Engineering Breast Milk to Treat Infant Illness

DRUG DELIVERY Engineering breast milk to treat infant illness Katie Whitehead’s ambitious plan? Harness breast-milk cells After a morning visit to a local goat farm, Rose Doerfler to deliver drugs to babies processes the milk to isolate cells. The cells will be used in preliminary experiments to help build a system for breast milk MEGHA SATYANARAYANA, C&EN DALLAS as a drug-delivery vehicle.

lsie is a consistent producer. Ebony is pretty hit or miss. thinking. And yet she wondered: Breast feeding is one of the oldest But Charlotte—black and tan, with the perkiest ears— acts of humanity. Why are these questions bold? By 2018, shouldn’t she’s prolific. She’s one reason why, every few weeks, a we already know what breast milk is capable of doing? E graduate student named Rose Doerfler wakes up at the “The basic biology isn’t revolutionary. It’s there, waiting to be crack of dawn to drive the winding roads outside Pittsburgh to discovered,” Whitehead says. Goat Rodeo Farm and Dairy. She wondered whether it hasn’t yet been explored because, his- On this December morning, Doerfler will gather milk from the torically, women haven’t been in leadership positions, applying, as capricious caprids of this cheese-making farm, rush back to Katie scientists often do, their life experiences to their work. “I think it’s Whitehead’s lab at Carnegie Mellon University, and carefully iso- because the women aren’t doing the science. I really think that’s late the cells that float in the white, fatty murk. the unfortunate answer.” “I’m optimistic,” Doerfler says. “Charlotte did pretty well for me Whether this project succeeds or fails, Whitehead says she last time.” hopes to get across that this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes What Doerfler does with this milk is the first step in White- to unanswered questions about female biology. She also hopes head’s grand plan to one day turn human breast milk into a to encourage more women to let personal experiences shape our drug-delivery device for sick babies. The goat milk will serve as a pursuit of science. This diversity in thinking will lead to broader model for human milk, with mice as a model for babies. She’ll track questions, more discovery, and, of course, more innovation. goat-milk cells as they enter a mouse and do experiments to see if “I’m in my sixth year now of being a professor, and in the be- the cells can carry therapeutic payloads. ginning I kind of thought, ‘OK, I have to work on certain types of If this sounds kind of out there, Whitehead wants it that way. problems and certain types of diseases.’ I have found it to be only After the sting of having a grant rejected in 2016 because her ideas somewhat fulfilling,” she says as she waits to hear from Doerfler were “not innovative,” she decided to prove the reviewer wrong. about the goat-milk cells she isolated that morning. “So to feel While nursing her infant daughter, she thought about what breast like there’s this additional level of meaning that I can bring to my milk was and what it was giving her child. From there, the idea work—it’s been really priceless.” came into focus in bits and pieces. Cell engineering is changing the way we treat disease, she thought. Look at cancer treatments that involve modified T cells. First, follow the cells Human breast milk is full of cells. Surely, she thought, we can Breast milk is a combination of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, isolate them, engineer them to become potent vehicles for medi- nucleic acids, microbes, and a surprising number of cells from the cine delivery, and feed them to babies quickly and efficiently. Less woman who produced it. Carlito Lebrilla, an analytical chemist poking and prodding, she thought, and less pain. at the University of California, Davis, calls it “nature’s delivery Coupling modern medicine to this most intimate and iconic device.” He’s been parsing the oligosaccharide components of act of motherhood could lead to a new wave of therapies and oral breast milk for years and learning how pervasive milk compounds vaccines, she says in her grant proposal. Whitehead believes that are in a baby’s body. “We’ve looked at the blood of infants, the she can engineer immune cells in breast milk so that they can de- urine of infants, the saliva, the stool—and the components of milk liver vaccines, or engineer stem cells in breast milk to fix certain are everywhere,” he says. birth defects. She could also engineer epithelial cells in breast milk Lebrilla’s efforts to track the molecular components of breast to coax them into producing proteins that some babies cannot milk are akin to what Whitehead is trying to do with cells. She make, offering what could be a lifelong fix for some serious genetic wants to know: Where do the cells from breast milk go in a baby’s diseases. For instance, in phenylketonuria, babies lack an enzyme body? Babies’ stomachs are less acidic than adults’, and their imma- that breaks down phenylalanine. The project could also help ture digestive tracts are leaky enough for cells to slip through. answer a slew of questions about the biology of breast milk and Armed with information about where breast-milk cells go in an infant feeding. infant’s body, Whitehead says, she may be able to devise organ-spe- The idea was a winner. In 2018, Whitehead, a chemical engineer cific treatments. She envisions taking breast milk from a mother who studies drug delivery, earned a National Institutes of Health with a sick child, isolating the cells, transfecting them with DNA Director’s New Innovator Award to apply cell-engineering princi- corresponding to therapeutic proteins or vaccines, allowing the

