Neuronal tissue engineering.
Kacey Marra, Ph.D., is recognized for her interdisciplinary research in the design, synthesis, characterization and assessment of polymeric biomaterials. Kacey joined the Department of Surgery as an Assistant Professor in November 2002. Prior to that appointment she was with Carnegie Mellon University as a Research Scientist at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), and an associated faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (1998-2002), and the Department of Materials Science Engineering (2000-2002). In 1996-7, Kacey was a post-doctoral fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine, with advisor Elliot Chaikof, M.D., Ph.D. At Emory, Kacey worked on the synthesis of novel synthetic blood vessels. Kacey is actively involved in research efforts investigating polymeric biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. Kacey is the Director of the Plastic Surgery Laboratory at Pitt. Her research is focused on the utilization of adipose-derived stem cells for neuronal tissue engineering applications. Additional projects examine the use of the adult stem cells for cartilage, fat, and bone regeneration. As a faculty member of the Bone Tissue Engineering Center (BTEC) at Carnegie Mellon, she conducted studies related to polymer and ceramic scaffolds, and remains a member of BTEC.
