Current Members
Featured
Alex is a postdoctoral fellow and a co-founder of Cohesys, a medical device start-up company led by Dr. Michael Floros, spun out of the Santerre lab. He completed his BASc in materials engineering and his PhD in biomedical engineering both at the University of Toronto. He specializes in biomaterials and connective tissue biology. His current research is focused on the development and commercialization of BoneTape, a novel fracture fixation technology targeted at the repair of fractures to the midface and cranium.
Contact: alex.lausch(at)utoronto.ca
Yizhou is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2018. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop a functional cardiac tissue engineered patch that could repair and regenerate damaged myocardium of failing hearts. Currently, he is aiming to develop a co-electrospun D-PHI gelatin nanofibrous scaffold that will be later seeded with cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts for coculture studies. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading, cooking, playing the violin, and studying new languages.
Contact: yizhoushawn.chen@mail.utoronto.ca
Katya is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering. She is focused on developing a small-diameter vascular graft using the D-PHI platform, upon which adipose stem cell-derived vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells and monocytes will be co-cultured and conditioned. Her past experiences include research in ophthalmic drug and cell delivery as well as process engineering work in a Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. In 2018, she received her BASc in Chemical and Bioengineering at McMaster University. In her spare time, she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with new cuisines, volunteering for local organizations and travelling.
Contact: katya.dcosta@mail.utoronto.ca
Brian is a MASc candidate in Biomedical Engineering. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at Trent University in 2020. His research aims to seed an electro-spun D-PHI/PCNU scaffold with cells sourced from adipose-derived stem cells, allowing for the preparation of tissue constructs with all their cells sourced from the host. This will be done with the goal of developing a functional gingival tissue graft.
Zach is a PhD student in the Faculty of Dentistry. He previously attended Western University completing his BESc in Biochemical Engineering and MESc in Biomedical Engineering. His project in the Santerre lab involves the development of biostable monomers and polymer composites to improve the robustness of dental resin materials. He is co-supervised by Dr. Santerre and Dr. Yoav Finer.
Kate is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. She completed her BASc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 2022. Her project involves generating a small-diameter D-PHI/PCNU vascular graft, seeded with autologous endothelial and supporting cells, that is non-thrombotic and able to withstand physiological shear stresses.
Contact: k.macquarrie@mail.utoronto.ca
Alex is a MASc candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering. She completed her B.Eng.BME in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University in 2023. Her project focuses on improving the microenvironment for hiPSC-cardiomyocyte transplantation by coculturing endothelial cells and adipose derived stem cells on Gel/DPHI/PCNU electrospun scaffolds.
Suja is a postdoctoral fellow in the Santerre laboratory. She completed her PhD thesis in the Kishen laboratory in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto in 2016. She developed temporal-controlled drug releasing systems and characterized them in vitro and in vivo for dentin-pulp tissue engineering applications. Her current research project involves the development of a polyurethane-based drug delivery system for functional cardiac tissue regeneration.
Contact: suja.shrestha(at)mail.utoronto.ca