CREDIT: MEGHA SATYANARAYANA/C&EN MEGHA CREDIT: ples to breast milk. Finally, she was being recognized for big, bold cells to grow and divide, then putting them back in the milk, and

MARCH 4, 2019 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN feeding that medically fortified milk to the among other places. And several years ago, Whitehead the difficulties of doing re- child. Evidence with other cell types in Foteini Hassiotou Kakulas, a cell biologist search on pregnant women, fetuses, and breast milk suggests that it’s possible that at the University of Western Australia, children. Take the placenta project: most these treatments could be lifelong—breast- tracked the movements of stem cells from drugs have not and—with currently avail- milk cells can integrate into the organs of human breast milk in the body of a mouse. able technology—cannot easily be tested the child drinking them. Where the cells journeyed in the body for fetal safety. Many pregnant women “My vision for them has been that they was surprising. “We are not just talking must make choices about taking medicines will essentially be protein-replacement about easy-to-access organs, but also they might need without knowing if those factories. Epithelial cells are literally pro- isolated and well-protected organs such medications are safe for their babies. tein-production factories, so why not use as the brain,” Kakulas says. “They in- “Yes, it is absolutely true that there are them as such?” she says. tegrate and become part of the normal very limited means by which to conduct Of the three main types of cells found function of these organs. It’s an amazing ethical trials of any kind on this,” she says in human breast milk—epithelial, immune, phenomenon.” of drug safety during pregnancy. But the and stem—Whitehead and her team are Kakulas also discovered that breast-milk people with the most institutional power starting their experiments with epithelial cells, predominantly the epithelial ones, are men, who underestimate the problem cells, which line our organs and blood ves- produce large amounts of a specific type of because they haven’t experienced it them- sels. As the most abundant, they seemed RNA that prevents messenger RNA from selves, she contends. like a good first choice to engineer. being translated into a protein. These RNAs “I think the other large part of the prob- This is where Charlotte, Elsie, and some largely control maternal genes. But Kakulas lem is that there are a bunch of male scien- of their sisters come in. One of Doerfler’s thinks that they, like most other elements tists sitting around saying, ‘Nobody’s dying first tasks in Whitehead’s lab was to find a of breast milk, have a mission inside a here,’ ” she says, so the quality-of-life issue substantial source of breast-milk cells to baby—influencing newborn and infant gets lost. study. Working with human breast milk development by tamping down protein Lebrilla says a broader cultural shift would require complex protocols and eth- production related to, for example, thirst or needs to happen in biomedical science for ics approvals, and it would be hard to devel- hunger (Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, DOI: 10.3390/ research on underserved topics like breast op a standard set of cells because humans ijms17060956). milk to become more pervasive. vary in their diet and medication use. So Kakulas sees a lot of potential in White- “Certainly, I think having more wom- Doerfler needed to look elsewhere. head’s idea, but also a lot of risk. en in science will change it in a big way,” Although mice make good test subjects “Breast-milk-cell research using mod- he says. But the problem is a bigger one for her work, including testing engineered ern techniques is relatively new and has of where we place our value. Biomedical cells in later experimental stages, “you a lot of promise in the medical field,” she science is focused on cures, he says, and can’t get very much milk from mice,” says. But “a lot of work will be required to less on prevention. And the messengers of Doerfler deadpans. ensure the safety of such a system in ba- prevention, the primary care doctors, the After calling several farms just outside bies. Preterm babies and babies at risk are nurses, the dietitians, tend to be women. Pittsburgh, she learned about Goat Rodeo. likely wonderful candidates in a research The work of prevention ends up being Owner India Loevner was intrigued. area such as this.” devalued, he says. And while Whitehead “People don’t realize how closely related Lebrilla agrees that the idea is exciting. wants to cure disease, she wants to do mammals who make milk are,” Loevner “Milk is just an incredible resource for it at the earliest point possible, through says. interesting particles and delivery devices, breast milk, or maybe formula, which the Loevner agreed to participate, and Doer- and I think people should really look at it child would be getting anyway. In doing fler began her periodic trek to the farm to more closely.” this, she hopes to prevent illnesses that collect samples during the morning milking often lead to disability or death, or prevent session. She soon learned that a goat whose children and their families from having to milk makes delicious cheese isn’t always Second, get more women go through years of painful and potentially going to be the same goat that produces a in science costly treatments. lot of cells in its milk. For Whitehead, one of the side effects And so Charlotte, Elsie, Ebony, and the Back in the lab after that morning trip in of the work she’s put into the New Innova- sisterhood of Goat Rodeo Farm find them- December, Doerfler spun Charlotte’s milk tor Award has been a reckoning about the selves part of not just a scientific project in a centrifuge and skimmed off the fat. direction of her lab’s focus. Before breast but a social one as well. Whitehead hopes At the bottom of the centrifuge tube was milk, her lab worked on drug delivery in a that understanding more about breast a thick layer of cells. She was pleased. As more general way, focusing on designing milk and other aspects of women’s biology winter settled on southwest Pennsylvania, proteins for oral delivery or finding ways to will normalize women’s biology as a space she got to work counting the cells so she transport RNA therapeutics. That work, she where chemical engineering can solve prob- could plan an experiment to put fluores- says, was less viscerally related to personal lems, but she doesn’t believe that failure cently tagged nanoparticles in them that experience. will kill that vibe. would eventually help the lab track where But with the breast-milk proposal, as “I believe the breast-milk proposal will the cells go. well as another in the lab exploring how to serve 100% of the population,” she says. “These look nice,” she says, pointing to package drugs in such a way that they can’t “Everyone is born. Everyone has the poten- plump little blobs under a microscope on a cross the placenta, there has been a subtle tial to use this type of therapy. Our main counting grid. shift toward addressing major problems goal is to create new technology that works. Tracking breast-milk cells after they’ve that affect women’s health during their And so, even if I fail, if I can inspire others been fed to an animal is not without prec- reproductive years. to go forth and to start asking questions edent. Immune cells from breast milk The experience of pregnancy, child- along these lines, then it’s a win, regardless have been found in the liver and spleen, birth, and breastfeeding has laid bare for of what happens to me.” ◾

