Developing a heart-on-a-chip platform to model cardiovascular disease

• Stained tissue sections for histological analysis.• Used polarized image microscopy to image regions of interest around a silicone device. • Analyzed the imaged tissue sections using ImageJ to understand the effects of the silicone implant.• Helped to implement a testing apparatus to determine if a scaffold propagates an electric pulse between tissue samples.

Evaluate the efficacy of stem cell therapies for heart failure. Used 3-D human Engineered Cardiac Tissues fabricated from human induced pluripotent stem cells to evaluate the mechanisms by which cardiac stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells enhance cardiac function. • Maintained induced-Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), and Cardiac Progenitor Cells (CPCs) in culture.• Differentiated iPSCs into cardiomyocytes.• Fabricated 3-D human engineered… Show more Evaluate the efficacy of stem cell therapies for heart failure. Used 3-D human Engineered Cardiac Tissues fabricated from human induced pluripotent stem cells to evaluate the mechanisms by which cardiac stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells enhance cardiac function. • Maintained induced-Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs), and Cardiac Progenitor Cells (CPCs) in culture.• Differentiated iPSCs into cardiomyocytes.• Fabricated 3-D human engineered cardiac tissues from iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.• Supplemented specific tissues with MSCs or CPCs depending on effect being studied.• Used LabView to capture both the spontaneous and electrically stimulated contractions of the tissues. • Analyzed the tissue function using MatLab.• Designed and printed 3-D accessories to help simplify and streamline the data collection process. Show less

Exfoliated graphite to get monolayer graphene. Worked on creating a device with this graphene insulated by a layer of boron nitrite on either side to study superconductivity.