This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Charles Wyatt Shields IV is an American biomedical engineer and Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.^[1] His research involves the rational design of colloidal and supracolloidal particles for applications in drug delivery and biosensing.^[2]

C. Wyatt Shields IV received a Bachelor of Science with High Distinction in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia in 2011. While there, he performed undergraduate research with Jeffrey Saucerman and William Walker.^[3] He continued his education and research with Gabriel López as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University where he obtained his PhD in 2016. During his PhD, Shields studied magnetic and acoustic methods for isolation and analysis of cells.^[4]

Shields continued his academic career as a Postdoctoral Associate in Chemical and Biological Engineering at North Carolina State University where he worked with Orlin D. Velev in 2017.^[5] He also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioengineering at Harvard University with Samir Mitragotri in 2018. At Harvard's Wyss Institute, Shields developed cytokine-releasing macrophage "backpacks" that maintain a tumor-killing state in cells, travel to tumor sites, and slow their growth.^[6][7][8]

Shields became an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020 in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.^[8] He is also affiliated with the Biomedical Engineering Program, Materials Science and Engineering Program, Robotics Program, and University of Colorado Cancer Center. Working at the intersection of materials, soft matter physics, and bioengineering, Shields' research has focused on understanding how stimuli-responsive particles behave in physiological settings and how to control their assembly and motion for biological applications.^[1] His lab has numerous clinical collaborations.^[9] Current research includes investigating the role of immune cells in decompression sickness using lung-on-a-chip devices,^[10][11] developing "bottom-up" multifunctional magnetic microrobots,^[12][13] and using acoustically responsive particles for capture and purification of disease biomarkers.^[14]

Shields' early career has resulted in numerous high profile awards, nine patents filed, and over 50 articles^[15] published in journals such as Science Advances,^[16][17] Advanced Materials,^[18] Advanced Functional Materials,^[19] and Journal of Controlled Release.^[20] Additionally, he served as a Guest Associate Editor for the journal Bioengineering & Translational Medicine and currently acts as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Acoustics.^[21]

Shields' career is also distinguished by scientific outreach and mentorship. For several years, his group has partnered with a local high school on Senior Design engineering projects^[22] and launching a Reverse Science Fair.^[23] Shields was also recognized for his mentorship of students of diverse and underrepresented backgrounds while working under Dr. Gabriel López in 2016.^[24]

At the University of Colorado Boulder, Shields has received several distinguished research awards, including a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award,^[22][25][26] Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program award,^[27] Pew Biomedical Scholars award,^[28][29] Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering,^[13][30] and an NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA).^[13] Shields is one of only 20 recipients of the Packard Fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder.^[31] Additionally, he was awarded with the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2024.^[32][33]

Other awards and honors include:

• Emerging Investigator, Nanoscale Journal (2024)
• Dean’s Faculty Fellowship, University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering (2024)
• Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (2023)
• Frontiers of Engineering Participant, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (2023)^[34][35]
• CU Boulder Lab Venture Challenge Awardee (2022)^[36]
• Outreach Partner of the Year, Northglenn High School (2022)
• Beckman Young Investigator Award Finalist (2022)
• NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (2021)^[14]
• Best On-Demand Talk by the Controlled Release Society (2020)
• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring, Duke University (2016)^[24]
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2012)^[37]
• NSF Research Triangle MRSEC Fellowship (2011)^[24]