C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MARCH 4, 2019 Reprinted from Chemical & Engineering News, Vol. 97 No. 9 pp. 29–31 Copyright © 2019 by the American Chemical Society and reprinted by permission of the copyright owner Microscopy And VR Illuminate New Ways To PREVENT AND TREAT DISEASE

JUNE 13, 2019

A combined research team from Carnegie Mellon University and Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) at Virginia Mason is pairing a nanoscale imaging technique with virtual reality (VR) technology to create a method that allows researchers to “step inside” their biological data.

By combining the technique, called expansion microscopy, with VR, scientists will be able to enlarge, explore and analyze cell structures far beyond the capabilities of tradi- tional light microscopy.

The development of these technolo- gies, a two-step process funded with $200,000 from Bill & Melinda Gates Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences in CMU’s Mellon College of Science Yongxin (Leon) Zhao Foundation’s Grand Challenges, is developing a microscopy technique that allows researchers to analyze cell structures in greater will accelerate researchers’ under- detail. standing of infectious and autoimmune diseases and enhance their Yongxin (Leon) Zhao, an assistant expansion microscopy technique to ability to develop disease diagnos- professor of biological sciences at physically magnify a biopsy, allow- tics and prevention and treatment Carnegie Mellon’s Mellon College ing researchers to see fine details in methods. of Science, has been developing the biological samples using standard microscopes.

