Locascio was born November 21, 1961, in Cumberland, Maryland.[1] Her father was a physicist at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory. He fostered her interest in science.[2] She attended Bishop Walsh High School.[3] In 1977, she was awarded an educational development certificate.[3] Locascio had an early interest in biology and won her school's senior science award. She graduated in 1979.[2]
Education and early career
Locascio attended James Madison University from 1979 to 1983 where she earned her B.Sc. in chemistry with a minor in biochemistry.[1] In 1982, Locascio was a research assistant in the department of chemistry at West Virginia University.[4] She attended the University of Utah from 1983 to 1986 while working as a research assistant in the department of bioengineering.[4] Locascio completed her M.Sc. in bioengineering in 1986.[1]
Locascio is an interdisciplinary researcher.[9] She worked at NIST for 31 years, rising from a research biomedical engineer to eventually leading the agency's material measurement laboratory.[10] Locascio also served as the acting associate director for laboratory programs, the number two position at NIST, providing direction and operational guidance for NIST's lab research programs[10] across two campuses in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado.[11] She received the 2017 American Chemical Society Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management, and the 2017 Washington Academy of Sciences Special Award in Scientific Leadership.[10] Locascio has published 115 scientific papers and has received 12 patents in the fields of bioengineering and analytical chemistry.[10] During her time at NIST, she received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal, American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award, the NIST Safety Award and the NIST Applied Research Award.[10] Locascio is also a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.[10]
In late 2017, Locascio joined University of Maryland's faculty.[12] She was the first person to serve as the vice president for research of both the College Park and Baltimore campuses.[13] In this role, Locascio oversaw the University of Maryland's research and innovation enterprise at these two campuses, which garner a combined $1.1 billion in external research funding each year.[11][9] Within Locascio's purview was the development of large interdisciplinary research programs, technology commercialization, innovation and economic development efforts, and strategic partnerships with industry, federal, academic, and nonprofit collaborators.[11] She also served as a professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering with a secondary appointment in the department of pharmacology in the School of Medicine.[10] In 2021, Locascio inducted as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.[10] At the University of Maryland that same year, she was succeeded by interim vice president Amitabh Varshney.[14]