BTRL - People - Alumni

Principal Investigators - Graduate Students - Undergraduate Students - Alumni

BTRL Alumni
	Richard Pascal rpascal@clemson.edu M.S., Clemson University, 2012, Bioengineering Richard has been accepted to the MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation program at Clemson at the Falls
	Jeremy Mercuri jmercur@clemson.edu Ph.D., Clemson University, 2012, Bioengineering Jeremy has accepted a position as a senior research engineer in Stryker's orthobiologics group in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
	Thomas Larrew tlarrew@g.clemson.edu Thomas graduated in May 2012 with a BS in Biochemistry with Departmental Honors in Bioengineering. He is currently in medical school at MUSC.
	Jonathan Hill jhill@clemson.edu Jonathan graduated in December with a BS in Bioengineering. He is currently volunteering in Cusco, Peru at a clinic/orphanage for special needs kids.
	Lee Mai lmai@g.clemson.edu Lee earned his BS in Biological Sciences in 2011. He is currently enroled in the BioEngineering MS program and working in the Vyavahare lab.
	Henry Zhang henryz@g.clemson.edu
	Ryan Gedney jgedney@g.clemson.edu
	Tom Chuang tchuang@clemson.edu Ph.D., Clemson University, 2010, Bioengineering Tom is working with Dr. Sameer Shah at the University of California at San Diego Medical School in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery.
	Betsy Tedder mtedder@clemson.edu Ph.D., Clemson University, 2010, Bioengineering Betsy's thesis was titled "Characterization and evaluation of a novel tissue engineered aortic heart valve construct." Betsy finished her PhD in September, 2010 and now works for Wright Medical Technologies in Memphis, TN.
	Cheryl Cheryl is currently learning lab techniques to analyze and classify protein samples derived from both normal and diabetic conditions. The two main techniques she is using are BCA assay and gelatin zymography to determine total protein levels and analyze enzyme activity.
	Caroline Addington The need for effective nucleus pulposus (NP) replacements becomes more evident as our population grows older. Approximately 97% of persons 50 or older showed signs of disc degeneration during an autopsy study in 2008. Caroline works in conjunction with Jeremy to develop a biomimetic NP replacement focusing on a hydrogel development system. The hydrogel system is designed with native NP characteristics in mind, including properties such as mechanical stability and biocompatibility.
	Jordan Maivlett The focus of Jordan’s research is to test various cell seeding methods of tissue engineered heart valve scaffolds – specifically seeding of the heart valve cusps. The goal of the project is to determine a consistent approach for seeding heart valve cusps that results in proper cell infiltration throughout a cusp’s tri-layered structure. The Clemson Heart Valve Bioreactor is used to subject seeded scaffolds to mechanical and biochemical cues, and cell viability and distribution is examined upon completion of bioreactor conditioning. Research being conducted incorporates different cell types, different cell seeding methods, and the possible stabilization through Penta-Gallolyl-Glucose fixation in order to discern the most consistent approach to seeding cells that yields a stable, well infiltrated, and viable heart valve scaffold.
	Josh Guo Josh has been involved with research to develop a tissue engineered heart valve with recent doctorate Mary Tedder. The aim is to provide a replacement valve with identical biomechanics and identical biocompatibility as a native valve. As an undergraduate, he supports various roles in providing classification of new valves with histology, molecular quantizing, and atomic force microscopy. Josh’s research is to decisively master the biomedical engineering skills to foundation the essentials of tissue engineering.
	Marshall Mahoney Cells are able to sense the mechanical forces that involve them pulling on each other and their surroundings through mechanotransduction. The stiffness of the scaffolds on which cells are cultured can have a great effect on their shape and function due to the resistance it provides to the cell's contractile forces. Marshall's research focuses on quantifying the stiffness of different culture scaffolds using atomic force microscopy and applying the Hertz Model to obtain the Young's Modulus. With this knowledge one could hopefully more easily simulate the stiffness of native tissue with certain scaffolds. Replicating native tissue stiffness is important because it influences how cells proliferate, how much force they exert, how strongly they bind to their scaffold and in some cases what genes are expressed.
	Lauren Marshall Lauren’s research focuses on the process of heart valve calcification. It is known that calcification is in part a result of neovascularization of the normally avascular cardiac valves; however, it is unknown as to why this new blood vessel formation occurs. Since calcification leads to the necessity of new cardiac valves; understanding this process will be one step closer to decreasing the number of heart valve replacement surgeries.
	Chris Albers The focus of my research is to characterize the behavior of penta-galloyl glucose (PGG) stabilization of tissue. A limitation of current heart valve and vascular grafts is that they do not have the ability for cellular infiltration and remolding. One of the main reasons for this is that glutaraldehyde is used to stabilize the tissue, which then cannot be remodeled. Research in the BTRL focuses on the use of PGG as a collagen binding polyphenol that is susceptible to enzyme degradation and thus remodeling. My goal is to define the mechanism by which PGG binds collagen and elastin to stabilize vascular implants.
	Ryan Stowers Graduated in Spring of 2009 with B.S. in Bioengineering. Ryan conducted honors research in the BTRL in Fall 2007 and Spring 2008. He studied the effects of cyclical strain on adipose derived stem cells with the intent to mimic native heart valve mechanical conditions to induce valvular interstitial cell differentiation. Currently Ryan is pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His research in Laura Suggs’s lab focuses on neovascularization of PEGylated fibrin hydrogels for use in tissue engineering applications.
	Barrett Hutto Is currently working at as a mechanical design engineer at a medical device engineering/services company called BC Tech. Barrett designs a large range of medical devices. Currently, he has been working on a non-invasive stomach reduction device.
	Lauren Benner Clemson Undergraduate; Performed research in the BTRL (BIOE 450) in Fall 2008. Currently a student at Clemson.
	Andrew Kiser Clemson Undergraduate; performed research in the BTRL (BIOE 450) in Spring 2009. Currently in Medical School (MUSC).
	Chris Stabler Clemson Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate; graduated 2009. Graduated with a M.S.M.E from Clemson in 2010. Researched energy harvesting with nonlinear dynamics with Dr. Mohammed Daqaq. Chris is taking a job with ExxonMobil in Houston as a production engineer.
	Charles Dunn Charlie graduated as a Senior in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in December of 2009. While attending Clemson, his research in BTRL centered around mechanical methods of cellular seeding for vascular grafts (specifically carotid arteries) in order to increase their patency during graft implantation. Specifically, his research aimed to synergistically incorporate multiple seeding techniques into a single seeding process. The ultimate goal of this research was to design a seeding apparatus or method that could be used in a clinical setting to replace occluded vascular tissues during surgery. Charlie is currently attending Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he hopes to pursue similar biomechanical research in the future as well as the advancement of Global Health directives in third world countries.