Our training program in its fourth year and currently supports four pre-doctoral graduate students annually.

Hanna Anderson

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Project(s): Investigating the Mechanoresponse of Dural Cells under Acoustic Radiation Force and its Contribution to Cranial Bone Regeneration

Mentor: Yusuf Khan, Ph.D.

Hanna Anderson is a Ph.D. candidate in The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering working under Dr. Yusuf Khan. Her ongoing predoctoral research explores the potential of acoustic radiation force produced by low-intensity ultrasound in tandem with biomaterial-based cell therapies to improve bone regeneration. The main clinical need motivating her research is the high prevalence of pediatric patients suffering from bone resorption following decompressive craniectomy and subsequent cranioplasty. In the case of traumatic brain injury, large pieces of cranial bone may be removed to accommodate brain swelling, then later replaced once the swelling has subsided. Unfortunately, the replaced bone tends to deteriorate more readily in pediatric patients, and the synthetic grafts used for reconstruction are outgrown as the child ages, requiring multiple revision surgeries. Hanna’s work aims to use ultrasound to stimulate the dura mater, a mechanosensitive tissue that lies directly under the skull and participates in cranial bone healing and development. In this novel approach, her objective is to facilitate cranial bone regeneration by mechanically stimulating dural cells with ultrasound to exploit inherent cell-cell interactions, thereby evoking bone healing through collaborative signaling between the dura mater and the skull. The primary goal is to realize a clinically translatable tool that could be implemented as a noninvasive method for mitigating cranial bone resorption and for improving patient quality of life.

Godwin Dzidotor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Project(s):

• Light Soft-Actuated Bionic Regenerative Engineering (SABRE)
• Injectable and Biodegradable Piezoelectric Hydrogel for Medical Applications
• Articular Cartilage Regeneration using Biodegradable Piezoelectric Nanofiber Hydrogel with Ultrasound Treatment

Mentor: Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D.

Godwin is a graduate student at the University of Connecticut – Department of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering. His research study focuses on regeneration of articular cartilage in treating osteoarthritis. Since 2018, he has been part of the Connecticut Convergence Institute of Translation in Regenerative Engineering. His work seeks a convergence approach to the treatment of osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal diseases by employing multi-disciplinary approach the foster mechanistic regenerative applications. This mechanistic regenerative perspective is evident in applications of bioengineering approaches involving cells and developmental control. Revealing that, mechanical stresses induces cytoskeletal tension-dependent changes that alter the extracellular matrix compliance and function.

Kevin Grassie

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Project(s): Modulated Ultrasound-Derived Acoustic Radiation Force and its Local Mechanical, Cellular, and Osteogenic Effects on Cell-Hydrogel Constructs for Bone Repair

Mentor: Yusuf Khan, Ph.D.

Kevin Grassie is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut and has been a part of the Cato T Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering since 2018, working under the mentorship of Dr. Yusuf Khan. He holds a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering and a B.S.E. in Engineering Physics from the University of Connecticut.

Kevin’s experience in these fields brings a multidisciplinary approach to regenerative engineering problems that lie at the intersection between cell biology, biomaterial scaffolds, physical stimulation, and computational mechanics. Kevin’s research focuses on studying the local mechanical, cellular, and osteogenic effects of modulated low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) applied to cell-hydrogel constructs in order to improve bone regeneration in complex defects. His work has afforded him a deep understanding of several disciplines, including ultrasound physics, solid mechanics, computational modeling, mechanical characterization, microscopy, cell culture, and skeletal biology. His research will contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind LIPUS stimulation of 3D cell-hydrogel constructs, and inform the design of loading therapies that enhance bone formation and maintenance. During his Ph.D. studies, Kevin has presented talks on his work at the 2022 Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Annual Meeting and the 2023 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference. He has also received 1st Place in the 3-Minute Thesis competition at the 2022 SFB meeting and an NIH Travel Award to present a poster at the 2024 Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society World Congress.

After his Ph.D., Kevin seeks to pursue a scientific career where he can apply his multidisciplinary research skills and experience to new and exciting domains, while also having opportunities for teaching and science communication. Specifically, he is fascinated by the prospect of using regenerative engineering principles to address unique biomedical challenges in the context of spaceflight and microgravity environments. Motivated by decades of evidence that new frontiers spark the development of transformative technologies, he believes that regenerative engineering research in space can provide valuable new insights for improving human health and tissue regeneration back here on Earth too.

Travis Wallace

Department of Biomedical Science

Mentor: Liisa T. Kuhn, Ph.D.

Travis Wallace is a second-year Biomedical Science PhD student in the Skeletal Biology and Regeneration (SBR) program at the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC). He works in the Kuhn Biomaterials Lab under the mentorship of Professor Liisa Kuhn in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Dental Medicine. Before coming to UCHC, Travis earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Afterwards, he earned his Sc.M. in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University before working for three years at the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM), a cell-therapy based research arm of Astellas Pharma US. Travis’ research interests focus on regenerative engineering strategies for aged bone, especially those that are highly translatable. One such strategy under investigation in the Kuhn Lab is local and sustained delivery of drugs via novel biomaterials. Aged bone often loses strength and density; inflammatory bone loss is generally understood to be the main driver of this. The central hypothesis is that this bone loss can be reversed through local delivery of an anti-inflammatory drug or a senolytic, which is a drug designed to eliminate senescent cells (known to be hallmarks of aging which increase inflammation). This would then lead to regeneration of the bone itself while minimizing off-target effects on surrounding tissues. Travis’ interest in translatable research coincides with his interest in business and simultaneous pursuit of an MBA as well as his aim to work in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industries in the future.