Shireen, Nippa, and Kwaghtaver presented at the 2023 Graduate Engineering Research Showcase. Mohammad presented a poster entitled “Exploring the impact of modulating cardiac differentiation of hydrogel encapsulated hiPSCs to derive second heart filed”. Nipa presented a poster titled “3D Engineered Tissue Model for Investigating the Role of CXCL7 in Colon Cancer Progression” and Kwaghtaver presented a poster titled “Optimizing Control Media for Co-culturing Engineered 3D Colorectal Cancer Tissues in Insulin-Resistant and Insulin-Sensitive Microenvironments”
Justin and Shireen performed pig heart and hydrogel (fake snow) demonstrations to kids aged 3-12 years at the 2023 GRAND Engineering Challenges as an effort to spark interest in the STEM field.
Alt Text: Shireen and Justin stand in front of a table covered in fake snow, a video of a contracting engineered heart tissue, and a real pigs heart.
Shireen Singh, a second year graduate student in our lab presented her preliminary dissertation research work entitled, “Creating Left Ventricular 3D Engineered Cardiac Tissues for Modeling Congenital Heart Diseases.” She gave a presentation defending her prelim document followed with audience questions, and was later questioned by her committee in a closed door session. Her prelim defense was August 11th, 2023. Great job Shireen!
Alt Text: Shireen and Dr. Lipke stand in front of a white board and presentation screen. The screen shows Shireen’s title slide.
Anaiah Jones researched in here Lipke Lab this summer of 2023 under Shireen Singh working on the cardiac team. She helped Shireen with experiments and performed image analysis to help Shireen better understand cardiac differentiation. She also participated in summer REU meetings with the college and also helped us out with outreach activities including the 2023 Biomanufacturing Workshop held at Alabama State University.
She gave her final presentation titled, “Biomimetic Materials An Innovative Approach Towards the Development of Cardiac Regeneration.” We celebrated her by visiting a local ice cream shop in downtown Auburn. We had such a great summer with you Anaiah!
Alt Text: Anaiah stands in front of a scientific poster. She poster is navy and white with various images, graphs, and other data.
Members of Lipke Lab (Mohammad, Shireen, Kwaghtaver, Nipa, and Anaiah) and the Selen Cremaschi Research Group (Dr. Cremaschi, Shenba, and Erfan) lead a day-long workshop to summer REU students at Alabama State University with Dr. Komal Vig covering topics including biomanufacturing of engineered tissues, machine learning for use in decision making processes, and scale up of heart tissue production using machine learning. The workshop composed of interactive presentations and hands-on demonstrations including machine learning demonstrations, cell encapsulations, hydrogel production, and pig heart demonstrations. The event was held on June 30th, 2023.
Alt Text: Shireen, Mohammad, Anaiah, Dr. Vig, and summer REU students gather around a large wooden conference table during a cookie activity for biomanufacturing.
Alt Text: Mohammad and Shireen pose in a lab holding pig hearts.
Dr. Lipke took five summer researchers to Hannover, Germany to perform research in the Leibniz Laboratories for Biotechnology and Artificial Organs (LEBAO). Students had the opportunity to work in research labs, including labs from Dr. Robert Zweigerdt, Dr. Ina Gruh, Dr. Ruth Olmer, Dr. Nico Lachmann, and Dr. Stefan Kalies. This program provided students with the opportunity to conduct research at the interface of clinical application and biomanufacturing, advancing their knowledge of German culture, and becoming aware of scientific education and carrier opportunities in regenerative medicine on a trans-institutional and trans-Atlantic level. Students arrived in Germany at the end of May 2023, and returned to the US at the end of July 2023.
This collaborative initiative was made possible by competitive International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant funding acquired from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and is focused on process development for cell and tissue manufacturing.
Alt Text: From left to right, Jada Neal, undergraduate student at Auburn Univeristy (AU), Jasmine Brown, undergraduate student at Georgia Tech, Fawaz , graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Justin Harvell, graduate student at AU, Dr. Elizabeth Lipke, faculty at AU, Stephen Wheat, undergraduate student at Louisiana State Univeristy, Shifaa Abdin, graduate student at MHH NIFE, Liam Wilson, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Rajesh Vivekanandan, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Dr. Robert Zweigerdt, head of research group at MHH LEBAO, Aileen Schmidt, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Dr. Ruth Olmer, head of research group at MHH LEBAO, Carlos Bautista, graduate student at MHH LEBAO, Ellie Hall, undergraduate student at Mississippi State, and Mirela Wilkening, an assistant at MHH LEBAO. The group are standing in front of a gray and red building sign in Hannover, Germany.
Justin Harvell and Grace Hester competed in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineerings 2023 AUSome Science in 60 Seconds competition and both won respective graduate and undergraduate overall winners.
The competition challenged students to present their work in one minute to a general audience, similar to a one minute TikTok video. The Lipke Lab came in first place for both undergraduates and graduate students. The winners were announced at the Council of Engineering Graduate Students’ awards banquet on April 27, 2023.
Alt text: From left to right, Dr. Michael Greene, associate professor of nutritional sciences, Grace Hester, Dr. Elizabeth Lipke, Mary and John H. Sanders Professor in chemical engineering, and Justin Harvell stand in front of a Council of Engineering Graduate Students navy backdrop. Grace and Justin hold large signed golden checks for their award.
