Dr. James Ankrum is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa. Dr. Ankrum studied biomedical engineering as an undergraduate at the University of Iowa. He went on to earn his Masters at Cambridge University with the support of a Winston Churchill Scholarship. He earned his PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics through Harvard-MIT’s Health Science and Technology Program. After his PhD., Dr. Ankrum spent a year at the University of Minnesota as a Senior Innovation Fellow in the Medical Device Center where he developed tissue engineered strategies for preventing heart failure in collaboration with Boston Scientific. In 2014, he was recruited to the University of Iowa to join the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute and Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center. Dr. Ankrum’s curiosity and collaborative nature has enabled him to work on a diverse set of projects ranging from cell therapy, to human organoid models, to medical devices. In 2022, he was named a Fulbright Scholar, and spent 2023 in Ireland developing tissue engineered solutions for wound healing.