(4dq) Modulating Platelet-Cell and Platelet-Particle Dynamics in Blood Flow

Research Interests: In many disease states, typical patterns of blood flow are disturbed with profound downstream consequences. In healthy blood flow, different cellular components naturally separate out into disparate areas of the blood vessel. Deformable red blood cells form a core in the middle of the vessel, while leukocytes (white blood cells) and platelets move towards the vascular wall, which puts them in a position to bind to the endothelium in situations of infection or vessel injury. Depending on the disease and local vessel environment, the distribution of blood cells can change significantly. For example, under inflammatory conditions, near-wall leukocytes and platelets bind to the endothelium, recruiting other blood cells to the area of inflammation and leading to high levels of local inflammation and thrombus formation. In another example, red blood cells in sickle cell disease stiffen and change shape (sickle), disrupting the red blood cell core, which can lead to damaging interactions between the rigid red blood cells and the vascular wall. These red cells also interact with near-wall leukocytes and platelets, disturbing and altering their distribution throughout the blood vessel.

The goal of my PhD research has been to further our understanding of cell-cell dynamics in health and disease and to explore how these dynamics can be modulated. I first developed in vitro models to better examine platelet adhesion in blood flow and later used these models as the basis to study platelet-leukocyte behavior under inflammatory conditions. I then determined that model particulate drug carriers could successfully decrease platelet adhesion to an endothelial monolayer by disrupting platelet-leukocyte-endothelium binding under acute inflammation. Furthermore, I explored how particle characteristics (size, shape, targeting) can be used to modulate the extent of platelet adhesion knockdown in vitro. Importantly, this project lays the groundwork for future studies examining how particulate drug carriers can impact cells downstream of initial particle-leukocyte interactions. Concurrently, I collaborated with colleagues in oncology/hematology to examine the behavior of platelets in sickle cell disease to determine which characteristics of blood (hematocrit, red cell stiffness, etc.) contribute most to the elevated platelet adhesion/clotting seen in patients. Further, I explored the therapeutic effects of carbon monoxide-releasing molecules to modulate the adhesion of platelet and leukocytes in the presence of rigid red cells for human translation.

Teaching Interests: Overall, I have a strong interest in an undergraduate teaching-focused position that centers practical applications, hands-on learning, and technical communication within chemical engineering. I have experience as a graduate student instructor (GSI) for the core course Heat and Mass Transfer, as well as four semesters of GSI experience in the unit operations laboratory (both a traditional laboratory and a biotechnology-focused unit operations section). Along with the other instructors, I assisted in pivoting our unit ops lab to be taught remotely in March 2020. I dedicated time during summer 2020 to prepare for the hybrid format course, giving me valuable experience with virtual platforms and options for students to learn from distance. In addition, I regularly participate in education-focused seminars, including the 2020 Preparing Future Faculty workshop at the University of Michigan. In that workshop, I designed an elective course to prepare engineering students for interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences, giving me practice applying backward design in course development.

In the future, I plan to bring an intentional focus on technical communication to an array of audiences and hands-on learning into the classroom. Regardless of future careers, communication is a beneficial skill for all students. Incorporating communication opportunities into the classroom, such as having students present engineering projects to a lay, non-technical audience, would be a way to develop that skill in non-lab-based classes. In the classroom, I plan to incorporate practical applications into the curriculum whenever possible to highlight the why behind the theory. For example, as a GSI for Heat and Mass Transfer, I highlighted different steps in the beer making process where classroom knowledge can be directly applied. In addition to teaching, I have research interests that include mentor-mentee dynamics and the impact of mentorship on historically excluded or underrepresented groups in engineering. My teaching interests in a teaching-focused position include undergraduate laboratories, Material and Energy Balances, Heat and Mass Transfer, Fluid Dynamics, and developing elective courses.