biomaterials company that develops fibers with tailored aesthetic and performance properties to create sustainable textiles. Werewool has won several awards, including the H&M Global Change Award and the Microfiber Innovation Challenge.

Allie is also passionate about teaching the next generation of scientists and engineers. She has been recognized for her commitment to teaching with the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award (Columbia Engineering Alumni Association) and the Andrew D. Morsey Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence (University of California, Berkeley, Chemistry Department).

Aside from science, Allie enjoys outdoor nature walks, podcasts, cooking, and rooting for the Golden State Warriors.

Allie's CV can be found here.