Stephen Badylak, DVM., PhD, MD.
Professor of Surgery

Dr. Badylak is Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Director of the Center for Preclinical Testing, and directs a laboratory focused upon the use of biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) to facilitate functional tissue regeneration.  Dr. Badylak is the President-elect of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, the author of more than 200 peer reviewed publications, and holds more than 50 issued U.S. patents and 300 patents worldwide.  The focus of Dr. Badylak’s work has revolved around the structure and composition of naturally occurring extracellular matrix, and the signaling provided by this matrix to host cells toward functional tissue reconstruction.  Dr. Badylak places high emphasis upon clinical translation of all activities in the laboratory and work conducted within the laboratory spans the full spectrum from basic science at the subcellular level to patient care at the bed side.

John Freund

John Freund is the manager of the Badylak laboratory. He received his degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Westminster College. John gained experience in a variety of laboratories including academic, government, and biotech companies prior to joining the Badylak lab. In addition to managing the laboratory, John helps to develop new methodologies for decellularizing tissues and works on numerous projects with both academic and industry collaborators.

Li Zhang, MD, MS

Li Zhang graduated from Beijing Medical University from China, have many years experience in biomedical research field, joined Dr. Badylak’s lab in 2006

Brian Herrera,

Brian Herrera is a Systems Analyst III, and he assists with device design and fabrication.

Peter Crapo, PhD

Peter M. Crapo, Ph.D. is investigating the potential for optic nerve regeneration using biologic scaffolds. He is interested in determining how adult neural stem cells respond to biologic scaffolds and applying that knowledge to repair of central nervous system tissue, which has limited regenerative capacity. Peter received a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University. His doctoral research focused on small-diameter blood vessel tissue engineering, and he has ongoing interest in cardiovascular medicine and tissue engineering as well as tissue-biomaterial interactions and soft tissue mechanics. He has previously worked as a Biomechanics Associate at a nationwide engineering consulting firm and as a Materials Engineer with the Department of Defense.

Kerry Daly, BVSc (DVM equivalent), PhD

Kerry Daly has a background in innate immunity, molecular biology and veterinary medicine. Her current research interests include the host immune response to biologic scaffolds, the role of innate immune cells such as macrophages and neutrophils in the direction and outcome of this response, damage-associated molecular patterns and regenerative medicine treatment options for peripheral compartment syndrome.

Alexander Huber, PhD, MSc (equiv.)

Alexander Huber is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Badylak lab. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham (UK) studying engineered heterogenous tissue constructs in vitro. He is particularly interested in the interaction of various cell types with their immediated cell-cell and cell-matrix environment, and the maintenance and modulation of cellular phenotypes and behaviour for their use in tissue engineered applications.

Jeremy Kelly, PhD

Jeremy Kelly received his Ph.D. from George Mason University.  His doctoral work examined the role of cell signaling pathways in HIV transcription and replication and also the role of cellular co-factors hijacked by the virus.  Currently a Postdoctoral Associate in the Badylak lab, his research focuses on the ability of macrophages to enhance muscle tissue regeneration.  He is also interested in the role of inflammation in wound healing as well as the recruitment and differentiation of stem cells at the site of injury.

Neill Turner, BSc., PhD

Neill Turner is investigating the role of decellularized extracellular matrix in limb and muscle regeneration. He has over extensive experience studying vascular biology and cardiovascular tissue engineering. Neill’s particular interest is in the role dynamic forces play in the control of cell differentiation and cellular recruitment to sites of injury.

Neill completed his doctorate at the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering at the University of Manchester. Here, he investigated how cyclic stretching mediates differentiation of adult progenitor cells down smooth muscle, osteogenic and adipogenic lineages. In addition, Neill investigated the endothelialization of artificial vascular grafts and the effects of extracellular matrix substrata and shear stress on endothelial cell attachment and retention, leading to the development of a type VIII collagen-coated, endothelialized polyurethane graft.

Vineet Agrawal

Vineet Agrawal is a graduate student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests are primarily in limb and nerve regeneration following implantation of tissue engineered devices composed of extracellular matrix.

Ricardo Londono

Ricardo Londono is a graduate student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh. His research is focused upon the properties and biologic activities of matricryptic peptides generated from scaffolds prepared from mammalian extracellular matrix (ECM) during the early events of tissue reconstruction and remodeling.

Chris Medberry

Christopher Medberry is a Doctoral student within the Bioengineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh.  His current research interests include developing novel extracellular matrix scaffolds from the central nervous system for use in Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury repair therapies.

Brian Sicari

Brian Sicari is a doctoral student within the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine. His rotation project, while in the Badylak Lab, focuses on comparing the cellular phenotypic induction as well as the host immune response elicited by:  the lyophilized sheet, particulate powder, and enzymatically digested gel forms of ECM.

Matt Wolf

Matt Wolf is a doctoral student in the BioEngineering department at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently investigating the production, the physical characteristics, composition, and efficacy of an biologic scaffold composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from skeletal muscle for regenerative medicine applications.

Tim Keane

Tim Keane is an undergraduate student in the Chemical Engineering department at the University of Pittsburgh. His research projects involve investigating the role of decellularized extracellular matrix in limb and muscle regeneration, specifically the tissue remodeling response to ECM that has been subjected to various degrees of decellularization.

Kathryn Kukla

Kathryn Kukla is an undergraduate student studying both Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Over the past couple of years, she has participated in a variety of projects including heart recellularization and macrophage characterization. Her current projects involve characterizing ECM gels derived from fat to be used in various regenerative medicine applications.

Sandy Liu

Sandy Liu is studying Bioengineering with a concentration in Cellular and Medical Product engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. In the Badylak laboratory, she is working on understanding the molecular pathways between macrophage interaction with biologic scaffolds, and in particular the role of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Understanding these pathways will lead to better clinical translation and performance of biomaterials.

Bernard Siu

Bernard Siu is involved in many projects in the Badylak lab. He is currently focused on identifying the response of stem cells following exposure to isolated molecules of extracellular matrix (ECM), as well as the identification of chemotactic fragments of ECM.

Jocelyn L. Runyon

(T) 412-624-5253
(F) 412-624-5256
(Email) runyonjl@upmc.edu

Eve A. Simpson

(T) 412-624-5252
(F) 412-624-5256
(Email) simpsonea@upmc.edu

Loren Gorgol

(T) 412-624-5308
(F) 412-624-5256
(Email) gorgoll@upmc.edu

Alejandro Nieponice MD, PhD

Alejandro Nieponice is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a faculty member of the McGowan Institute. With his background as a esophageal surgeon, his primary research interest is the clinical translation of ECM technologies for esophageal applications. As part of that effort he participates in the design and execution of several pre-clinical studies in the Badylak laboratories to evaluate novel applications of biomaterials.

Mike Sawkins

Mike Sawkins’ undergraduate degree is a BA in Natural Sciences (Astrophysics) from the Cambridge University, and I'm now part of an EPSRC-funded Doctoral Training Centre program in Regenerative Medicine, based at universities in Loughborough, Nottingham and Keele. More specifically he is a PhD student in Professor Kevin Shakesheff's Tissue Engineering Group at the University of Nottingham as part of a multi-centre BBSRC-funded project involving Nottingham, Southampton and Keele Universities, and Imperial College, London. his work focuses on injectable delivery systems which can precisely control both the spatial and temporal profile of growth factor presentation, and it is with the aim of furthering this work that he visited the laboratory of Dr. Badylak at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.