REU Program

 

REU Site: UC San Diego Bioengineering Undergraduate Research

The Jacobs School of Engineering (JSOE) at UC San Diego hosts a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program to engage student participants in bioengineering research. The objectives of the program are to train undergraduates in basic research through challenging bioengineering projects performed with research mentors from our faculty. REU faculty mentors have expertise in bioengineering research and are highly supportive of engaging undergraduates in research.

About the Program

Program Highlights

 

  • $600 per week stipend
  • Free on-campus housing
  • Travel to and from San Diego and to the annual BMES Conference
  • Oral and Poster Presentations at UC San Diego Research Symposium
  • Weekly research and professional skill  development workshops
  • Perform biomaterials research with program mentors 
  • Field trips and social events

 

Eligibility Requirements

 

  • Full-time undergraduate student
  • U.S. citizen or permanent resident
  • Full-time availability during the program
  • Participants must be 18 years of age by the start date of the program and completed at least 1 year of college coursework

The UC San Diego Bioengineering Undergraduate Research Program is open to all eligible students. The program does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and selection process.

 

Program Contacts

 

Dr. Alyssa C. Taylor, REU Site Director

atayloramos@ucsd.edu

 

Application Information

 

  • Major components of the application include:
    • personal and academic information
    • a personal statement
    • a copy of your unofficial school transcript (as a pdf)
    • letter of recommendation
    • research faculty mentor preferences
  • All components of the application must be submitted before the deadline to be considered complete.
  • Only complete applications will be reviewed.

 

Current Program Projects

 

Pedro Cabrales, Ph.D.
Professor 

Engineering a battlefield deployable whole-blood analog
Hemorrhage is the leading cause of nearly 90% of potentially survivable battlefield fatalities. While whole blood is regarded as the optimal resuscitation fluid, it presents inherent limitations, including limited viability, the requirement for cold storage, and logistical challenges on the battlefield, rendering it often inaccessible when needed most. Our current undertaking involves a program dedicated to creating a field-deployable, shelf-stable whole blood analog (WBA), which can serve as a viable alternative for resuscitating trauma patients in scenarios where conventional donated blood products are unavailable. Participants will play a pivotal role in establishing a comprehensive program centered on the development and assessment of the mechanical and chemical properties of this WBA. The participant will test the hypothesis that the WBA can effectively rescue trauma victims without demonstrating inferiority compared to stored whole blood. Participants can collaborate closely with Dr. Cabrales and experienced graduate student mentors. This experience will equip participants with valuable tools and insights for studying, engineering, developing, and evaluating this innovative whole-blood analog.

Fanny Chapelin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor 

MR imaging of tumor associated macrophage changes with therapy
When functioning correctly, the immune system is a powerful force actively preventing disease and neoplastic development through immunosurveillance. Cancer cells evade the immune system through immunoediting, and begin recruiting anti-inflammatory macrophages, referred to as tumor-associated macrophages (TAM). TAM infiltration in tumors is an established biomarker of tumor aggressiveness and tumor resistance to therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based cell tracking techniques have proven successful in monitoring immune cell migration to the foci of inflammation in different pathologies, including cancer. This project will consist in developing MRI cell tracking methods for ex vivo and in situ labeling of cells with fluorine imaging reagents. We will develop non-invasive MRI imaging methods that could serve as a prognostic biomarkers of therapy efficacy or tumor recurrence.  We will deliver fluorine nanoemulsions intravenously to mice bearing subcutaneous tumors. As a result, systemic monocytes, macrophages and TAM will be labeled, and we will quantify longitudinal MR signal changes following radiation therapy or programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy. Participating students will learn cell culture and labeling techniques for subsequent MR imaging of infused cells. The student will also learn about animal models and experimentation, specifically mouse handling and tumor injection. The REU student will receive training in MRI safety and accompany the PI during the MRI experiments.

