Researcher Highlight

Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering The Rafat Lab combines engineering and cancer biology concepts to examine the mechanisms driving tumor recurrence and metastasis. We study the relationship between tumor cells, normal tissues, and the immune system as a means of understanding the microenvironment to determine how each… Read More

Alex Stoneman, senior Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Chemistry undergraduate student in the Lang lab T-cells are key parts of the mammalian immune response, and T-cell receptors (TCRs) help them recognize their foreign targets. Previous lab work has shown that TCRs act as mechanosenors; piconewton-scale forces facilitate their… Read More

Marsalas Whitaker, 2nd year Biomedical Engineering graduate student in the Giorgio Lab The level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation is reflected in subpopulations of extracellular vesicles (EVs) originating from cancerous tissue that contain EGFR. Such EVs can be assessed using methods like immunoblots and flow cytometry. One pitfall… Read More

Alberto Esteban Linares, PhD candidate of Mechanical Engineering in the Li lab Microfluidic platforms can play a transformative role in ex vivo tissue culture and physiological and pathological studies as they allow for precise control of cell microenvironment alike in vitro models, while  the cellular matrix architecture similar to… Read More

Ethan Lippmann, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering The majority of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s are incurable, and the incidence of neurodegenerative disease is expected to increase concurrently with worldwide life expectancies. The Lippmann lab combines principles from engineering, neuroscience, and regenerative medicine to model, understand, and ultimately… Read More

Spring Newsletter 2022 Faculty Research Highlights:   Cynthia Reinhart-King, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, President-Elect of the Biomedical Engineering Society Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the US, and mortality is largely caused by the spread of a primary tumor to secondary sites.  The Reinhart-King… Read More

Spring Newsletter 2022 graduate student research highlights:   Ella Hoogenboezem, 5th year graduate student in the Duvall lab Short interfering RNA (siRNA) is a powerful gene silencing platform that has the potential to silence tumor-driving genes. However, siRNA medicines for tumor delivery have remained clinically elusive. In… Read More