Making a Meaningful Impact in Cell and Tissue Engineering

As a biomedical engineering student, Tran Le describes RES-MATCH as one of her favorite experiences during her time studying and working at Illinois Tech.

Through the university’s hands-on research program, Tran was paired with Georgia Papavasiliou, associate professor of biomedical engineering, to assist with the current project titled “Biomaterial Scaffold Design for Cartilage Regeneration” during the spring 2020 semester.

Tran was able to utilize her cell- and tissue-related knowledge as well as acquire more hands-on experience with cell cultures and hydrogel-fabrication processes. She shares, “Even though COVID-19 emerged quite rapidly and unexpectedly, our lab still communicated effectively to adapt and make progress.”

Tran was partially responsible for collecting live/dead quantitative image analysis and was able to work on this research from home. She greatly appreciates the support and guidance from Illinois Tech, and especially the biomedical engineering faculty during the pandemic.

“I am grateful for Dr. Papavasiliou, Dr. Troyk, the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Illinois Tech for developing another meaningful program that helps students gain more experience in research fields,” says Tran.

She shares that in addition to collaborating with experts and learning from them, she has also gained a better understanding of how her research can make a meaningful impact as she pursues her own professional journey.