Zhao makes biopsy samples grow “This is the future of how scientists can handle in size by chemically transforming them into water-soluble hydrogels. complex data. It’s an immersive experience, just This treatment loosens the tissues like you are sitting inside your data. ” and allows them to expand more — Yongxin (Leon) Zhao, than 100 times in volume. The tis- Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences sues and molecules within the sample can then be labeled, imaged and

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors compiled into a complex set of data to study interactions among cells and their structures.

However, a limitation of the technology is that it extracts two to three orders of magnitude more data than current techniques can interpret.

To remedy that problem, the grant pairs expansion microscopy with a VR technique developed at BRI at Virginia Mason, a healthcare system in Seattle, Washington.

Through VR technology developed specifically for the purpose, researchers will be able to see and manipulate the originally 2-D expansion microscopy images in 3-D — creating a 360-degree view of tissue and protein organizations and interactions. Biological Sciences graduate student Brendan Gallagher (S 2019) views expansion microscopy data The system to convert expansion using virtual reality. microscopy data into VR 3-D images will be affordable and easily acces- “We’ll send those to Carnegie Mel- “Bringing all that data into VR not sible to researchers and physicians lon, where they will enlarge the only allows the scientist to see their in developing countries. It will also samples and send images back to 2-D microscope images in full 3-D, allow for up to six people to collab- BRI to be viewed in VR.” but to interact with the data, select- orate and view the same sample ing channels, adjusting the views, remotely at the same time. The VR technology was devel- colors and contrast, and grabbing oped by Tom Skillman, BRI’s for- and rotating the images to quickly “At BRI, we’ll prepare the live infec- mer director of informatics and identify key aspects of the image tious and autoimmune disease sam- research technology, who has since that are coupled back to the disease ples,” said Caroline Stefani, senior founded a VR company, Immersive under study,” Skillman said. postdoctoral research associate. Science. The eventual goal is for the VR tool, called ExMicroVRTM, to be shared on open platforms with other “You have the freedom to explore your researchers along with expansion data from every angle and every spot.” microscopy, so that they also can — Yongxin (Leon) Zhao, view new details of disease pro- Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences cesses and understand larger, more complex sets of data.

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors COMPUTERS CAN NOW BLUFF LIKE A POKER CHAMP. BETTER, ACTUALLY.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019 Argo AI to invest $15M in research lab at CMU

By Courtney Linder Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The buzzy self-driving car startup in which Ford invested $1 billion two years ago - Strip District-based Argo AI - announced Monday that it’s making a financial promise of its own: committing $15 million to Carnegie Mellon University to establish an on-campus research hub. Aptly named the “Carnegie Mellon University Argo AI Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research,” the hub will be dedicated to at least five years of deep exploration into some of the greatest challenges for self-driving cars. At the moment, this mostly includes advanced perception research, which helps vehicles “see” obstacles on the road, and vastly improved decision- making algorithms that help the cars’ Courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University internal computers manage various Argo AI has committed $15 million over five years to establish a research lab on CMU courses of action they may take, opting campus. for the safest one. Deva Ramanan, an associate professor in the Robotics Institute who also serves as machine learning lead at A young startup grows up A lot has changed since then. Argo AI, will lead the new Argo lab. Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky is a Due in large part to early research Argo AI isn’t the only company Pittsburgh native. From a young age, like the Terregator, there is now a experimenting with autonomous he recalls the city being the epicenter blossoming self-driving industry in vehicles on campus, though. Raj of self-driving research. Pittsburgh with companies such as Rajkumar, a noted researcher in The university’s first autonomous Uber, Aptiv and Lawrenceville-based autonomous-vehicle technology - and vehicle, he said, was called the Aurora Innovation testing vehicles on the founder of a startup called Terregator. It was a mobile robot our streets, in addition to Argo AI. Ottomatika, acquired by O’Hara-based designed for both indoor and outdoor Since Argo was established in late self-driving firm Aptiv - runs the testing to study navigation, sensors 2016, it has grown from three employees General Motors-Carnegie Mellon and more. to about 400. And, of course, there’s “[It] drove at the lightning speed of that huge infusion of cash that Ford PROOF Connected and Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab. several centimeters per second,” Mr. gave Argo mere months later in 2017. Uber is also funding on-campus Salesky said to laughs from the Setting up shop on CMU’s campus projects. audience. “That was back in 1984. I was likely will create another huge benefit four years old.” Continued on back

