Trainees

Research Statement: Lysmarie received her B.S. in Biology with a sub-concentration in biotechnology from the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. She then joined the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr. Kristyn Masters lab as a Ph.D. student. Her current research focuses on the study of sex-related pathological responses in calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) using engineered valve models that mimic early and late-stage hallmarks of CAVD progression.

Faculty Trainer: Kristyn Masters, PhD, Biomedical Engineering

Research Statement: Callyn received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She joined the Biomedical Engineering Department as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2021. Her current research focuses on developing a computational model of the pulmonary arteries to investigate how growth and remodeling is affected by pathology specifically, pulmonary artery stenosis.

Faculty Trainer: Colleen Witzenburg, PhD, Biomedical Engineering

Research Statement: Mitchell received his B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before joining the Biomedical Engineering PhD program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023. His current research focuses on engineering in vitro iPSC-derived cardiac tissues for the modeling of maturation and disease progression. Specifically, he is interested in how the interactions between cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts, and their environment influence myocyte mechanical and electrophysiological function

Faculty Trainer: Wendy Crone, PhD, Biomedical Engineering

Research Statement: Wyatt received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Genetics PhD program in Fall 2019. His current work focuses on examining the metabolic regulation that controls mammalian heart regeneration. Specifically examining how mTORC1 regulates metabolism during heart regeneration and whether mTORC1 activity can stimulate adult heart regeneration.

Faculty Trainer: Ahmed Mahmoud, PhD, Cell & Regenerative Biology

Research Statement:Melissa received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2021. She joined the Ge lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2022. Her research focuses on elucidating ischemic cardiomyopathy disease mechanisms and identifying potential therapeutic targets using a novel mass spectrometry-based multi-omics approach.

Faculty Trainer: Ying Ge, PhD, Professor, Cell & Regenerative Biology

Research Statement: Jack received a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Grand Valley State University in 2016, and his M.D. from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in 2020. He is a current resident in the University of Wisconsin’s Integrated Vascular Surgery Residency Program (2020-2027) conducting his 2-year post-doctoral research fellowship in the Liu Lab. His work focuses on the role of the cell death mediator, receptor interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) in thrombosis and vascular fibrosis within aortic aneurysm and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) models.

Faculty Trainer: Bo Liu, PhD, Surgery

Research Statement: Taylor received a B.S. in Biology from Truman State University in 2016, and her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of California, Davis in 2023. She joined the Robertson lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023. Her research focuses on the role of translational control of cardiac ion channels to ensure electrophysiological balance. 

Faculty Trainer: Gail Robertson, PhD, Neuroscience

Research Statement: Michael received his MD degree from the George Washington University and moved to Madison, WI in 2020 to begin his general surgery training. He is interested in pursuing a fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery prompting him to join the Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics lab working under Dr. Alejandro Roldán-Alzate during his academic development time. Michael will be utilizing 4D-Flow MRI to better understand biomechanical changes occurring following the Ross procedure and will also be creating a porcine model of aortic coarctation.

Faculty Trainer: Alejandro Roldán-Alzate, PhD, Biomedical Engineering