People

Dr. David F. Meaney

BSE in Biomedical Engineering- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1987

MSE, 1989 and Ph.D., 1991, in Bioengineering, the University of Pennsylvania

dmeaney@seas.upenn.edu

Michael Deridder

BSE in Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 1999

Ph.D. Candidate

deridder@seas.upenn.edu

Research Interests:

Effects of mechanical forces on cells in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures

Identification of mechanical conditions that lead to either apoptotic or necrotic cell death

Variation in the level and form of cell death in different regions of the hippocampus

Contribution of the cytoskeletal structure to the cellular response to injury Selective vulnerability of cells following injury

Donna Geddes, Ph.D.

BSE in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, Duke University, 1997

Ph.D. in Bioengineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2002

dmgeddes@seas.upenn.edu

Determine how GABA mediated inhibition paradoxically exacerbates increases in intracellular calcium concentration following mechanical stretch

Assess how internal chloride alterations after stretch injury to neurons affect GABA neurotransmission and protein expression of chloride co-transporters

Determine alterations in axonal transport after stretch or agonist injury by imaging mitochondrial movement with fluorescent dyes

Investigate how both mitochondrial dysfunction and cytoskeletal disruption affect mitochondrial motility

Andrew G. Taylor

AB in Chemistry, Harvard University, 1996

MD/Ph.D. Candidate

tayloran@mail.med.upenn.edu

Research Interests:

New protein translation in axons

Axonal transport of mRNA's

Dependence of cytoskeleton on mRNA transport and translation

Injury-induced damage to axonal cytoskeleton

Injury-induced gene expression changes in axons

Bill Miller

BA in English, La Salle University, 1997

BS in Physics, Bloomsburg University, 2001

Ph.D. Candidate

wjmiller@seas.upenn.edu

Research Interests:

Investigating the signaling mechanism between stretched regions of astrocytes and nearby, unstretched astrocytes

Determining functional outcomes of the astrocyte signaling after stretch

Determining regional variability in astrocyte response to stretch injury

Looking at the reaction of neuron-astrocyte co-cultures to stretch injury

Kimberly Schiffman

BS in Biology, Texas A&M University, 2002

kkschiff@seas.upenn.edu

Research Interests:

Neuronal response to injury at varying directionality and magnitude of applied strain:

Permeability change after mechanical stretch

Calcium influx before stretch and compared to after stretch

Viability of neurons 24hours after injury

Melissa's Senior Design Project focuses on:

Quantification of nuclear area change and applied nuclear strain during stretch

Role of the cytoskeleton in the transfer of strain to the nucleus during stretch

Determining biological changes that occur during nuclear deformation

Here is a picture of several lab members in front of Hayden Hall.

From left to right: (bottom row) Melissa, Donna, Kim, Gang, Dave (top row) Bill, Mike, Andrew, Steve, Adam

Steven J. Bernstein

Sc.B. in Chemical Engineering, Brown University, 2001

Ph.D. Candidate

sjbernst@seas.upenn.edu

Krithika Ramamoorthy, MSE

Jeff Rangan, BSE

Jessica Barag, BSE

Dora Chiang, BSE

Jeff Gross, BSE

Josh Kachner, BSE

Michael Kohanski, BSE

Jimmy Sastra, BSE

Justin Tannir, BSE

Tracy Yuen, BSE

Ashley Grosvenor, BA

Adam Sinensky

BSE candidate in Bioengineering, May 2005

sinensky@seas.upenn.edu

Gang Liu

MD Degree, Beijing Medical University

gangliu@seas.upenn.edu

Research Interests:

Microarray analysis of differential gene expression of cultured primary hippocampal and cortical neurons

Temporal profile of differential gene expression following glutamate exposure in cultured hippocampal neurons

Study of protein expression of hippocampal neurons cultured on a poly-L-Lysine coating

Melissa Simon

BSE candidate in Bioengineering, May 2005

mjsimon@seas.upenn.edu

Donna's research focuses on alterations in neuronal function after traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI is simulated by imparting a rapid pressure pulse onto a flexible silicon membrane to which primary cortical neurons are attached. The pressure pulse induces a quantifiable, uniaxial strain field onto the attached neurons that is representative of the strais which occur during TBI. Using this stretch device, Donna will: