Michelle’s research is themed around designing and characterizing the surface chemical properties of synthetic and natural polymer systems. They will be used to develop multifunctional biomaterial substrates for regenerative medicine, cancer treatment, and personal care products. The goals of the Gaines Lab are achieved by marrying Polymer Synthesis, Materials Science, Cell Biology & Spectroscopy.

Laura Hansen received her BS in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she studied the mechanics of blood vessel walls and changes associated with different disease states. She then completed her post-doctoral fellowship studying the RAGE receptor in peripheral artery disease at Emory University in Cardiology. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiology and program faculty in Biomedical Engineering and Molecular and Systems Pharmacology. Hansen’s lab studies the interactions between satellite cells and the vasculature. Satellite cells are skeletal muscle progenitor cells that are known to play an important role in muscle repair after injury and adaptation to exercise. However, the Hansen lab focuses on a previously underexplored role of satellite cells in vascular growth. They have found that satellite cells, when activated, produced a number of chemoattractant growth factors that drive the migration of vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells which in an important factor in the growth and development of blood vessels. This area is of particular interest in the context of peripheral artery disease, where patients suffer from ischemic tissue damage but treatment options are still limited. The lab has shown that ischemia stimulates satellite cells and are exploring ways to harness their angiogenic properties in vivo or through therapeutically delivered cells.

Hannah Choi is an Assistant Professor in the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech. Her research focuses on mathematical approaches to neuroscience, with primary interests in linking structures, dynamics, and computation in data-driven brain networks at multiple scales. Before coming to Georgia Tech, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington and also a visiting scientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and spent one semester at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at the University of California, Berkeley as a Patrick J McGovern Research Fellow. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University and her BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jay Patel, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at Emory and a Health Science Specialist at the Atlanta VA. Patel joined the faculty at Emory in September 2020, and his program focuses on the repair and regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues (e.g., cartilage, meniscus), with an emphasis on using micro-scale findings to drive macro-scale therapies. His lab uses a combination of biomechanics, biomaterials, mechano-biology, in vitro systems, and functional in vivo models to motivate, design, develop, and evaluate novel treatments and therapeutics for orthopaedic injuries. He received his Bachelor’s in Bioengineering from Rice University and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. He then pursued his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, working on a variety of cartilage tissue engineering and mechano-biology projects. Patel has published over 20 manuscripts, has presented at numerous international conference meetings, and won several prestigious awards, including the Excellence in Research Award (2018) from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Moreover, both his graduate and postdoctoral work resulted in pending patent applications, and the formation of startup companies with active small-business funding, demonstrating his ultimate goal of translating these approaches to the clinic.
 

Jennifer S. Singh is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of History and Sociology in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at Georgia Tech. She has a PhD in sociology from the University of California, San Francisco and specializes in medical sociology and science and technology studies. Her research investigates the intersections of genetics, health and society, which draws on her experiences of working in the biotechnology industry in molecular biology and as a public health researcher at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Her book, Multiple Autisms: Spectrums of Advocacy and Genomic Science, explores a range of perspectives from scientists, activists, parents, and people living with autism surrounding the rise and implementation of autism genetics research. Her current research investigates structural inequities to autism diagnosis and services based on race, social class and gender. 

Sakis Mantalaris is currently Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech & Emory. Prior he was Professor in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. His expertise is in modelling of biological systems and bioprocesses with a focus on mammalian cell culture systems, stem cell bioprocessing, and tissue engineering. He has received several awards: the Junior Moulton Award for best paper by the IChemE (2004), Fellow of AIMBE (2012), an ERC Advanced Investigator Award (2013), and the Donald Medal by the IChemE for his contributions to biochemical engineering (2015).
 

David’s varied interests have fueled an unusual educational background that fuses engineering, microsystem design, biology, and clinical research. David received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, under the tutelage of one of the early microsystems pioneers, Albert P. Pisano, PhD. Driven by a desire to see new types of sensors in the clinic, David undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in biomedical and clinical research with Wilbur A. Lam, MD, PhD, in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Working at the intersection of these fields, David has authored or contributed to publications in Nature Materials, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Blood. 

Jun Ueda received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Kyoto University, Japan, in 1994, 1996, and 2002 all in Mechanical Engineering. From 1996 to 2000, he was a Research Engineer at the Advanced Technology Research and Development Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan. He was an Assistant Professor of Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, from 2002 to 2008. During 2005-2008, he was a visiting scholar and lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2008 where he is currently a Professor. He received Fanuc FA Robot Foundation Best Paper Award in 2005, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Academic Career Award in 2009, Advanced Robotics Best Paper Award in 2015, and Nagamori Award in 2021. 

Social aspects of MRI research and development in the United States, Britain, and India. Medical visualization through technologies such as MRI. Ethical and social dimensions of overseas stem cell therapy; with a particular focus on patients' narratives and how these narratives reflect negotiations around ethical, juridical, and social/personal concerns. Sociological investigation of misinformation and disinformation in relation to science, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ching-Hua Huang, Ph.D., is the Turnipseed Family Chair and Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. Huang received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Huang’s expertise includes environmental chemistry, advanced water/wastewater treatment technology, contaminants of emerging concern, sustainable water reuse, waste remediation and resource recovery. Huang has supervised many research projects sponsored by various agencies, and has published more than 170 peer-reviewed journal papers, book chapters and conference proceeding papers. She is the Associate Editor of the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology Water and the Editorial Advisory Board member of Environmental Science & Technology.