Affiliation(s):

• Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University

I did my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. My PhD was from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Following my degree, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Pennsylvania.

I have two current focuses in the lab. The first area is biomaterials for nerve regeneration. We fabricate novel materials that can encourage neurons and support cells to reconnect following injury. We focus on designing biomaterials and investigate how material properties affect cell behavior. We are able to sequentially build biomaterials with specific features including cell adhesion, biomaterials mechanics, topography and electrical conductivity. We evaluate these properties with neurons and support cells and have tested this system in animal models including a sciatic nerve injury model and a spinal cord injury model. The second area we focus on is developing in vitro platforms to study Neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis is a disease that causes tumors to form near nerve fascicles. It is unclear what role the nerve has on the progression of this disease. In this research, we are looking at how the nerve affects Schwann cells and other cells in the tumor microenvironment. Through using biomaterial based neuron-mimics, we investigate if there are specific cues that lead to changes in cell behavior and eventual to tumor formation.

Following my undergraduate degree in Chemical engineering, I enrolled in a Master’s program in Biomedical Engineering to learn more about the field. When I started conducting research as part of a Master’s thesis, I realized that I really enjoyed research and switched to the PhD program. This is where I developed my interest in nerve regeneration. My PhD work was focused on developing hydrogel gradients through microfluidics to direct nerve growth. From there, I worked in a lab that focused on biomaterials design for my postdoctoral work. I joined Wayne State Biomedical Engineering in 2011 and have continued research in biomaterials for nerve regeneration. My interest in Neurofibromatosis was developed at Wayne State through a collaboration with Ray Mattingly in the medical school. We received a DOD grant to develop an in-vitro platform to study disease progression.

Investigating the effect of the immune system on regeneration is an important area of research. As tissue engineers, we design materials that promote regeneration, however, these materials are not always tuned to interact with the immune body’s immune response. Tuning the materials to take advantage of the immune response would lead to more effective regeneration.

It’s hard to pick a favorite but one book that I really enjoyed is ‘The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks’ which is about a woman whose cells are still used today (HeLa cells). It was interesting to learn how people started doing cell culture in the lab as this was a big advancement in the way cell research has evolved. It is also important to learn about the person behind these cells and consider ethical side of this work.

I don’t have a favorite scientist/engineer. As a role model I have always been impressed with my dad’s commitment to lifelong learning. He is a professor in business and when I joined the biomedical engineering PhD program, he started taking classes in biology so he could talk to me about my research!

Outside of work, I am a mother to two kids, a 6 yo boy and 5 month old girl. We haven’t had much of a chance to take the baby out due to the pandemic but with my older son we loved to travel all over the world. He has been to over 10 countries. We also love going to museums, especially science museums. My son says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up!