Tom Gaborski Headshot

Tom Gaborski

Department Head

Dean’s Office
Kate Gleason College of Engineering
trgbme@rit.edu
585-475-4117
Office Location
INS-3307
Office Mailing Address
Institute Hall 73-3300

Tom Gaborski

Department Head

Dean’s Office
Kate Gleason College of Engineering

Education

BS, Cornell University; MS, Ph.D., University of Rochester

Bio

Tom Gaborski is a biomedical engineer, professor, and entrepreneur whose research lies at the intersection of biomaterials, microphysiological systems, extracellular vesicles, and vascular biology. His work focuses on understanding how engineered and biological interfaces regulate cell behavior, tissue-barrier function, and intercellular communication, with particular emphasis on endothelial barriers and inflammatory signaling.

As director of the NanoBio Materials Laboratory at RIT, Gaborski leads a multidisciplinary research program developing ultrathin and porous membrane technologies for microphysiological systems and extracellular-vesicle separation and analysis. His laboratory uses these engineered platforms to investigate fundamental questions in cell–material interactions, barrier formation and transport, and extracellular-vesicle interactions with vascular endothelium. 

Gaborski’s research has been supported by multiple institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health, as well as DARPA, the National Science Foundation, New York State, and industry partners. He is also Department Head of Biomedical Engineering at RIT and joined RIT in 2012 as a founding faculty member of the department.

Before returning to academia, Gaborski co-founded SiMPore, a nanomaterials company commercializing ultrathin membrane technologies. As the company’s president, he helped raise two rounds of investment and translate academic nanomembrane research into commercial products.

trgbme@rit.edu
585-475-4117
Personal Links
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
Areas of Expertise
Biomedical engineering
Ultra-thin nano-membranes
Nanomanufacturing
Cellular micro-environments
Microfluidics

Select Scholarship

Peer-reviewed journal publications from the last 2 years:
63.  Petersen KE, Alsudais M, Dehghani M, and Gaborski TR. Opportunities in next-generation porous membrane-based extracellular vesicle processing and applications. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2026.2699342

62.  Alsudais M, Petersen KE, Hosseinfifakhr A, Frash LH, Gholizadeh S, Dehghani M, and Gaborski TR. Development of a PEGylated Parylene Nanopocket Membrane for the Capture and Release of Lipid Vesicles. Journal of Micromechanics and Micromachining 2026. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6439/ae9aa6

61.  Dehghani M, Chai M, Talebloo N, Morrissey M, Larey A, Keselman P, Rana A, Islam M, Mayo M, Speidel J, Mukherjee P, Zhao Z, Haridas N, Marks P, Chon J, Kishimori E, Gaborski TR, Kim Y, Joshi D, Wu Y, Lu Y, Cheng R, Norton R, Zhong Y, Lahooti B, Trinidad C, Black E, Splan D, Pollard D, and Olszowy M. Bioprocess Design and Optimization of Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Mesenchymal Stromal Cells. ACS Nano 2026, 20, 21, 15032–15060.

60.  Widom LP, Torabian P, Trempel MA, McCloskey MC, Michel LV, McGrath JL, and Gaborski TR. Bacterial extracellular vesicles indirectly destabilize a human stem cell–derived blood–brain barrier on-chip through pro-inflammatory stimulation of immune cells. Lab on a Chip. 2026. 26, 3327-3344.

59.  Ceballos-Santa MC, TR Gaborski, Sanchez-Ortiz I, and Wuertz-Kozak K. A Step-by-Step Protocol for the Isolation of Aloe vera–Derived Extracellular Vesicles via Manual and Shear-Force Homogenization. Bio-protocol. 2026. 16(8): e5664.

58.  Widom LP, Torabian P, Wojehowski AC, Ghaemmaghami D, Michel LV, and Gaborski TR. Antibiotics modulate Escherichia coli-derived bacterial extracellular vesicle production and their upregulation of ICAM-1 in human endothelial cells. Biology Open. 2026. 15(2): bio062476.

57.  Trempel MA, Du Y, Widom LP, Reitz E, Feidler AM, Kasap P, Engelhardt B, Gaborski TR, Gelbard HA, Terrando N and McGrath JL. Pericytes repair engineered defects in the basement membrane to restore barrier integrity in an in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier. Materials Today Bio. 2025. 35: 102361.

