College of Veterinary Medicine Welcomes Dr. Belinda Akpa

Belinda Akpa is an assistant professor of integrated synthetic and systems biology in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences who specializes in computational biomedicine—the science of developing mathematical models to connect molecular events to physiological outcomes.

Dr. Akpa uses computational approaches to understand relationships between activity on the molecular level and related results or outcomes observable on the system level. Her current research interests involve investigations into cardiovascular systems pharmacology, molecular and systems toxicology, and viral kinetic modeling.

Akpa joins the College after serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she received several teaching honors including the 2015 Harold Simon Award for Excellence in Teaching.

She was a postdoctoral research fellow in the department from 2007 to 2009.

Akpa’s bachelor and master degrees in chemical engineering are from the University of Cambridge. Her 2007 doctorate, also from the University of Cambridge, is in chemical engineering with advanced chemical engineering practice.