Life Experiences Sparks Interest in Improving Medical Industry
Chloe Shanebrook-Wein, E’26, bioengineering and biochemistry, has had many personal and academic experiences that have impacted her future career aspirations. Now that she is about to graduate, she is ready to apply her engineering background to the medical industry to improve the lives of society.
Chloe Shanebrook-Wein is about to start her final year of undergraduate studies at Northeastern University, and aims to graduate with a double major in bioengineering and biochemistry. Shanebrook-Wein entered Northeastern as an undecided engineering major but chose bioengineering after completing her first co-op at a biotech company. She believes her double major has been advantageous in her academics and will be incredibly beneficial in her professional career. She said the bioengineering program has given her the ability to think with an engineering mindset to solve problems and develop innovations, while her biochemistry program has provided her a solid foundation in the sciences that she can apply to her engineering opportunities.
Shanebrook-Wein and Northeastern Hillel volunteering with children in the Sibshops program.
While studying at Northeastern, Shanebrook-Wein has also participated in organizations outside of academics. She is a member of Northeastern Hillel and a college volunteer at Jewish Family and Child Services. As a college volunteer, Shanebrook-Wein works in the Sibshops program, supporting children whose siblings have disabilities, chronic illnesses or mental health needs. Shanebrook-Wein, whose brother who has a disability and a chronic illness, has a strong pull towards volunteer work and she maintains the habit as a huge part of her life. She finds comfort in being able to provide support to younger children going through similar experiences to her own. In recognition of her dedication to volunteer work, she was awarded the 2025 Simone Lottor Exceptional Service award. Through both her personal and academic experiences, Shanebrook-Wein wishes to pursue a future career in the medical field, where she aims to provide patients with new and innovative technologies to save and improve their lives.
Co-op Experience
Shanebrook-Wein’s first co-op experience was as a biomaterials process design engineer at Sigilon Therapeutics. She appreciated her hands-on experience in the biotech industry, which led her to bioengineering. She said she gained valuable knowledge about the industry and the engineering process through her co-op experience. By the end of her first co-op experience, she was already able to design her own self-led independent study. Shanebrook-Wein worked with biomaterials and tried to develop a way to cure those cells inside an alginate hydrogel without using UV light. She was able to create the entire study by herself, assigning tasks to her co-workers, collecting and analyzing data and finally presenting it to the entire company. Although her study did not go as planned, Shanebrook-Wein described it as an invaluable opportunity to take ownership of her work and step into a leadership role. She noted that the experience taught her a great deal and remains a memorable moment in her academic journey.
Shanebrook-Wein’s second co-op was centered more around biochemistry, as a medical assistant at an orthopedic surgery practice. She loved being able to experience the medical field and experience it first-hand. In her role, she was able to interact and engage with both patients and doctors. Shanebrook-Wein said this opportunity cemented her desire to pursue the healthcare sector after graduating.
For her third and final co-op experience, Shanebrook-Wein is currently at Beam Therapeutics as a cell process engineer. She has only been there for a month, but said she has already learned so much from her role. She believes the most valuable part of the co-op program is that “you get a sense of what you like, what you don’t like, and then it teaches you a lot of things that you might not necessarily get in a traditional college classroom.” All of her co-op opportunities have influenced Shanebrook-Wein’s future career goals and have taught her valuable skills and information that she knows she will use later in her career.
Future Perspectives
Shanebrook-Wein’s personal and academic experiences have directly shaped her future career aspirations. Through her personal experiences, she has realized the importance of medicine and medical innovation and how it can change a person’s life. Her academic experiences have allowed her to explore the fields she is passionate about, as well as provided opportunities to participate in valuable, hands-on projects that have grown her leadership skills and engineering abilities.
Since Shanebrook-Wein is expected to graduate in May 2026, she is currently applying to medical schools in hopes of one day making a significant impact in medicine and helping improve the lives of patients through impactful innovations. She believes combining her engineering background with medicine will be extremely helpful for her to develop and understand new medical technologies.