(VIRTUAL) BME Distinguished Speaker Series: Vascular Microenvironments and Women's Health - Advancing Diagnostic Approaches and Computational Tools

Abstract: Dysregulated vascularization has been linked to various disorders, including obesity, atherosclerosis and cancers. Despite considerable efforts, controlling vascularization to improve human health remains a major challenge. Our research group focuses on two approaches to address this challenge: (1) developing sensitive tools and methods to quantitatively analyze tissue and vascular microenvironments, and (2) applying systems approaches that integrate experimental measurements and offer predictive insights. In this presentation, we will discuss our progress in measuring and controlling vascular signals, and how our research is contributing to the development of novel diagnostic approaches for disease. Additionally, we will highlight our efforts in applying these approaches to women's health, with the potential to improve outcomes in labor and delivery.

Bio: After earning her undergraduate degree, Imoukhuede pursued graduate study in bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. Here, she combined sensitive techniques in biomedical optics with nanoparticle imaging toward understanding the structure, function and trafficking of a key protein in epilepsy, the GABA transporter, GAT1. She also performed research in nicotine addiction through molecular imaging of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Imoukhuede’s research in nanotechnology earned her the Kavli Nanoscience Institute Award, and her graduate research was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Imoukhuede was the first African-American woman to be awarded a bioengineering doctorate by Caltech and was only the second African-American woman to earn a doctorate from Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science.

Imoukhuede completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. During her fellowship at Johns Hopkins, she was one of 10 postdoctoral fellows nationwide to earn the prestigious United Negro College Fund/Merck Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, one of six young investigators to earn the FASEB Postdoctoral Professional Development Award, and her work was awarded a poster award at the biennial Gordon Conference in Angiogenesis. Her postdoctoral work was also supported by the National Institutes of Health.