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.

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.