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When Lia DiMitri started college, she wasn’t looking for a conventional
path—she was looking for opportunities. Five years, three co-ops, and a dual
degree later, she’s graduating from Drexel with an education shaped as much
by experience as by coursework. From international study to cutting-edge
research, she embraced every chance to explore, question, and grow. What
started as academic curiosity soon became a driving force in both her
studies and her outlook on life.
Exactly halfway through her college career, DiMitri took an
intensive course abroad
(ICA), a class called “The Truth About Science and Religion: From the Big
Bang to Neuroscience” with Dr. Fraser Fleming. For DiMitri, who was raised
Catholic, it was a fascinating examination of something she’d been thinking
about for a while.
“I had always felt these concepts were more interconnected than not, so when
Drexel offered a course delving into these questions, I had to take it!” she
said. “I traveled to Switzerland, Italy, and Germany over nine days,
visiting the monasteries of great scientists, world-renowned laboratories
such as CERN, and historical landmarks like the Colosseum. I was in awe –
not just about the architectural beauty but the interpersonal connections I
made throughout the trip.”
Through connections she made during her trip, DiMitri went forward and
visited more scientific landmarks across Europe with four classmates.
“One thing I will cherish from this experience is the friendships I created
along the way,” DiMitri said. “Much is to be said about humanity’s
commonality—pondering the same questions scientific scholars centuries ago
dedicated their lives to, sharing a meal with priests at the Vatican
observatory, and travelling abroad with other Drexel classmates.”
Back at home, DiMitri is president of Material Advantage and a member of
Drexel’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Through these
organizations, she was able to attend two of SWE’s annual conferences and
the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition with Material Advantage. The
networking opportunities provided by these student organizations also gave
Lia connection in the form of mentorship. After her academic advisor
connected her to absolute Drexel living legend and former SWE president
Cailey Ruderman (BS/MS Materials ‘24), she decided to switch from chemical
engineering to materials science.
“The mentorship relationships I developed... have been a catalyst for my
personal, professional, and academic growth. Not only have they opened my
eyes to opportunities available to me at Drexel,” DiMitri said, “but they
have also helped me forge lifelong friendships.”
DiMitri doesn’t forget to pay it forward. In her organizations, she makes an
effort to ensure her members know about upcoming scholarships, resume
reviews, and other events. “I hope that Drexel students take advantage of
each and every opportunity available to them,” she said. “The first step in
doing so is making sure students know these exist.”
As a graduating dual-degree senior, DiMitri is wrapping up her master’s
thesis research in Dr. Peter Deak’s Immunomodulatory Laboratory, where she
studies new ways to treat autoimmune diseases—conditions that affect more
than 50 million Americans. Current treatments often rely on
immunosuppressive drugs, which weaken the immune system and leave patients
more vulnerable to infections. DiMitri’s research focuses on developing a
more precise approach using microscopic drug carriers to regulate immune
responses without compromising overall immunity.
“The goal of my research is to synergistically load tolerogenic drug
combinations into polylactic-co-glycolic (PGLA) microparticles, harnessing a
unique strategy known as ‘push and pull immunomodulation,’” DiMitri said.
“This strategy generates antigen-specific treatment of autoimmune issues,
developing a more targeted, effective therapy which mitigates current
immunosuppressive side effects.”
She has successfully packed these drugs into microparticles and is now
studying how they release over time to promote immune tolerance. Her lab
recently received a prestigious NIH R21 grant to explore how these
microparticles could improve outcomes for kidney transplant patients.
Going forward, DiMitri wants to continue to research materials that interact
with the immune system to create better treatment strategies. The
nanocarrier systems she wishes to study target specific parts of the body or
slip past the immune system’s detection to prevent inflammation, making
drugs more effective. DiMitri’s planning on staying in Philadelphia to
pursue her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. She values her time in
University City as an expansive one that helped her to find community and
truly get a sense of Philly’s ‘brotherly love’.
“Drexel’s proximity to Center Cty just across the Schuylkill means there is
always something to do,” DiMitri said. Philly is emerging as a hub for cell
and gene therapy, and Lia wants to use her biomaterials background to shape
its future. “Attending [Drexel], I can feel the pulsing of a city on the
brink of transformation. A buzz of construction, a changing landscape, a
life sciences ecosystem taking root beneath the pavement I walk. I want to
be a part of it... and there is no better place than Philadelphia.”
Through every challenge, every discovery, and every connection made along
the way, DiMitri has learned that the key to success isn’t just knowledge –
it's the willingness to pursue it.
“I quickly learned that true growth stems from embracing the unknown,” she
said. “I began to understand that vulnerability is not a weakness, but a
strength. Accepting that vulnerability and acting on it through asking
questions, seeking feedback, and accepting mistakes not only allowed me to
better my engineering skills but also grow as a scientist... a younger
version of myself before co-op would have panicked over a failed experiment,
but failure is a valuable part in pursuing scientific knowledge.”