University of Puerto Rico
Mayagüez Campus
Chemistry Department
Departmental Seminar
Celebrating the 75th. Anniversary of the ACS of Puerto Rico
by
Dra. Maribella Domenech
Departamento de Ingeniería Química
Universidad de Puerto Rico
Friday, February 10th, 2023
Room Q/125
10:30 am
Reunión de Microsoft Teams
Haga clic aquí para unirse a la reunión
ID de la reunión: 234 278 926 248
Código de acceso: 2j6sPw
Title: Collagen-based culture technologies for breast cancer research
Culture substrates of defined physical properties can alter cell growth and secretome profile via mechanical signals. Physical cues such as substrate stiffness and porosity are among the most studied properties that enhance cell differentiation and invasive phenotypes. Yet other physical cues, such as surface wettability, roughness, fibrosity, and topographical patterns have been less studied but represent an untapped potential to achieve desired cell phenotypes in a tissue-mimetic fashion. In this talk, I will showcase some of the culture technologies developed in our lab for cell-based studies. Specifically, the physical properties of collagen were tailored to study the impact on cell growth and secretory profiles in breast tumor cells. Overall, results show that physical cues can alter the metabolic and secretory profiles of cells modulating drug sensitivity and cell growth under growth factor-restrictive culture conditions. Such culture technologies have potential value for modeling disease states that negatively impact tumor behavior in response to therapy.
Maribella Domenech was born and raised in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico. She is a full-time Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (UPR-Mayaguez). She completed a bachelor majored in Industrial Biotechnology at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, a M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Postdoc in Chemical Engineering at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Dr. Domenech has been an independent researcher and educator in the areas of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering for 10 years. Much of her research trajectory has been focused on the development of biomaterials and microfluidic platforms of defined biochemical, physical and mechanical properties for studies of modeling the tumor microenvironment, and stem cell manufacture processes. She part of the leadership teams of the NSF-Sponsored Engineering Research Center in Cell Manufacture Technologies (CMAT) and the Center for the Advancement of Wearable Technologies (CAWT). Her research work has been presented at more than 30 conferences, and she has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and 2 book chapters. Her research and mentorship efforts have been recognized through multiples awards including the Industrial Biotechnology Alumni Role Model Award for three consecutive years (2015-2017), Faculty Cancer Research Award (2016) by the American Association for Cancer Research, and Distinguished Engineer Faculty Award (2018) at UPRM. In recognition of her solid career trajectory in the field of cellular technologies, Dr. Domenech was the first female engineering faculty from the UPR system to be elected as a standing member of the Cellular and Molecular Technologies Study Section at the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Also, last year she was recognized by Ciencia Puerto Rico among the top 37 Puerto Rican females in STEM disciplines and selected to be part of the “Borinqueñas in STEM
