Laboratory Directory

Karin Wuertz-Kozak, PhD

Kate Gleason Endowed Full Professor,
Biomedical Engineering
585-475-7355
kwbme@rit.edu

Dr. Wuertz-Kozak is a pharmacist by training, holds a Ph.D. in Human Biology from the University of Ulm in Germany, and holds an MBA in Leadership and Sustainability from the University of Cumbria in the UK. After a Postdoc at the University of Vermont in the US, Dr. Wuertz-Kozak was a group leader at the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Before joining RIT in October, 2019, she was appointed as Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich for 3 years, where she was the recipient of the Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship Award. At RIT, Dr. Wuertz-Kozak currently holds the position of Kate Gleason Endowed Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering and leads the Tissue Regeneration and Mechanobiology (TRAM) Laboratory.

Andrea De Pieri, PhD

Andrea De Pieri received a BSc (Health Biotechnologies) and MSc (Medical Biotechnologies) from the Università degli Studi di Padova (Italy) and carried out research at the Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory at the National University of Ireland Galway (Ireland) for his PhD studies. His PhD focused on the development of scaffold-free tissue engineering strategies for skin regeneration. At RIT, Andrea is working on the fabrication of a double-layered nanofibrous scaffolds that can be advanced into 3D organotypic skin models and is partaking in the supervision of other ongoing projects.

Iker Martinez, MS

Iker obtained a BS in Biochemistry, an MSc in Biomedical Engineering and an additional MSc in Pharmacology from the University of BSQUE Country, Spain. Thereafter, he worked as a Research Assistant in Santiago de Chile (Chile), Cambridge (UK) and Cardiff (UK), where he gained extensive experience in genome engineering. Iker will conduct his PhD Thesis on the topic of extracellular vesicles from CRISPR-modified stem cell for the treatment of back pain.

Janitri Babu, MS

Janitri has a Bachelor’s of Technology in Genetic engineering from SRM University, India. She conducted her bachelor’s thesis at the University of Zurich, Switzerland where she studied the role of transporters in cataract. She then went ahead to obtain her Master’s degree in Regenerative Medicine from Manipal University, India. The research for her Master’s thesis was focused on Exosomes derived from multiple stem cell sources, it's neurotoxic potential and also, it’s therapeutic potential. Her Ph.D. project at RIT is on the role of the ion channel TRPC6 in mechanosensing of the intervertebral disc and its relevance as a therapeutic target in degenerative disc disease.

Patricia Alvaro Llopis, MS

Patricia received her BSc in Biological Sciences and an MSc Molecular Biology from the University of Valencia (Spain). Thereafter, she worked as a Research Assistant in both hospitals and private companies in the Czech Republic and Spain, which allowed her to obtain a wide experience in Cell and Molecular Biology. Currently, Patricia is a PhD student at RIT where she conducts her doctoral thesis on the design of a 3D model for scleroderma to test inhibition of the ion channel TRPC6 as a new therapeutic option.