Dr. Ninell Mortensen has more than 10 years of research experience in cell and microbiology, host-pathogen interactions, microscopy, and microfluidics. She is currently a Research Biologist in the Center for Analytical Chemistry and Pharmaceutics at RTI International. In this capacity, she conducts nanotoxicological studies of nanomaterials utilizing cellular mono- and co-cultures and animal models. Dr. Mortensen also conducts microfluidic cell culturing of epithelial cells to establish a model of the human colon for studying the impacts of digested nanomaterials, host-pathogen interaction, and drug development. She writes proposals and manuscripts. She coordinates and manages in vitro and in vivo experiments in inter-disciplinary projects bridging across universities, national laboratories, and companies, ensuring that project milestones and goals were reached in a timely manner.