Current Members
Jessica Corpuz
PhD Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with a Specialization in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary. I chose to continue with the biomedical engineering path by pursuing a PhD degree in the Krawetz lab. My project looks at the intervertebral discs within the spine over time in PRG4 knockout mice. My goal is to determine the role of PRG4 in the discs and assess its effect on the structural, functional, and molecular properties of the discs.
Kasara Toth DVM
PhD Student
I began my undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia before completing my doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Since 2015 I have been a practicing equine veterinarian with a special interest in soft tissue pathology and regenerative therapies. My work with equine athletes and passion for sports medicine has led me to pursue a PhD in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. My research goals involve understanding the healing of soft tissue injuries, particularly those occurring within a joint and the use of regenerative therapies as they apply to an equine model of arthritis.
Supervised with: Dr. Holly Sparks
Emilie Gysel
PhD Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering with a specialization in biomedical engineering at the University of Calgary. During my undergraduate degree I developed a passion for bioprocessing, specifically the expansion of stem cells in bioreactors. I am very excited to pursue graduate studies where I hope to develop an inherently safe bioprocess using genetically modified induced pluripotent stem cells to treat osteoporotic fractures in mice.
Supervised with: Dr. Michael Kallos
Aria Ahadzadeh Ardebili
PhD Student
I completed my Bachelor of Health Sciences in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Calgary. During my undergraduate degree, I found myself interested in the interplay between engineering and biological systems. I chose to continue my studies through biomedical engineering by pursuing a graduate degree in the Krawetz lab. My project will look at the effects of antiepileptic drugs on the biomechanics and fracture healing of bones in mice in order to better understand the effects of these medications.
Dora Modrcin
PhD Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biosystems Engineering at the University of Manitoba, focusing on Biomedical Engineering. Now, I am working towards my PhD Degree in the Krawetz lab, with the intention of eventually pursuing a PhD. Currently, my research revolves around the liver’s ability to regenerate. I’m aiming to better understand a novel population of PRG4 positive tissue-resident macrophages within the liver, and investigating the role of PRG4 in helping these cells maintain tissue homeostasis.
Erin Roberts
PhD Student
I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at Queens University, followed by a Master's Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary. During my Master's degree I researched developing processes for the large scale expansion of Mesenchymal stromal cells. I am now pursuing a PhD researching the effect of bioprocessing parameters on the expansion of induced Pluripotent stem cells by looking at gene expression using spatial transcriptomics.
Supervised with: Dr. Michael Kallos
Oyinda Oduba
MSc Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Texas Tech University. During my undergraduate degree, I developed an interest in product design and development. Upon completion of my degree, my work experience in the medical device industry as a R&D engineer motivated my interest to seek an understanding of some of the diseases related to procedures which I designed devices for.
My research goal is to develop an atlas for cartilage/joint comparisons across different animal models through imaging and biomechanics testing with the aim of contributing to osteoarthritis research.
Supervised with: Dr. Sarah Manske
Haochen (Frank) Sun
MSc Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in human biology and immunology at the University of Toronto. I decided to continue my master's degree by studying biomedical engineering in the Krawetz lab. My project is aiming to use human dermal mesenchymal stem cells to treat cartilage damage in mice. My goal is to determine whether stem cells generated from bioreactors vs static tissue culture flasks can both aid in cartilage repair.
Juyeon Cha
MSc Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Chung-Ang University, South Korea. During my exchange semester at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Canada. My project focuses on employing genetically modified induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate therapeutic outcomes after injecting them into non-invasive osteoarthritis mouse models.
Maria (Maleny) Magdalena Del Toro Zechinelli
MSc Student
As a MITACS Globalink research intern (2021) and after my exchange semester experience in Canada, I became interested in pursuing graduate studies at the University of Calgary. I completed a B.Sc. in Biotechnology Engineering at Tec de Monterrey in Mexico. During my undergrad studies, I was involved in the device innovation lab for regenerative medicine at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), specifically working on biomaterials scaffolding approaches for dental tissue engineering. Nowadays, my research objective focuses on equine somatic cells integration-free reprogramming, e.g. PBMCs, into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) contributing to animal biotechnology and regenerative medicine research.
Tatjana Pejic
MSc Student
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology at the University of Calgary, where I developed an interest in the cell microenvironment. I decided to continue my studies in the field of stem cell and regenerative medicine under the biomedical engineering graduate program in the Krawetz lab. My project is focused on PRG4’s niche interactions with different primary joint tissue cells and its protective effects in equine and human models of osteoarthritis.
Supervised with: Dr. Holly Sparks
Maria (Maleny) Magdalena Del Toro Zechinelli
MSc Student
I joined Dr. Roman Krawetz’s lab during undergrad and have been conducting research under his supervision ever since. I’ve utilized an ovariectomized cynomolgus monkey model to study the effects of multiple osteoporotic drug treatments on bone. I then started my honours thesis where I performed ovariectomies on mice to study questions developed from our previous projects, focusing on the effects of an APOA1-/- model on various metabolic processes. Since graduating from my undergraduate degree in biomechanics, I have now transitioned into my Master’s Degree under the supervision of Dr. Danielle Whittier and Dr. Roman Krawetz where I will examine the effects of tibial loading on adipocytes and osteocytes over growth.
Supervised with: Dr. Danielle Whitter