SFB Northwest Regional Symposium

On November 15, 2024

On September 19th and 20th, the TARE Lab had the opportunity to attend SFB’s Northwest Regional Symposium in Seattle, WA. We had a great time, with our members providing 3 rapid-fire talks and 2 poster presentations, including 2 of our undergraduates. Check out the topics of our presentations below.

We are very happy to announce that Kyley was awarded a 2nd place poster award for her poster presentation! We also want to thank the SFB organizers for their time and planning, including Dr. Robinson, who served as the regional co-chair!

Rapid Fire Sessions:

Aidan – Modulating Macrophage Polarization Using Surface Roughness on Electrospun Fibers to Promote Healing in Soft Connective Tissue Injuries

Rylie – Optimization of Applied Strain on Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds for the Development of an In vitro Meniscus Injury Model

Nitya – Tuning Viscoelasticity in a Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hydrogel System to Investigate Meniscal Fibrochondrocyte Mechanotransduction

Posters:

Katherine – Surfactant Modified Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds for Use in In vitro Tissue Models

Kyley – Investigation of Meniscal Cell Traction Forces on Substrates of Varied Stiffness

Katherine smiling next to her poster.

Aidan at a podium, giving a presentation about menisci.

Nitya at a podium, giving a presentation about hydrogels.

Summer Lab Cookout and Retreat

By svlynch

On August 7, 2024

In Photos

The TARE Lab recently held both a summer cookout event, hosted by Susy Simmonds Bohorquez, and a day-long lab retreat hosted by Dr. Robinson!

Our lab retreats involve personal/professional planning, followed by some team bonding and fun. In January, we went mini-golfing at the Flatstick Pub, and recently we decided to enjoy Seattle’s lovely summer weather and try our hands (or rather, feet) at quad-paddle boating on Green Lake! Check below for some pictures from our recent events!

Susy, Jordan, John, Aidan, Jaylend, Bethany, Katherine, Kyley, and Dr. Robinson at a large table.

Katherine, Kyley, Susy, Nandita, Bethany, Dr. Robinson, Jaylend, Lauren, Jordan, Aidan, and John at a picnic table.

Two separate paddleboats: one with Susy, Aidan, Kyley, and Dr. Robinson and another with Jordan, Jaylend, Lauren, and Nandita.

Near miss! Kyley, Aidan, Susy, and Dr. Robinson's boat nearly collides with that of Jaylend, Lauren, Nandita, and Jordan!

Meet Our New Summer Undergraduate Researchers!

By svlynch

On July 9, 2024

In Announcements

The TARE Lab is happy to announce the addition of 4 new undergraduate researchers!

Jordan Vanni joins us from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA, where she is currently pursuing dual degrees in both Biology and Chemistry, as well as a minor in STEM Education. You can read Jordan’s full biography here.

A smiling woman with long dark brown hair and a pink shirt.

Lauren Luu joins us from Yale University in New Haven, CT, where she is pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is also a member of Yale’s varsity gymnastics team. You can read Lauren’s full biography here.

A smiling man with dark hair standing in front of a lake.

Tyler Pham is currently an incoming 1st-year student at the University of Washington. He plans on majoring in Bioengineering and attending medical school. You can read Tyler’s full biography here.

A woman in a white shirt and blue jeans smiling.

Nandita Annamaneni is currently an incoming 2nd-year student at the University of Washington, pursuing a degree in Public Health, Global Health. You can read Nandita’s full biography here.

TERMIS World Congress 2024

By svlynch

On July 3, 2024

In Research Updates

This past week, members of the TARE Lab attended the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society’s (TERMIS) World Congress, held here in Seattle. We were excited to see how different global perspectives generated so many cutting-edge ideas to improve universal healthcare quality! Check below for the presentations and posters our members delivered, and some photos.

Kyley – “Modulating Pentenoate-Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Network Formation to Investigate Meniscal Cell Mechanotransduction”

John – “Sex Dependent Impacts of Exogenous Estrogens in Cell Culture Media on hMSC Metabolism and Proliferation”

Katherine – “Developing an In Vitro Meniscus Injury Model Using Modified Electrospun Fibrous Scaffolds”

Aidan – “Modulating Macrophage Polarization Using Surface Roughness on Electrospun Fibers to Promote Healing in Fibrous Connective Tissue Injuries”

Susy – “Genomic Characterization of Human Meniscus Tissues Reveals Distinct Clusters of Matrix-Producing Cell Subpopulations”

Dr. Robinson, Kyley, John, Susy, Katherine, and Dr. Jacob Hodge standing in front of a TERMIS backdrop.

Kyley and Dr. Robinson smiling in front of Kyley's research poster.

John presenting his TERMIS research presentation.

Katherine discussing her TERMIS poster presentation with a guest.

Aidan presenting his TERMIS research presentation.

Susy presenting her TERMIS research presentation.

(From left to right) Dr. Robinson, John, Aidan, Susy, Jacob, Kyley, Bethany, Jordan, and Katherine having lunch.