56.  Ceballos-Santa MC, TR Gaborski, Schulze S, Wuertz-Kozak K. Targeting Fibrotic Scars with Extracellular Vesicles Extracted from Mature Aloe vera: Enhanced Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory, and Antifibrotic Activity through M2 Macrophage Polarization and Myofibroblasts Inhibition. bioRxiv. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.17.660207

55.  Torabian P, Singh N, Crawford J, Gonzalez G, Burgado N, Videva M, Miller A, Perdue J, Dinu M, Pietropaoli A,  Gaborski TR, Michel LV. The effect of clinically relevant beta-lactam, aminoglycoside, and quinolone antibiotics on bacterial extracellular vesicle release from E. coli. International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. 2025 (65):1, 107384.

Currently Teaching

BIME-499
Co-op
0 Credits
One semester of paid work experience in biomedical engineering.
EGEN-210
Vertically Integrated Projects in Engineering
1-3 Credits
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage undergraduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on engineering topics, with team membership coming from across RIT’s colleges. Each VIP team has large-scale and multi-faceted objectives in research, design, entrepreneurship, and/or community outreach & service. A VIP faculty advises each VIP team composed of 2nd through 5th year students, with each student participating from one to three years. VIP teams generally can, and will, also include Graduate students at the Masters and PhD levels. New VIP students learn from and replace those who graduate by engaging in peer-to-peer learning and mentorship which sustains each VIP team beyond any one student. The teams are: Multidisciplinary - drawing students from different disciplines on campus; Vertically-integrated - maintaining a mix of sophomores through PhD students each semester; Long-term - each undergraduate student may participate in a project for up to three years. Students taking the 200-level course will: build basic knowledge/skills related to the project and begin making meaningful contributions. Students will be required to make basic contributions to the project through fundamental engineering activities, maintain detailed notebooks describing their contribution to the project, attend and participate in team meetings, learn about topics specific to each VIP via tutorials and readings from appropriate literature, and participate in reporting and presentations.
EGEN-410
Vertically Integrated Projects in Engineering
1-3 Credits
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage undergraduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on engineering topics, with team membership coming from across RIT’s colleges. Each VIP team has large-scale and multi-faceted objectives in research, design, entrepreneurship, and/or community outreach & service. A VIP faculty advises each VIP team composed of 2nd through 5th year students, with each student participating from one to three years. VIP teams generally can, and will, also include Graduate students at the Masters and PhD levels. New VIP students learn from and replace those who graduate by engaging in peer-to-peer learning and mentorship which sustains each VIP team beyond any one student. The teams are: Multidisciplinary - drawing students from different disciplines on campus; Vertically-integrated - maintaining a mix of sophomores through PhD students each semester; Long-term - each undergraduate student may participate in a project for up to three years. Students taking the 400-level course will: have technical foundations within their discipline, pursue needed knowledge/skills independently as-needed, make meaningful contributions, assume technical/leadership responsibilities, and serve as mentors for junior members. Students will be required to make significant contributions to the project, maintain detailed notebooks describing their contribution to the project, attend and participate in team meetings, learn about topics specific to each VIP via tutorials and readings from appropriate literature, and participate in reporting and presentations.
EGEN-610
Vertically Integrated Projects in Engineering
1-3 Credits
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on engineering topics, with team membership coming from across RIT’s colleges. Each VIP team has large-scale and multi-faceted objectives in research, design, entrepreneurship, and/or community outreach & service. A VIP faculty advises students on each VIP team, with each student participating from one to three years. VIP teams generally are comprised of undergraduate students as well as students at the Masters and PhD levels. New VIP students learn from and replace those who graduate by engaging in peer-to-peer learning and mentorship which sustains each VIP team beyond any one student. The teams are: Multidisciplinary - drawing students from different disciplines on campus; Vertically-integrated - maintaining a mix of undergraduate through PhD students each semester; Long-term - each student may participate in a project for up to three years. Students taking the 600-level course will: have technical foundations within their discipline, pursue needed knowledge/skills independently as-needed, make meaningful contributions, assume technical/leadership responsibilities, and serve as mentors for junior members. Students will be required to make significant contributions to the project, maintain detailed notebooks describing their contribution to the project, attend and participate in team meetings, learn about topics specific to each VIP via tutorials and readings from appropriate literature, and participate in reporting and presentations. Graduate students will focus on research skills, such as: reviewing literature and presenting to the team, developing research project plans, and participating in external paper submissions.

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