Abstract: Some of the most prevalent and devastating diseases of our time, such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, involve the microvasculature – the smallest blood vessels in our body. Treatments that have been developed to target aberrant microvessels (e.g. anti-VEGF therapies) are directed toward specific molecular pathways, yet some of the most damaging effects of these diseases (e.g. blood vessel insufficiency or overgrowth) manifest at the multi-cell, tissue-level scale. My lab studies how dynamic, heterotypic cell interactions during angiogenesis give rise to new blood vessels by developing and utilizing agent-based computational modeling paired with experimental models that are amenable to dynamic, high-resolution, intravital imaging. The overarching goal of our research is to design new therapies that more effectively manipulate angiogenesis by targeting the multiple heterogeneous cell types (and their interactions) that are implicated in this process. We are specifically interested in the communication between endothelial cells and perivascular support cells in the context of diabetic retinopathy, and we are pursuing a cell-based therapy approach for treating retinal vasculopathy.

Biosketch: Shayn Peirce-Cottler, Ph.D. is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and holds secondary appointments in the Department of Ophthalmology and in the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Virginia (UVa). She received her Bachelors of Science degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics from The Johns Hopkins University in 1997. She earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the UVa in 2002. A past recipient of the MIT Technology Review’s “TR100 Young Innovator Award” and the Biomedical Engineering Society’s “Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award”, Dr. Peirce-Cottler researches how blood vessels grow and remodel in response to diseases, such as diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, and cancer. She and her research team combine experimental and computational modeling approaches to understand the complex web of molecular signals and cellular behaviors that contribute to vascular adaptations in tissues. Her lab also investigates the roles of circulating immune and progenitor cells in microvascular growth, which informs their translational investigation of adult stem cell therapies for tissue regeneration. Dr. Peirce-Cottler teaches courses to undergraduate students, graduate students, and medical students on the topics of computational systems bioengineering, cell and molecular physiology, and medical device design and commercialization. She was recently elected into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows, and she is President-elect of the Microcirculatory Society.

~BME Faculty Host: Prof. Taeyoon Kim~

***Coffee and juice will be provided at West Lafayette***