News: IMES community profile: Shaniel Bowen

Biomedical engineer Shaniel Bowen combines research into female sexual anatomy and health, with steering young women toward STEM careers

Mindy Blodgett | IMES

Shaniel Bowen is finishing up her time as a fellow in the MIT Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Engineering Excellence, where she has worked in the Edelman Lab since September 2023. During her time in the lab, her research used computational modeling to focus on the effects of age and pelvic reconstructive surgery on female pelvic anatomy and function. She has worked to enhance her computational knowledge by expanding her skills in biochemistry and cell biology, tissue mechanics and engineering. Here, Shaniel reflects on her time at IMES and MIT, and on her plans for the future.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

I am a second-gen immigrant of Jamaican descent raised by veterans. My mom is a nurse practitioner, my father is an accountant, and I have a little brother who is 8 years younger than I am. Grew up in the Bronx, New York, for around 6 years, and then later moved to Bloomfield, Connecticut, for pretty much the rest of my childhood.

I became interested in STEM, and then more specifically in Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering, through reading, drawing, and playing video games in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genres.

I received my BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, where I focused on human biomechanics and rehabilitation devices. I then transitioned to Women’s Health for my PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, where I collaborated with the Magee-Women's Research Institute to study the effects of age and pelvic reconstructive surgery on female pelvic anatomy/function, as well as racial diversity in female pelvic anatomy. Afterwards, I became an MIT Engineering Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow, joining the Edelman Lab in IMES to study the histology of animal clitoral anatomy, identify age/racial differences in human clitoral anatomy using MRI, and develop a childbirth injury prevention device.

Why did you choose to join the Edelman Lab?

I chose the Edelman Lab because I was drawn to its multidisciplinary experimental and computational work, the diversity of the research team, and the lab’s longstanding history of STEM outreach and advocacy. I will forever appreciate Elazer (Edelman, director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research) and Mercedes (Balcells-Camps, principal research scientist at IMES) for being open to having me in the Edelman lab, given how niche and taboo my postdoctoral research interests were, especially since they were extremely different from what the lab has done thus far. I was also grateful for the opportunity to learn the basics of wet lab approaches as someone from a predominantly computational background.

Can you tell us something about your research interests? 

I am passionate about women’s health, especially within the field of sexual medicine, which continues to be stigmatized and marginalized from a societal and biomedical research standpoint. I love that my lab is a melting pot of a wide array of projects and colleagues spanning many disciplines and areas across the globe.

What do you enjoy about being at MIT and IMES? Are there any challenges you want to share?

I love the wealth of resources, training, and networking opportunities at IMES and MIT. It took a while for me to build a sense of community in both, but with time, I have had many life- and career-changing experiences that I would not have had elsewhere. I am thankful for the trainees, peers, faculty/career mentors, and staff with whom I have grown close and grown from.

Your time at the Edelman Lab is over. What do you plan to do next?

I will be joining the Marshall Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to identify MRI biomarkers of female genito-pelvic (dys)function and develop novel biomedical approaches to assess female genito-pelvic health in high-need populations. I will also complete my remaining work from the Edelman Lab and work towards applying for academic and research positions next year.

What are you hoping to accomplish with your career? 

I would like to either be a working professional in STEM Education/Outreach in an administrative position or a research scientist/faculty in women’s health/high-need populations (Veterans, Elderly, POC, LGBTQ+).

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I enjoy playing classical piano music, drawing, reading fantasy romance and mystery thrillers, and watching horror films.

What is on your bucket list? 

I have always wanted to visit Japan or South Korea for vacation. Aside from that, the top of my bucket list is to publish a post-apocalyptic romantasy graphic novella.

Can you tell us more about the area where you grew up, what makes it distinctive? 

Bloomfield, CT, is a small suburb with a surprisingly large Caribbean population, which is pretty cool and I had taken for granted before attending college. Now, whenever I get homesick or have a craving for Jamaican food, there are tons of great options to turn to while visiting family.  

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years?

Hopefully, by then, I will have finally settled in the Northeast, either working in academia or the federal government, focusing on women’s health or STEM research and advocacy.