Marina's paper has been accepted for publication in FASEB Journal! This paper demonstrates that biochemical cues from astrocytes from the brain microenvironment affect the migration, morphology, and cytoskeletal organization of metastatic breast tumor cells. We also show that this effect is enhanced when the cells' extracellular matrix is treated with astrocyte-secreted factors, in comparison with direct treatment of the cells, suggesting that the phenotypic effects of astrocytes on breast tumor cells is also mediated through alteration of the cells' extracellular matrix and/or in signaling via tumor cell adhesion receptors.

This work was done in collaboration with Dr. Herb Geller's lab at the NIH/NHLBI. Other co-authors include Dr. Caitlin Mencio (postdoc in the Geller lab), Jack Siglin (undergraduate student in Stroka lab), and Rebecca Moriarty (graduate student in Stroka lab). Congrats to all authors!

To read the paper, click here.

Kelsey Gray, Marina Shumakovich, and Mary Doolin were all selected to present at the upcoming BMES meeting in Phoenix, AZ! Dr. Stroka will also be chairing 2 platform sessions. See you in Arizona!

Our collaborative paper with Dr. Steve Jay's lab has been accepted in Bioengineering and Translational Medicine! The paper is titled "Effects of cell seeding density and passage number on mesenchymal stem cell exosome biogenesis and vascularization activity." Congrats to co-first authors, Divya Patel from the Jay Lab and Kelsey Gray from our lab!

Check out the article here.

Our invited review paper, led by PhD student and Fischell Fellow, Kelsey Gray, and titled "Vascular Endothelial Cell Mechanosensing: New Insights Gained from Biomimetic Microfluidic Models," has been accepted in a special issue focused on mechanosensing in Seminars and Cell and Developmental Biology! 

Check out the article here.

Today Dr. Stroka talked about her career as a bioengineering professor at Seabrook Elementary School's Career Day. The kids had tons of excellent questions and hopefully were inspired to follow their dreams!

Congratulations to Dr. Stroka's Capstone Team on their award for "Best Poster" at the BIOE Senior Capstone Design Competition and poster session! Their project, "EsophaCool: A Transesophageal Blood Cooling Device to Reduce Ischemic Brain Injury"  resulted in design, manufacturing, and testing of a new portable device which could be used to cool the brain to prevent ischemic brain injury. They worked closely with their clinical mentor, Dr. Michael Mazzeffi at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Congratulations to Team EsophaCool!

Image below shows (from left) Dr. Stroka with students Leila Ettehadieh, Danielle Rossi, Shannon Schreiner, Deena Rubin, and Noah Bar-Shain.

A huge congratulations to PhD student Kelsey Gray for being awarded the Dr. Mabel S. Spencer Award for Excellence in Graduate Achievement! This award carries a $15,000 stipend for the 2017-2018 academic year along with tuition remission. The award was established in honor of Dr. Mabel S. Spencer, a former distinguished professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, in order to support an outstanding graduate student who has demonstrated both academic excellence and the potential to make a contribution in his/her field of study. Congratulations, Kelsey!!!

Also check out the article on the BIOE website.

PhD student Mary Doolin was recently notified that she will be a 2017 recipient of the $5000 Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship from the UMD Graduate School! The Summer Research Fellowship supports graduate students who are "mid-career" and preparing for a key benchmark in the program. Congratulations, Mary!

Dr. Stroka was invited to give a talk as part of Physics Honors Day at her alma mater, Denison University. This was a huge honor and a great chance to catch up with all the professors who inspired her early in her academic career!