Denali Dahl, PhD

Denali Dahl, PhD, has had a diverse range of work experiences throughout the years. In 2010, they started as a Paid Intern at Magnetic Development Inc., where they assisted Dr. Mark Bergander in an Industrial Engineering Laboratory. In 2013, they worked as a Laboratory Intern at Arietis Corp. Later that year, they became a Team Lead at Global TIES, coordinating team meetings for academic humanitarian engineering projects and acting as a liaison between student teams and a faculty advisor.

Starting in 2014, Denali served as a Research Assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working under Robert Langer. During this time, their project focused on developing a salt-based micronutrients delivery system to combat malnutrition in the developing world. They also worked as an Undergraduate Researcher at the University of California, San Diego, collaborating with Dr. Yi Chen on developing DNA nanotechnology as a drug delivery platform. Additionally, at UC San Diego, Denali held roles as a Teaching Assistant for Global TIES, a Triton Parent Leader, and a Laboratory Assistant. They also interned as a Warren College Out of State/International Student Intern.

In 2015, Denali started their graduate studies at Duke University, working as a Graduate Research Assistant until 2017. They continued this role while also becoming a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2015 to 2022. At UNC Chapel Hill, they served as a Graduate Research Assistant until 2022.

In 2018, Denali co-founded Kalia Health and took on the role of CEO. Currently, they are also working as an Associate Scientist at FHI 360, specifically on the preclinical development of long-acting contraceptive technology for low-resource settings. This involves working on products like injectables, biodegradable implants, and microneedle patches.

Denali Dahl, PhD has an extensive education history in the field of bioengineering and biomedical engineering. They first pursued a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Nanoengineering at UC San Diego from 2011 to 2015. Following their undergraduate studies, they furthered their education by completing a Master of Science (M.S.) in Global Health at Duke University from 2015 to 2017. Denali then embarked on a dual PhD program, earning a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering from both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2017-2022) and North Carolina State University (2017-2022). In addition to their academic achievements, Denali Dahl obtained a certification as an Elephant Handler from the University of Luang Prabang in Laos in July 2010.