• Joined: Fall 2017
• Status: Graduated

Research Interests

• Regenerative medicine
• 3D bioprinting
• Lab-on-a-chip

Current Research

I am currently developing clinically translatable technology for tracking and monitoring stem cell therapies, a crucial step needed to understand how and if stem cell therapies are effective. Using photoacoustics and gold-based nanosensors, I aim to produce a non-invasive method to visualize targeted cell behaviors, such as cell differentiation, in real-time. This technology should help elucidate mechanisms of repair and possibly lead to earlier prognosis of therapeutic outcomes for cell-based therapies.

Academic and professional background

I received a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, where I engineered a micro-3D printing platform that allowed me to independently tailor the surface chemistry, topography, and stiffness of photocrosslinked protein hydrogels. I used the approach to analyze cellular responses to dynamic and independent changes in hydrogel properties. I continued my career as a research scientist at TeVido BioDevices, a 3D bioprinting startup, developing 3D bioprinted solutions for soft tissue defects, including autologous fat and skin therapies, for patients in need.

My other passion is entrepreneurship, and I am committed to bringing life-changing biotechnologies out of the lab to improve people's lives. Helping entrepreneurs differentiate their ideas, define go-to-market strategies, and identify target customers for their technologies is great fun, and allows me to merge my scientific and business backgrounds to bring about the most change.