Eda Yildirim-Ayan, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Bioengineering Department at the University of Toledo. She holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ege University, Turkey, an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Izmir Institute of Technology, Turkey, and earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Computer-aided Tissue Engineering) from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA in 2010.

With her interdisciplinary background, Eda specializes in fabricating biomimetic and bioactive musculoskeletal tissue scaffolds and studying them under physiologically relevant mechanical loading conditions. She currently serves as the director of the Engineered Biosystems Laboratory (EBSL). As the director of EBSL, Eda's research primarily explores the interface between mechanobiology-based musculoskeletal tissue regeneration and biomimetic design. Her work involves differentiating mesenchymal stem cells within three-dimensional tissue-like matrices under mechanically dynamic environments relevant to musculoskeletal tissues. Her prior research has laid the foundation for the proposed project, with a focus on understanding the effects of mechanical strain, amplitude, and frequency on stem cell differentiation, both in the absence and presence of soluble differentiation factors. Eda has successfully managed various aspects of her projects, including staffing, research protections, and budget management.She has secured external fundings from NIH and NSF, and industry for supporting the research at EBSL and her graduate students. She  also published over 30 peer-reviewed research articles and  3 patents in musculoskeletal tissue engineering field. 

The EBSL's productivity and cutting-edge research create opportunities to engage resourceful undergraduate students in research endeavors. Eda has been instrumental in providing hands-on research experiences, mentorship, and financial support to undergraduate researchers. She has supervised 26 undergraduate research students in the past, with the majority completing their bachelor's degrees. Notably, many of her mentees have pursued advanced degrees in medicine, Ph.D. programs, or master's programs. Some of her students have achieved recognition, including prestigious scholarships and internships. Several have published their findings as lead authors or co-authors in peer-reviewed journals, including Scientific Reports and Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

Eda's dedication to mentoring undergraduates and graduates has garnered recognition both at the Nationwide, UToledo, and College of Engineering. In 2021,  she received National Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award from Engineering Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). At the university level, she was nominated for Outstanding Advisor Award in 2023 and 2017). At the College of Engineering level, in 2017, she received  Outstanding Undergraduate Mentoring Award.