Undergraduate Researcher
CurrentThe Tzanakakis Lab engages in bioengineering related to cell engineering and bioprocessing to improve human health. The lab group employs optogenetics relying on light-activated proteins to control specific cell functions such as the secretion of hormones by pancreatic endocrine cells. My work focuses on using Python to model oxygen in an engineered tissue utilizing modified pancreatic β-cells and their necessary life-supporting infrastructure. Once the model satisfactorily simulates reality, it will be valuable in its predictive power, saving significant time, resources, and energy from manual experimentation and optimizing the geometry and cell densities in the engineered tissue device.