MPS Staff

Sangya Varma, PhD, is a scientist, an educator, an inventor, an innovator, and a leader with demonstrated accomplishments in building and leading education and workforce development programs, specifically the Rutgers-New Brunswick undergraduate Data Science programs; in successful grants procurement and completion of multimillion dollar grants; in prudent management of personnel and business operations. She is responsible for the development of education programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, division-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) activities, together with communication in support of and external engagement at Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Dean's office of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) encompassing 6 departments: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, Computer Science, Statistics, Earth and Planetary Sciences. She led the interdisciplinary, interschool, Professional Science Master of Business & Science (MBS) degree program that addresses the need of developing a highly trained workforce in science and technology with skills in business and management.

She has proven technical ability in intellectual property contributions through medical devices discoveries; and industry experience in product development, by translating 100% discoveries into FDA approved, revenue generating, commercial products. As the founding Director of Biofabrication and Biomanufacturing WFD program, she developed experiential learning and skills training programs for the nascent biofabrication industry sector including additive manufacturing/3D bioprinting and digital dentistry. Dr. Varma is an investigator of the NIH funded REACH hub Rutgers Optimizes Innovation (ROI) and the Rutgers PI for Sisters Rise Up - RiseUp4CS program whose main PI is at UMich.   As a lead in Transition and Commercialization Team (TCT), sponsored by DoD Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine, AFIRM-II, Dr. Varma assessed the technology readiness of 60 projects in five focus areas: craniomaxillofacial, extremity regeneration, genitourinary, skin regeneration, and composite tissue allotransplantation. She managed several clinical trials, the most humbling being the full face transplant. She was the Chief Operating Officer of the NJ Center for Biomaterials at RU-SAS for five years.