TARE Lab Cell Camp

By svlynch

On July 3, 2024

In Announcements

Recently, the TARE Lab held a Cell Culture Camp to teach new ISCRM personnel sterile technique, mammalian cell culture, and some basic cell assays! This camp was a week-long venture and included both lecture-based and lab-based portions, as well as typical summer camp fun, like shirt tie-dying.

This camp was organized by John Bradford, with help from Susy Simmonds Bohorquez and Katherine Meinhold. Cell Camp attendees included multiple new TARE Lab members, including Jordan Vanni, Lauren Luu, Tyler Pham, Jaylend Amistad, Anika Shah, and Nandita Annamaneni, in addition to some members of the neighboring Qu Lab.

John explaining cell culture to the new undergraduates!

John overseeing RunRun's cell culture technique.

John, Katherine, Jordan, Aidan, Susy, and Lauren tye-dying shirts!

John explaining cell confluency to a group of people.

World Biomaterials Congress 2024

By svlynch

On July 3, 2024

In Research Updates

In late May, Dr. Robinson attended the World Biomaterials Congress in Daegu, South Korea. She had a great time and loved learning about other emerging research in women’s health.

Dr. Robinson was invited to be the keynote speaker for the “Biomaterials for Women’s Health Engineering” symposium, where she gave a presentation titled: “Biomaterials Tools for Women’s Health: Call to Action”. Check below for some pictures from her trip!

Dr. Robinson smiling in front of a poster.

A group of four people smiling.

Two people smiling with food.

Meet Our New MD Students and Undergraduate Researchers!

By svlynch

On March 27, 2024

In Announcements

The TARE Lab is happy to announce the addition of two new MD students and three new undergraduate researchers!

Jaylend is a 1st-year medical student at University of Washington School of Medicine. He is interested in the musculoskeletal system, degenerative joint disease, sports injuries, health equity, and increasing underrepresented minorities in medicine. You can view Jaylend’s complete biography here.

Brandon is a 3rd-year medical student at University of Washington School of Medicine (Wyoming). He is interested in the musculoskeletal system, sports injuries, and strives to work in the field of orthopedic surgery once he graduates. You can view Brandon’s complete biography here.

A man with dark brown hair and a yellow shirt.

A man with red hair and dark glasses in a suit.

Bryan is a 3rd-year undergraduate at the University of Washington. He is majoring in Biochemistry, with a minor in Chemistry. He is interested in injury evaluation, rehabilitation skills, and mechanisms of injury, specifically among college athletes. You can view Bryan’s complete biography here.

Nitya is a 3rd-year undergraduate at the University of Washington. She is majoring in Bioengineering. She is interested in developing regenerative medicine and drug therapeutics. You can view Nitya’s complete biography here.

Anika is a 3rd-year undergraduate at the University of Washington. She is currently majoring in both Biochemistry and Anthropology: Human Evolutionary Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. She is passionate about bones, and wants to delve deeper into orthopedics and biomechanics in the future. You can view Anika’s complete biography here.

A smiling man wearing a dark shirt and light shorts.

Smiling woman with long, dark brown hair, in a winter coat.

A smiling woman with dark brown hair.

BMES 2023

By svlynch

On November 12, 2023

In Announcements

The TARE Lab recently attended the Biomedical Engineering Society’s 2023 Annual Meeting, held here in Seattle! We had a great time, and were excited to see such diversity in the emerging research (especially within women’s health). Check below for the presentations/posters our member’s delivered, and some photos!

Dr. Robinson – “Male and Female Meniscus Cells Exhibit Sex Differences in Response to Estrogen: Implications for Knee Osteoarthritis”.

John – “Sex Dependent Impacts of Exogenous Estrogens in Cell Culture Media on HMSC Metabolism and Proliferation”.

Katherine – “Electrospinning Aligned Fibers with Non-Ionic Surfactant for Additional Control of Scaffold Physical Properties, Protein Adsorption, and Cell Behavior”.

Susy – “Highly Parallel Tissue Grafting of Engineered Liver Micro-Tissues Enables High-Throughput In Vivo Biomaterial Screening”.

Kyley – “Modulating Pentenoate-Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Network Formation for Meniscal Fibrochondrocyte Mechanotransduction”.

Aidan – “Electrospun Fiber Surface Roughness Modulates Macrophage Polarization for Soft-Tissue Injury Regeneration”.

A group of people smiling behind large letters that spell out "BMES"

Meet our new BioE PhD Student, Susy!

By svlynch

On August 10, 2023

In Announcements

The TARE Lab is happy to announce the addition of a new member to our team!

Susy is a 4th-year PhD student in the Department of Bioengineering, and she will be co-advised by Dr. Robinson and Dr. Ronald Kwon in the Musculoskeletal Systems Biology Lab.

Susy is currently seeking to combine the strengths of exploration-oriented genetics studies in zebrafish and translation-focused in vitro studies with patient tissues to answer questions related to meniscal tissue growth and regeneration in homeostasis and disease.

View Susy’s complete biography here.