Samuel K. Sia

Samuel Sia, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was appointed Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact in January 2022. This position, created at the recommendation of the Fourth Purpose Task Force, is intended to support Columbia’s efforts to bring knowledge to directed action for public good, which President Lee C. Bollinger has identified as Columbia’s Fourth Purpose. As both a scholar and a biotech entrepreneur, Professor Sia focuses on microfluidics and miniaturized wearable and implantable medical devices. He has collaborated extensively with colleagues across engineering and in public health, medicine, and business. He completed his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta in Canada, a PhD in Biophysics as a Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University.