Rate My Professor Heather Sheardown

Dr. Heather Sheardown is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Ophthalmic Biomaterials and Drug Delivery Systems. Sheardown joined McMaster in 1998 after earning her B.Eng. from the university in 1989 and her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1995. Her research focuses on ophthalmic biomaterials, including drug delivery systems for the anterior and posterior eye, contact lens materials, intraocular lenses, polymer chemistry, and bioengineering applications in ophthalmology. She has led initiatives such as the C20/20 incubator for biomedical technologies, resulting in multiple spin-off companies, and maintains an active research group with numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Sheardown has served in various administrative roles at McMaster, including as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, member of the University Planning Committee, and chair of the Budget Committee. She has contributed to curriculum development through the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board and the Professional Engineers Ontario Academic Requirements Committee.

Sheardown is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering. In 2020, she received the YWCA Hamilton Women of Distinction Award in Science, Technology, and Trades. Her work has produced numerous peer-reviewed publications, patents on materials and drug delivery systems for ocular conditions, and significant grant funding, including recent CIHR support for projects on age-related macular degeneration. Sheardown’s contributions have advanced the field of ophthalmic biomaterials and supported the commercialization of related technologies.

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