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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261123T120000
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URL;TYPE=URI:https://www.wpi.edu/news/calendar/events/bme-seminar-brittany-
 taylor-u-florida-engineering-tendon-microenvironment-ecm-extracellular-ves
 icle
SUMMARY:BME Seminar: Brittany Taylor: U. of Florida: “Engineering the Ten
 don Microenvironment: ECM–Extracellular Vesicle Communication in Healing
  and Disorders”
DESCRIPTION:Seminar Series\n“Engineering the Tendon Microenvironment: ECM
 –Extracellular Vesicle Communication in Healing and Disorders”\n\n\n\n
       \n      \n\n\n\nBrittany Taylor\, PhD\nAssistant Professor\, Biomedi
 cal Engineering\nUniversity of Florida\nAbstract: Tendon disorders\, inclu
 ding acute injury and chronic tendinopathy\, impair function due to the ti
 ssue’s limited regenerative capacity and propensity for fibrotic repair.
  Although the mechanisms governing tendon healing remain incompletely unde
 rstood\, repair involves extrinsic and intrinsic cell populations that dep
 osit mechanically inferior extracellular matrix (ECM). Our lab develops bi
 ophysical models of tendon health and dysfunction to study how cell-cell a
 nd cell-matrix interactions regulate fibrotic healing\, neuroimmune mechan
 isms of pain\, and tissue biomechanics. A central goal is to bridge biomat
 erials-based in vitro systems with preclinical and human tissue models to 
 study and validate biological processes across scales.\nThis talk will foc
 us on how the dynamic structural remodeling of the ECM influences extracel
 lular vesicle (EV)-mediated cellular communication during tendon healing a
 nd disease progression. Our findings suggest that microenvironmental cues\
 , including matrix stiffness and alignment\, strongly regulate EV phenotyp
 e and downstream pathways critical to tendon repair and fibrosis. Elucidat
 ing these EV-mediated ECM interactions provide fundamental insight into me
 chanisms of tendon repair and disorders and may enable the development of 
 EV-based diagnostic or therapeutic strategies.\nBio: Dr. Brittany Taylor i
 s the Pruitt Family Endowed Faculty Term Fellow and Assistant Professor in
  the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the University of Flori
 da (UF) and Principal Investigator of the Taylor Lab. The Taylor Lab inves
 tigates the multi-scale reparative processes of musculoskeletal tissues\, 
 primarily tendon and the associated interfaces\, to inform the development
  of tailored engineering approaches that restore tissue structure and func
 tion. Her group is particularly interested in studying mechanisms underlyi
 ng fibrotic tendon healing\, neuroimmune drivers of tendon pain\, and path
 ological dysfunction\, by bridging nanomaterial-based in vitro systems wit
 h preclinical and human tissue models to study these biological processes 
 across scales and the lifespan.\nAs the recipient of the University of Pen
 nsylvania Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship\, her postdoctoral research 
 work in the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratroy centered on drug deliver
 y for rotator cuff repair and on defining the role of collagen type V in t
 endon inflammation and remodeling. Dr. Taylor received a Doctor of Philoso
 phy in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Sc
 ience in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia.\nDr. Tayl
 or’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)\, t
 he National Science Foundation (NSF)\, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund\, and t
 he Alliance for Regenerative Rehabilitation Research and Training (AR3T). 
 She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and the NIH Clinical and Transl
 ational Scienc (CTSI) K12 Career Development Award. Dr. Taylor has publish
 ed more than 40 peer-reviewed papers\, holds two patents\, and has authore
 d five book chapters. Additionally\, she has received numerous recognition
 s\, including the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medine International
  Society Rising Star Award\, The Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Ore
 gan and The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impac
 t Award\, the Journal for Biomedical Materials Rising Star Award\, 2025 UF
  BME Faculty Teaching Excellence\, Rising Star on the CellPress list of To
 p 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America\, and MIT Rising Star in Biome
 dical Science.\nDr. Taylor is dedicated to mentorship and broadening parti
 cipation in STEM. She is the co-founder of multiple initiatives to increas
 e retained representation throughout the academic pipeline and a co-author
  on several publications that highlight strategies to reinforce the academ
 ic pipeline and support the next generation of scientists as they navigate
  academia.\nPlease contact kharrison@wpi.edu for a zoom link.
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