The National Science Foundation has bestowed two prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards to Â鶹ÊÓƵ biomedical engineering students.
The national awards recognize and support outstanding grad students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.
Graduate students Shantae Gallegos and Emma Aldrich are each receiving the honor for 2024. Find out more about their research below.
Awardees receive a $37,000 annual stipend and cost of education allowance for the next three years as well as professional development opportunities.
Shantae Gallegos
First Year Biomedical Engineering PhD Student
Advisor: Corey Neu
Lab:
My research addresses the emerging and multifaceted field of Cartilage-Bone Crosstalk (CBC), a key factor in musculoskeletal health and disease, yet its underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Cartilage and bone transmit mechanical forces within joints, but alterations in their structure and function can disrupt cellular communication, leading to diseases like osteoarthritis. To understand CBC, it is crucial to experimentally replicate both healthy and pathological tissue structures. A major challenge has been the lack of an in vitro platform that accurately mimics the joint’s mechanical environment, essential for studying cellular interactions. Our research will address this by developing a new on-chip system that introduces mechanical stimuli to effectively simulate the joint environment, thereby providing insights into how mechanical forces influence cellular communication and contribute to musculoskeletal health and disease. This innovative approach will advance our understanding of disease mechanisms, pave the way for breakthroughs in drug discovery, and accelerate the development of precise therapies for joint-related disorders.
Emma Aldrich
Biomedical MS Graduate beginning her PhD in Biological Engineering
Advisor: Kayla Sprenger
Lab:
My research leverages computational tools to address questions in immunology, inflammationÌýand cancer. Specifically, I aim to investigate novel therapeutics between Alzheimer’s Disease and glioma, using physics-based simulations to identify and target mechanisms that disrupt the tumor immunoediting process. One of my current projects is investigating how TREM2, a protein expressed on the immune cells of the brain, can mediate tumor suppression mechanisms of a platinum-IV chemotherapeutics in colorectal cancer. Creative applications of computational pipelines allow me to ask new questions at the interface of immunology, oncology and engineering, hopefully leading to solutions to urgent challenges.Ìý