Making a difference

Editor's note: Every year, hundreds of undergraduates at the University of Delaware pursue research under the guidance of a faculty mentor, especially during the summer months. Such experiences provided by UD - a nationally recognized research university - can be life-changing, introducing young scholars to a new field, perhaps even the path to a future career, as they uncover new knowledge. These spotlights offer a glimpse into their world.

Microfluidic tissue models are tiny, promising systems with the potential to help researchers better understand how diseases progress and how drugs are transported in the body. This can help researchers develop and test promising treatment solutions.

University of Delaware senior Victoria McKeown, a biomedical engineering major from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is exploring the design of microfluidic organ-on-a-chip devices to better understand disease progression and drug transport in the female reproductive tract under the advisement of Jason Gleghorn, UD associate professor of biomedical engineering. Gleghorn is a UD inventor, whose work is supported in part through the National Science Foundation's Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program at UD.

Q: Why did you want to pursue this? What intrigues you about the topic?

McKeown: Originally, I wanted to do work relating to tissue engineering replacement organs for organ transplants. When I found out about Dr. Gleghorn's lab and saw a new use for making tissue models for benchtop testing, also known as prototype testing, it opened a new door toward my goal of helping advance medicine. I wanted to learn how these tissue-model systems interact with different environments, cell types and more.

I was also drawn to the Gleghorn lab's dedicated focus on clinical solutions for women's health, maternal-fetal health and preterm birth. As a fan of history and a student in the biomedical field, I've often come across instances where certain groups have been overlooked in medical research and care. It's exciting to be part of a lab that is actively working to address these historical disparities and to improve outcomes for such a crucial, yet sometimes underserved population.

Q: Why does research like this matter?

McKeown: This type of research directly impacts human health and real lives. By concentrating on the female body, our research allows for a more detailed understanding of its unique systems. For instance, our team's dedicated focus on conditions like bacterial vaginosis (BV) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in females enables us to gain insights into how cells interact within the female physiology, how mucus production affects this, and how models differ depending on a woman's stage of life. Such targeted information is essential for breakthroughs necessary to effectively treat disease. The more we learn through this focused research, the more it helps the scientific community better understand and address complex medical questions, ranging from studying diseases to developing new treatments and advancing technologies such as microfluidic devices.