Mary's PhD dissertation focused on how mechanical confinement influences mesenchymal stem cell cytoskeletal organization, migration mechanisms, and nuclear volume regulation. She developed a novel method for confining cells in a micropillar device, which she used to explore the effects of confinement on lung fibroblast to myofibroblast transition in the context of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Mary published 6 peer-reviewed publications (4 first-author; see her Google Scholar page) and gave 11 conference presentations. Mary was awarded the prestigious NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship from NHLBI. She was also awarded the Goldhaber Travel Award from the UMD Grad School twice, the Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship, and the BMES Student Travel Award. Mary has been a dedicated mentor to several undergraduate students in the Stroka lab, and she has also been active in the Bioengineering Graduate Student Society, serving as Vice President of Professional Development for 2 years.
Congratulations, Dr. Doolin - fantastic work!
A special thanks to all the cats (and humans) who showed up to a post-defense Zoom celebration!