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019

Continued from front for the young company, considering “We can’t do this alone,” he said At CMU, there also will be a human that the demand for engineers in the before a room filled with industry component to Argo’s research. self-driving space is fierce. experts, researchers, public officials Much to the delight of Pittsburgh The lab creates a direct pipeline for and students. Mayor Bill Peduto, who was in fresh talent, allowing students to work Considering the formation of similar attendance, the center also will focus in the lab while in school and possibly academic-corporate partnerships in on safety improvements and explore even secure a job at Argo AI upon the autonomous vehicles research ethical questions that arise from the graduation. Mr. Salesky calls these space, that seems to be true. commercial deployment of self-driving students the “next generation” of self- At the Massachusetts Institute of technology. driving vehicle researchers. Technology, there is a lab within its The mayor somewhat facetiously Significantly, all research and computer science and artificial- suggested that Argo and CMU employ software developed at the center will be intelligence school completely dedicated some philosophers in the new lab. open-source, meaning other companies to the development of self-driving tech. In any case, he was hopeful that or universities can leverage its findings. Toyota put $25 million into this professors in the humanities will play Carnegie Mellon, for its part, will endeavor in 2015. The aim is to reduce a role in the research. benefit from having new industry traffic casualties and work toward Meanwhile, Mr. Salesky said the resources and research that it otherwise creating a vehicle that won’t get into partnership and financial arrangements wouldn’t have access to, such as private accidents. Similar to CMU, the MIT for the new lab are about more than self-driving data sets, fleets of cars and lab is researching decision-making just advancing research: They also are other computer and hardware algorithms and perception systems. about preserving the heart of self- equipment that otherwise would be At Stanford, Toyota spent another driving car development in Pittsburgh, difficult to obtain, according to Mr. $25 million that same year to set up an where he says it all began. Ramanan. autonomous research lab. Their focus “This really is, truly, the birthplace is on “human-centered artificial of autonomous vehicles.” ‘We can’t do this alone’ intelligence for future intelligent Farnam Jahanian, president of CMU, robotics,” as the university calls it. That said during a campus news conference basically comes down to developing Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette. that this partnership represents a new new approaches to machine perception com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG. way of thinking about collaboration and reasoning, as at CMU. between industry and academia. PROOF

APRIL 1, 2019

Artificial intelligence has entered the art space. AI has been used to create paintings, music, literature and poetry, to name a few disciplines. The use of algorithms in the creation of artwork raises tricky questions in the art world, possibly creating new gray areas in ownership and intellectual property.

“The person who creates an algorithm owns the algorithm. If the algorithm is critical to the creation of the art — and the artist is a separate person — there’s shared ownership that needs to be figured out,” said Brett Ashley Crawford, associ- Art and public policy are just some of the areas being explored by the CMU artificial intelligence ate professor of arts management research and education initiative, which brings together nearly 200 faculty members from at the Heinz College of Informa- throughout the university. tion Systems and Public Policy and director of the Arts Management & open source, that could complicate other professionals. We can expect Technology Laboratory (AMT Lab) things even further. to see more and more art generated at Carnegie Mellon University. by AI as well as artists using AI as “We’re still in the first generation a tool. At CMU, AI influences artis- Crawford said that in visual art, of artists working in these spaces,” tic processes and arts management ownership is typically transferred Crawford said. “In many cases, education. upon sale, whereas in music and people are learning as they go to performing arts there’s often a market. Sometimes they’re learning “AI-powered art is permeating licensing agreement or a transfer of the hard way because ownership across the university,” said Kathryn rights rather than ownership. If an hasn’t been properly determined. Heidemann (HNZ 2004), alumna algorithm is used to create music, There aren’t best practices or public of CMU’s Master of Arts Manage- and then that music is streamed policies yet.” ment (MAM) program and former on Spotify, the resulting payment assistant dean of Heinz College structures may be quite complex. But as technology continues to and the College of Fine Arts. “CMU Similarly, if the images, music or progress, machines will play a is expanding coursework in this data used to train an algorithm are greater collaborative role with art- space, with some exciting partner- not fully in the public domain or ists, just as they will with so many ships on the horizon.”

