Marjan Rafat, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was selected by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Women in Chemical Engineering Community (WIC) for the Mentorship Excellence Award in Academia.
This award recognizes women who have contributed to the development of the next generation of chemical engineers through outstanding mentoring. Rafat was recognized at the WIC Luncheon during the 2025 AIChE Annual Meeting in mid-November in Boston.
During her seven years at the Vanderbilt School of Engineering, Rafat has mentored nine Ph.D. students, two M.S. students, 30 undergraduates, and four high school students.
“Mentoring students is one of the highlights of my job, and I’m honored to receive this award,” Rafat said. “I love the enthusiasm students bring to their research, and it is rewarding to watch them develop into independent scientists and engineers.”
Rafat received her bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and master of science and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. Her research focuses on combining engineering and cancer biology concepts to examine the mechanisms driving tumor recurrence and metastasis. She studies the relationship between tumor cells, normal tissues, and the immune system as a means of understanding the microenvironment to determine how each component contributes to metastasis and relapse after therapy.
Rafat holds secondary appointments in biomedical engineering and radiation oncology. She also is a faculty member in the Cancer Biology Program in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and the Breast Cancer Research Program in the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Contact brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu