Recognizing Research Potential
Engineering graduate students awarded fellowships to further investigate cardiac disease, fibrosis, and tissue self-regeneration.
Credit to Andrew Masuda
Three graduate students from the College of Engineering (COE) have been awarded prestigious Connie Frank Fellowships from UC Santa Barbara’s Graduate Division to pursue biomedical research with applications to human health and well-being. Bioengineering PhD students Gianna Gathman and Renata Dos Reis Marques, as well as mechanical engineering PhD student Gabriela Villapando Torres were selected to receive $9,500 summer stipends in recognition of their outstanding academic record and research potential.
“I am extremely honored and deeply grateful to receive the Connie Frank Fellowship, because it provides support and resources to advance my research,” said Villapando Torres, a fifth-year mechanical engineering PhD student. “The award also recognizes my potential as a scientist and affirms my commitment to contributing to the advancement of human health.”
Advised by Beth Pruitt, professor and chair of the Bioengineering Department, Villapando Torres works to develop cell-level models of the heart to understand how cellular changes contribute to both healthy and diseased states. By combining molecular biology, cellular mechanisms, and engineered environments, she aims to create more accurate tools for studying cardiac disease progression and identify potential therapeutics. Specifically, she uses stem cell-derived heart muscle cells to examine two specific proteins — desmin and microtubules — which play important roles in giving heart cells their structure and helping them resist compression when the heart beats. Her research has shown that the stem cell-derived heart muscle cells are more functionally immature and fetal-like than previously recognized.
“This is a critical insight because stem cell-derived heart muscle cells are becoming more widely used for modeling heart disease and drug responses. So, my work will help to refine their use in predictive models,” explained Villapando Torres, whose previous recognitions include a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and an Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation Award from the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Annual Conference.
Beyond its intellectual merit, Villapando Torres’s work has broader impacts by enhancing the ability to create patient-specific models of heart disease.
“Historically, much of what scientists know about heart mechanisms is based on studies that predominantly involve white male populations, making it difficult to understand how heart disease affects diverse groups,” she said. “In my work, I aim to address this gap, making it easier to study heart disease in vulnerable, underserved populations that have been historically overlooked.”
Third-year bioengineering PhD student Gianna Gatham says that the fellowship will allow her to focus on her dissertation research and mentoring undergraduate students, which is also an important component of her professional development.
“These fellowships really are impactful, as they help graduate students contribute meaningfully to scientific discourse through our research and our mentorship of the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said Gathman, who earned her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Santa Clara University.
Advised by Ryan Stowers, an assistant professor of bioengineering and mechanical engineering, Gathman works in the field of mechanobiology, which is focused on how mechanical cues in biology impact phenomena such as growth, development, and disease progression. She focuses on fibrosis, or the formation of scar tissue that occurs when the wound-healing process goes awry. Fibrosis is implicated in roughly forty-five percent of fatalities in the developed world, and while its causative mechanisms are diverse and complex, existing modeling systems are limited by comparison
“Examining the molecular mechanisms underpinning myofibroblast activation and the distortion of tissue architecture is critical for our understanding of the pathogenesis and progression of fibrosis,” said Gathman. “These markers might serve as critical therapeutic targets, motivating the development of effective treatments for fibrosis.”
The Stowers lab employs 3D cell cultures to assess the effects that extracellular matrix (ECM) mechanics have on cell behavior and uses human tissue to study how the ECM changes in its physical and chemical properties as fibrosis progresses. Gathman says that fibroblasts, the cells responsible for secreting and maintaining the ECM, are mechanically sensitive, but many studies investigating their behavior reflect only two dimensions.
“The hydrogel platform we’ve designed allows us to mimic the mechanical properties of both healthy and diseased tissue, so we can see how ECM properties, such as matrix stiffness and viscoelasticity, affect fibroblast activation in a physiologically relevant, 3D- environment,” explained Gathman.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the federal funding of scientific and biomedical research at universities across the country, Renata Dos Reis Marques says that the Connie Frank Fellowship provides all recipients with much needed financial security. She expressed her gratitude to philanthropists Connie Frank and Evan Thompson for their continuous support and commitment to graduate students and medical research.
“Now more than ever, with such an uncertain funding landscape, I think private donations that support our work, like the Connie Frank Fellowship, will play an even bigger role in education and scientific research,” said Dos Reis Marques, a second-year bioengineering PhD student. “My goal is to use this opportunity to focus my efforts on my training as a scientist and communicator, as well as a mentor to younger generations of aspiring scientists.”
Advised by bioengineering assistant professor Marley Dewey, Dos Reis Marques works in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Specifically, she focuses on overcoming the limited capacity of musculoskeletal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, and tendons, to self-regenerate. In particular, large missing portions or damaged musculoskeletal tissues are exceptionally difficult or impossible for the body to repair itself. In her project, Dos Reis Marques seeks to help the human body naturally repair the damaged tissues and injuries.
“We are developing bioactive scaffolds that can bridge these large gaps in tissues and direct cellular behavior toward appropriate repair,” explained Dos Reis Marques, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
She and other members in the Dewey lab are particularly interested in studying extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are nanometer-sized particles that encapsulate cellular signaling molecules, such as RNA and proteins. Cells secrete and uptake EVs as a form of communication.
“In the context of tissue engineering, EVs can be advantageous, because we can use them to send specific, intentional messages or signals to tissue-resident stem cells to initiate the wound healing process,” said Dos Reis Marques, whose previous honors include the Schmidt Research Mentorship Award and the UCSB Regents in Bioengineering Fellowship.
The three recipients hope to have the opportunity to meet the benefactors to thank them in person for their support.
Credit to Andrew Masuda