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors Heidemann directed the MAM program from 2011-19 and is now chief academic officer and dean of faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Art. New York Live Arts is partnering with CMU and the MAM program on this year’s Live Ideas festival, the theme of which is “AI: Are You Brave Enough for The Brave New World?”

There are a host of other initiatives at CMU, including gallery shows, CMU students are harnessing AI to create innovative art such as this Chinese landscape painting symposia, art and machine learn- by Lingdong Huang (A 2019). ing classes, and multiple cross- disciplinary collaborations. mental silos and becoming more Crawford added that there is a gen- multidisciplinary. eral misconception among arts Carnegie Mellon students, faculty organizations that AI and tech- and alumni already have an impres- “For arts managers, these develop- nological tools are prohibitively sive track record exploring the ments actually provide job secu- expensive or require a staff of edges of arts, design and technol- rity. The relationship between IT specialists to understand and ogy, establishing CMU as a leader artwork and the audience can’t be implement. in this space. automated. Connecting the art to the audience still requires human “There are many AI opportunities A TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE beings, and that’s what we do in the that are low-hanging fruit for arts FOR ARTISTS AND ARTS MAM program.” organizations. Our graduates can MANAGERS ALIKE walk in and amaze people with When we talk about robots replac- Heidemann said the broader arts what they can do,” Crawford said. ing or disrupting the human work- community is starting to pay atten- force across industries, we usually tion to how AI can be used as a Crawford said her students learn to temper it with the assurance that tool for audience engagement, use a new technology in every class, some skills are fundamentally audience development and patron from project management tools and human and not automatable. Econ- management. open-source GIS tools to creating a omists suggest that future jobs will chatbot. require more empathy and cre- “MAM students are taught to feel ativity from humans as these are comfortable and confident with “You have to plan for the future. not qualities easily replicated by analytics and technology includ- Is AI here to stay? Absolutely. Part machines. ing AI tools. They don’t have to of effective training for arts man- be techies to use these things,” agers now is to understand where Is that true for art and artists, Heidemann said. “Our curriculum you have an appropriate use for AI though? Crawford said the truth is addresses technological disrup- or any technology,” Crawford said. more complicated than that. tion across multidisciplinary arts. Rather than breaking out visual arts “That’s why technological knowl- “Many artists are going to have and performing arts as separate, edge is not siloed into a single class to either work with coders or we bring those sides together and or set of classes here. It’s spread learn to code,” she said, adding look at how technology is changing across our entire curriculum.” that art schools will need to fol- things and creating opportunities low suit by breaking down depart- across disciplines.”

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors CMU Alumnae Play Powerful ROLES ON BROADWAY

MAY 28, 2019

Broadway experienced an unex- pected first last year: An all-female creative team assembled by alumna Leigh Silverman mounted a production of “The Lifespan of a Fact” by journalist John D’Agata.

