An In Vitro Model of the Infarct Border Zone
Mentors Project Description The severity of a heart attack is determined by the area of heart muscle affected by the occluded vessel, but also by a‘border zone’ (BZ) that separates the infarct region from the unaffected heart muscle. The BZ has been implicated in adverse remodeling that occurs after a heart attack, but because the […]
Christopher Chen
2026 REU Project: Comparing Pericyte and Fibroblast Growth in Engineered Vascular Models 2026 RET Project: Engineering 3D Cardiac Muscle Rings Dr. Christopher Chen is the principal investigator at the Tissue Microfabrication Lab. The lab’s projects include vascular, cardiac, and stem cell biology and engineering. Goals of the lab include building biomimetic tissues as experimental models and to direct tissue remodeling and regeneration through understanding […]
Michael Albro
Dr. Albro has dedicated much of his research toward the role of mechanical loading in biological tissues, namely through the progression and treatment of osteoarthritis. In doing so, he hopes to advance the strategies of engineering tissue cartilage at a molecular level. Previous REU/RET Projects include: Raman Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Invertebrate Disk Degeneration (2022)
Michael McLellan
In 2022, Michael worked with Xining Gao to mentor Sharvari Apte (REU) at the Chen Lab.
Sophia Millan
David Bishop
In addition to a focus on low temperature physics, Dr. Bishop has a wide variety of research interests, including the study of cardiac tissue engineering, micro-electromechanical (MEMS) systems and nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), the Casimir Effect, superconductivity and superfluidity, nanotechnology, and feedforward control theory algorithms. Previous REU/RET Projects Include: Coupled Oscillator Simulations (RET, 2023) Chip-scale Magnetocardiography […]
Thomas Bifano
2026 REU Project: In a Heartbeat 2026 RET Project: Light in the Bucket Dr. Thomas Bifano directs the Bifano Lab and the Boston University Photonics Center. His research focuses on modeling, design, production, and use of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) in optical instruments and photonic devices. He also works on biomedical imaging applications and microscopy. Previous […]
Nano-based sensing of tissue environments in deep tissue
Mentors Project Description Nanoparticle contrast agents will be used with a new quantitative imaging device called Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging in order to spatially map and quantify local environmental conditions such as pH and temperature. Together, this system is called Quantum Yield Imaging. Timeline Weeks 1-3: Participants will begin instrument training and data analysis. […]
Synthesis and Characterization of Thick-shelled InP/ZnSe Quantum Dots
Mentors Project Description Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanoparticles that emit distinct colors of light following UV illumination. Core/shell QDs have one semiconductor material coated by a protective layer of a second semiconductor. We have recently discovered that putting thick layers of the protective shell on the core material can produce dramatically improved optical properties. […]