Celeste M. Nelson, the Wilke Family Professor in Bioengineering and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, leads groundbreaking research as the Director of the Program in Engineering Biology. Notably honored with the NIH Director's Pioneer Award in 2022, her work revolves around deciphering how individual cells integrate complex biological signals to shape tissue and organ architectures. This research holds vast implications, from developmental insights to cancer mechanisms, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. Her interdisciplinary approach, bridging cell biology, developmental biology, and engineering, fosters innovative organotypic culture models for precise analysis of morphogenesis dynamics, with a focus on normal and abnormal tissue growth patterns, and the interplay of biochemical and mechanical cues in shaping tissue geometry.