“I feel it is our responsibility as we gain power and any kind of platform, that we continue to widen the road as we go,” said Silverman, a 1996 College of Fine Arts graduate. “This is my fourth Broadway show, and I felt it was important to include, as I have throughout my career, women and people of color and put them in positions of power.” Kristolyn Lloyd (front row, left), Meg Zervoulis, Emily Skinner, Leigh Silverman (back row, left), Earlier this year, three alumnae Liz Coleman, Jamie deRoy and Peggy Eisenhauer are some of CMU’s notable female alumni from Carnegie Mellon University working in theater. — producer Jamie deRoy, costume designer Ann Roth and lighting are four who shared what inspires Wagner cites her work in the the- designer Peggy Eisenhauer — them, tools they still use from their ater for giving her the tools to move received nine Tony Award nomina- CMU training and what advice they forward into a career as an agent and tions. Additionally, alumna Judith have for students following in their now a producer. Her agility and love Light received the 2019 Isabelle Ste- footsteps. of storytelling have given her career venson Award for her work as an longevity and allowed her the ability advocate for LGBTQIA+ causes. PAULA WAGNER to work across mediums. Paula Wagner (A 1969) experienced a “My experience of being a woman sort of homecoming this year when “I think that the philosophy of working on Broadway has been she returned to her theater roots Carnegie Mellon, ‘My heart is in the nothing short of extraordinary, to produce the Broadway musical work,’ is a simple one, and it can be amazing in every way,” Judith Light adaptation of the 1990 movie “Pretty translated in many ways,” explained said. “These people and these casts Woman.” Though she has been Wagner, a member of CMU’s Board and these productions — it’s beyond working in film since the late 1970s, of Trustees. “At CMU, there was a words how much love and faith and Wagner’s love for entertaining commitment to what we were doing, support I’ve received.” began at age 13 at the Youngstown to the work we were doing, because Playhouse in Ohio. it had a meaning and relevance.” Numerous CMU alumnae are making their marks on Broadway. Here

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors One of her best suggestions for young designers is to look for men- torship from many, not just from one person.

“You can find and cultivate a board of mentors who you can rely on that Paula Wagner Kristolyn Lloyd Peggy Eisenhauer Jamie deRoy don’t have to give their whole life to you but that can offer support.” KRISTOLYN LLOYD PEGGY EISENHAUER When Kristolyn Lloyd (A 2007) Peggy Eisenhauer (A 1983) stands JAMIE deROY arrived at CMU to study musical the- out as one of a few Broadway lighting Jamie deRoy (A 1967) is a connector. ater, she was struck by the amount designers who happen to be women. As one of Broadway’s most prolific of talent that surrounded her. Those She refers to herself as a wild card — producers, she helps get produc- peers drove her to work hard. someone who has broken a barrier tions up, running and funded. but hasn’t left a path behind. “I think it’s valuable for every young Her career in the theater began as person to know that when they get As a child, Eisenhauer saw Broadway an aspiring actress at CMU, where into the business, there are going productions and noticed the work of she learned the discipline and rigor to be people that are better than professional lighting designers. A that would lead her to a childhood you,” Lloyd said. “There’s something favorite was Jules Fisher, and when dream, first formed when her father about adjusting to working in a com- it came time to apply to colleges, invested in the Broadway produc- petitive environment. You have to she chose his alma mater, Carnegie tions of “The Pajama Game” and find a way to show up and do your Mellon. “Damn Yankees.” work. That’s what I learned at CMU.” “I met him when I was 18, as a soph- After working as an actress on film, Lloyd notes that being a black omore, because he came to school television and stage, she dipped woman on Broadway has given her a to give a talk. Flash forward to get- her toe into the world of producing unique voice and the ability to bring ting to work with him, not that much after seeing “The Complete Works of an important perspective to conver- later when I was 23, it all sprung out William Shakespeare (Abridged).” sations about what a play is trying to of CMU,” Eisenhauer said. With more than 50 Broadway and 40 say to its audience. Her noteworthy off-Broadway productions to her credit, career has included roles on tele- After graduating, Eisenhauer began deRoy has won seven Tony Awards. vision and stage. She played Alana assisting Fisher, and eventually Beck in the original cast of “Dear formed a more than 34-year strong “Everything is about connection for Evan Hansen” and recently starred artistic collaboration. Together, me. It snowballs — I didn’t rush into as Jo March in a new adaptation of they have earned three Tony Awards things right at the beginning. I see “Little Women” at Primary Stages. and have been nominated for a something off-Broadway, like ‘The dozen. Band’s Visit’ or ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,’ and become attached because I think it’s a great production, or I like the director or “At CMU, there was a commitment to writer.” what we were doing, to the work we were doing, See more profiles of CMU’s Broadway because it had a meaning and relevance.” alumnae at cmu.edu/ambassadors. — Paula Wagner

