Education:
I am a senior at the University of Pittsburgh and am working towards my Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering with minors in Chemistry and Polymer Engineering and a concentration in Cellular and Medical Product Engineering. After undergraduate, I intend to either obtain a job in the Bioengineering industry, attend graduate or law school.

Current Projects:

I am currently working on two different projects:

1. I am working with Huaping Tan to analyze the neural extension of RNS and PC12 cells into thermo-sensitive hyaluronic acid gels.

2. I am working with Mostafa Ramadan to optimize a protocol for culturing Schwann cells.

Previous Projects:

1. I worked with Natasa Miljkovic to develop a reproducible protocol for generating an osteochondral articular cartilage defect in a female rat knee.

2. Designing and fabricating a new artificial matrix in a form of a hydrogel to be used as a carrier of growth factors and/or adipose-derived stem cells for cartilage repair.

3. Studying the chondrogenic and osteogenic effects of BMP-7 in adipose-derived stem cells.

4. Using a MATLAB code to analyze the gait kinematics of induced peripheral nerve damage in the hind limb of rats.

5. Staining, imaging and analyzing the histological results of (4).

Publications:

Miljkovic, N.D.; Lin, Y.-C.; Cherubino, M.; Minteer, D.; Marra, K.G.* “A Novel Injectable Hydrogel in Combination with a Surgical Sealant in a Rat Osteochondral Defect Model,” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 2009, In Press.

Personal Interests:

On campus, I am the President of Pitt’s Undergraduate chapter of Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). I enjoy composing, playing and listening to music, running, watching The Office, and hanging out with my friends!