Kelly Stevens (Principal Investigator) is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Pathology at the University of Washington. Kelly received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Washington, and postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work bridges several facets of regenerative medicine, including pluripotent stem cell biology, transplantation, tissue engineering, and micro/nanofabrication. In particular, she has made several seminal contributions in the development of complex multicellular tissues for organ repair, with increasing focus on enhancing tissue function, microvascularization, and organization. Some examples include the construction of functional scaffold-free cardiac tissue from pluripotent stem cells, the subsequent ‘pre-vascularization’ of these tissues using the intrinsic capacity of microvascular cells to self-organize, and the geometric control of multicellular patterning for optimal parenchymal function and microvascular ingrowth after implantation.
Mary Regier (Postdoc) is currently a senior fellow in the Departments of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. Mary received her B.S. and M.S. in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Nebraska Lincoln and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mary has created structured in vitro culture models using native tissue-inspired principles and microfluidics, and has also developed methods for delivering patterned soluble signals to cell populations in culture. She is interested in utilizing pluripotent stem cells and morphogenic factor patterning to recreate and influence developmental and regenerative processes in vitro, and is interested in investigating methods for augmenting tissue regeneration in in vivo.
Chelsea Fortin (Graduate student) grew up in Rumford, ME and received her Bachelor's degree in biology with a specialization in cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics from Boston University in 2014. After graduation, she focused on building and characterising expandable, engineered satellite livers for use in regenerative medicine under the guidance of Kelly Stevens and Sangeeta Bhatia. She is currently a PhD student in UW's Molecular Medicine and Mechanisms of Disease program and is interested in using biochemistry and bioengineering tools to study liver regeneration and disease.
Jonathan Mene (Undergraduate student) is currently an undergraduate student in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. Jonathan is working to develop new methods for building artificial engineered tissues. Recently Jonathan has become part of UW's GenOM Project and is involved with ASUW. Outside of class, Jonathan enjoys playing piano and running.