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors $10 MILLION GIFT Endows Carnegie Mellon Deanship

JUNE 18, 2019

Carnegie Mellon University Trustee and alumnus Lane Bess and his wife, Letty, have made a $10 million gift to endow the dean’s chair for the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The gift allows Dean Richard Scheines and his successors to incentivize innovation around the college’s strategic initiatives and

“This extraordinary gift from Lane and Letty creates new Lane and Letty Bess’s $10 million gift allows Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College of opportunities for Humanities and Social Sciences to incentivize innovation in its nine departments and programs. Dean Scheines to advance the Scheines, who was recently reap- knowledge and improve the human pointed to a second five-year term, condition.” interdisciplinary will be the first holder of the chair work that is a and will be installed in October. Lane Bess, a 1983 Dietrich College graduate with a degree in manage- hallmark of the “The essential work in the Diet- rial economics, is a global pioneer college’s rich culture.” rich College leads the way we study in technology and venture capital — President Farnam Jahanian humanity, with the goal of creating — launching startups and grow- real-world impact,” President Far- ing small- and medium-sized busi- nam Jahanian said. “This extraor- nesses to large-scale companies. emerging priorities across its nine dinary gift from Lane and Letty departments and programs, and in creates new opportunities for Dean Bess is principal at Bess Ventures its faculty and students. Carnegie Scheines to advance the interdisci- and Advisory, a strategic man- Mellon will recognize this transfor- plinary work that is a hallmark of agement, investment and mar- mational commitment by establish- the college’s rich culture. The Bess’s keting services firm focused on ing the Bess Family Dean’s Chair of commitment to education and cultivating innovations in technol- the Dietrich College of Humanities research will create unprecedented ogy. He founded the firm in 2015, and Social Sciences. opportunities to advance human following a successful career as an

Carnegie Mellon University | 5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | cmu.edu/ambassadors operating executive. Bess was the chief operating officer of Zscaler Inc., an innovator in cloud-based internet security services. Prior to that, he was CEO of Palo Alto Net- works, where he led the company through early growth on the path to its IPO and to its position as a world leader in internet security.

“My years as a CMU student pro- vided me with an exceptional education and the foundation that I needed to build a successful career and to become an entrepreneur,” Bess said. “Letty and I are honored to be part of Dietrich College’s future as its tremendous faculty guide the agenda for a modern “Letty and I are honored to be part of liberal arts education and create exceptional scholars.” Dietrich College’s future as its tremendous faculty guide the agenda for a modern liberal From creative writing and neuro- science to behavioral economics arts education and create exceptional scholars.” and bioethics, the Dietrich College — Lane Bess is home to nine departments and programs as well as research cen- ters that often cross disciplines, Scheines, a professor of philosophy new research and bold educational allowing the school’s world-class and champion for interdisciplin- innovations. I am truly honored to faculty and students to investigate ary research, was installed as dean be the first Bess Family Dean of the and solve real-world problems. of the Dietrich College in summer Dietrich College.” 2014 after spending nine years lead- Among its faculty are nine fellows ing the Department of Philosophy. In May, Bess was appointed to of the American Association for He first joined the faculty at CMU CMU’s Board of Trustees. He also is the Advancement of Science, nine in 1990. a member of the CMU Swartz Cen- members of the American Acad- ter for Entrepreneurship Advisory emy of Arts and Sciences, four “We are so grateful to Lane and Board and has shared his exper- members of the National Academy Letty, whose gift reinforces tise as part of the Dietrich College of Sciences, two members of the the importance of the college,” Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. National Academy of Medicine and Scheines said. “Dietrich embod- one member of the National Acad- ies a collaborative, interdisciplin- The couple’s previous support emy of Education. Its students hail ary environment for learning and at CMU includes commitments from every corner of the world research, and this gift is a transfor- to scholarships, internships and and train in a wide array of disci- mative investment in our capacity Dietrich College’s groundbreak- plinary approaches while focusing to innovate. From now on, Dietrich ing Grand Challenge Seminars on research centered on humanity. deans will be able to seed exciting program.

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