Gold Shield Faculty Prize awarded to Professor Amy Rowat in 2025
Amy Rowat Wins 2025 Gold Shield Faculty Prize for her Pioneering Work in Cancer Cell Mechanobiology
Amy Rowat, a distinguished scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has been awarded the 2025 Gold Shield Faculty Prize. Sponsored by Gold Shield, Alumnae of UCLA, the prize comes with an unrestricted $30,000 award.
Rowat holds the Marcie H. Rothman Presidential Chair in Food Studies at UCLA and is a member of several prestigious academic institutions, including the UCLA bioengineering department, the Center for Biological Physics, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Broad Stem Cell Research Center. She is also the founder and director of Science & Food, a UCLA organization that promotes knowledge of science through food.
Rowat's research program in mechanobiology continues to be funded by competitive national and international awards and grants. Her research is focused on identifying compounds that make cancer cells stiffer and less able to invade surrounding tissue. In her lab, researchers are pioneering next-generation mechanotyping technologies.
Rachelle Crosbie, chair of the department of integrative biology & physiology, emphasized the suitability of Rowat for the Gold Shield Faculty Prize. "Amy's accomplishments in education are driven by her motivation to reach and teach the next generation," Crosbie said.
Rowat's achievements in education extend beyond the classroom. She has experience in organizing public events that engage general audiences in scientific concepts using food and cooking. In 2010, while at Harvard University, she collaborated with famed Catalan chef Ferran Adrià to develop a 'science & cooking' class. At UCLA, she created a similar class, 'science & food,' which included an apple pie bake-off before COVID.
As vice chair of graduate education in the department of integrative biology & physiology, faculty chair of the food studies minor, and faculty director of the Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, Rowat is dedicated to fostering a learning environment that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and inquiry-based research.
Through her work, Rowat seeks to transform the public's understanding and appreciation of inquiry-based research. By using food as a medium, she is able to make complex scientific concepts more accessible and engaging for a wide audience. As she continues to make groundbreaking discoveries in cancer cell mechanobiology, Rowat's work will undoubtedly have a significant impact on both the scientific community and the general public.
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