Erika Cyphert, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Engineering mucoadhesive and thermogelling polymers for treatment of bacterial vaginosis
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a prevalent gynecological infectious disease affecting 1/3rd women in the US. BV is characterized by an increased pH of the vaginal environment, loss of Lactobacilli, and increased diversity of the vaginal microbiota. Treatment for BV involves antibiotic delivery, however, often results in high recurrence rate (> 50%) within 6 months. Recent advances in metabolomics have identified previously unidentified vaginal microbial-derived metabolites in women with and without BV. Microbial-derived metabolites offer the potential to address BV infection through a different perspective to overcome challenges posed by existing treatments. In this project we will engineer a mucoadhesive delivery platform for microbial-derived metabolites to allow for their sustained and controlled delivery to the vaginal mucosa. The design of the polymeric formulation will account for ease of administration (thermogelling - gel at body temperature at administered site), for targeted release (mucoadhesive - to prolong retention at target site), and degradation based upon the microenvironment conditions (low pH stimulus in BV infection). Students may also have the opportunity to work with mouse models and culture bacteria.

Reem Khojah, Ph.D.
Assistant Teaching Professor 

Machine learning for biomaterial applications
Students will explore machine learning tools for studying three-dimensional tissue cultures with a focus on biomaterial applications on organoid culture. In Dr. Khoja’s fully-equipped cell and tissue culture lab, the participant will test the hypothesis that light stimulation influences the temporal development and neural electrophysiology of cortical organoids by modulating key biological pathways, including neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and calcium signaling. Long-term real time imaging via biocloud platform is an essential component for testing the hypothesis by analyzing growth patterns using machine learning tools. Graduate students of Dr. Khoja’s will be available to support student researchers throughout their journey fostering a collaborative interdisciplinary bioengineering research experience.

Vira Kravets, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Beta cells and diabetes pathogenesis
The participant will study whether some insulin-producing pancreatic b-cell subpopulations are more vulnerable to glucolipotoxic conditions via bioengineering approaches such as applying multiscale confocal imaging of Ca 2+ dynamics of the cellular network, paired with phasor-FLIM to measure in-vivo metabolic activity and machine learning analysis to study islets in the live pancreatic tissue slices from human and mice. The participant will test the hypothesis that responder beta cells are disproportionately affected by high glucose and fatty acid application, and lose their role in triggering insulin secretion, leading to type-2-diabetes like pattern of response.

Prashant Mail, Ph.D.
Professor 

Aberrant cell transformation processes
The major research thrusts in the Mali laboratory are two-fold: one, development of molecular toolsets for genome, transcriptome, and proteome engineering and their application to systematic genome interpretation and gene therapy applications; and two, study and engineering of cell fate specification during development utilizing human pluripotent stem cells as the core model system. Given the parallels in phenotypes (such as self-renewal and tumor forming ability) between pluripotent stem cells and cancer cells, a key research thrust is also in dissecting aberrant cellular transformation processes such as during tumorigenesis. The student participant will test the hypothesis that misregulation of developmental genes in adulthood has the potential to drive tumorigenesis.

Lingyan Shi, PhD
Associate Professor

Using stimulated Raman scattering to Understand Cell Mechanics
The Shi lab is developing novel multimodal optical imaging platforms integrating stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), multiphoton fluorescence (MPF), and second harmonic generation (SHG) for visualizing metabolic dynamics in cells and tissues and their impact on tissue mechanics. The participant will learn how to use these cutting-edge state-of-the-art high resolution imaging technologies and code custom designed algorithms for imaging analysis. These methods will be applied to heart tissues undergoing stretch, which will provide training in the use of powerful tools for disease detection, diagnosis, and prognosis.

Daniela Valdez-Jasso, PhD
Associate Professor

Mechanics of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) 
PAH is a rapid, progressive vascular disease that commonly results in intractable right-heart failure and premature death. To better understand the remodeling process undergone by the pulmonary arteries, the participant will characterize the time course of the pulmonary vascular changes that occur in pulmonary vessels and the relation of these changes to cardiac mechanics. To this end, the participant will mechanically stimulate cells derived from pulmonary arteries and right ventricles from control animals to mimic in vivo conditions and compare them to cell phenotypes from hypertensive animals. 

 

Applications for Summer 2025 are now closed