Hocking Lab

News & Events

New Collaboration between the Helguera, Dalecki and Hocking Labs

A new collaboration, funded by the NIH, brings together the expertise of Professor Maria Helguera (Center for Imaging Sciences, RIT), Professor Diane Dalecki (BME, UR), and Professor Denise Hocking (Pharmacology & Physiology, UR). The collaborative effort focuses on developing novel, ultrasound tissue characterization techniques for engineered tissues. This work is part of a larger project, led by Drs. Dalecki and Hocking and funded by the NIH, that aims to develop ultrasound-based technologies for the field of tissue engineering.

Dr. Helguera’s laboratory is devoted to advancing multimodal imaging and materials characterization techniques. Over the years, she has developed a suite of nondestructive, ultrasound-based materials characterization techniques for non-biological materials, such as polymers, ceramics, and layered materials. Through this new collaborative effort, the novel approaches that Dr. Helguera has developed and implemented for ultrasound characterization of non-biological materials will be translated to characterize the biological properties of engineered tissues. We propose to extend and apply high frequency ultrasound-based, tissue characterization techniques to monitor non-invasively biological and structural properties of cells and extracellular matrix proteins within three-dimensional engineered tissues. NIH support for the next two years will allow Dr. Helguera to spend the fall semesters and part of her summers devoted full-time to the research project as a Visiting Scientist in the Dalecki lab at the UR BME department. Drs. Helguera, Dalecki, and Hocking are all members of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound.

Drs. Hocking and Dalecki receive NIH funding for summer students

Dr. Denise Hocking and Dr. Diane Dalecki have received funding from the NIH to support the summer research projects and career development of undergraduate and high school students for two years. The funding is in response to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) initiatives of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Research areas of student projects focus on studying the effects of ultrasound on cell growth and protein conformation, and novel applications of acoustic radiation force. This work will contribute to a larger, multidisciplinary project, led by Drs. Hocking and Dalecki and funded by the NIH, that aims to develop novel ultrasound technologies for the field of tissue engineering.

Carlos Sevilla Awarded NIH Pre-doctoral Fellowship

Carlos Sevilla was awarded a prestigious NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Pre-doctoral Fellowship. This three-year award will provide funding for Carlos’ thesis research project, titled “Promoting Chronic Wound Healing with Ultrasound and Fibronectin.” In his research, Carlos is investigating the ability of ultrasound to produce conformational changes in the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin that, in turn, stimulate cellular processes important for accelerating soft tissue wound repair. Carlos is a third year graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and his thesis research is co-advised by Dr. Denise Hocking and Dr. Diane Dalecki. Carlos is also a student member of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (RCBU). Carlos' research is part of a larger, multidisciplinary project, led by Drs. Dalecki and Hocking and funded by the NIH, that aims to develop the use of ultrasound for chronic wound therapy.

Kelley Garvin Wins Best Student Paper Competition

Kelley Garvin won the Best Student Paper Competition at the 157th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America held in Portland, OR from May 18-22. Her paper, titled “Ultrasound standing wave fields control the spatial distribution of cells and protein in three-dimensional engineered tissue,” was recognized as the best student paper in the Biomedical Ultrasound / Bioresponse to Vibration Technical Section. Kelley presented her recent work demonstrating the use of ultrasound fields to non-invasively control the spatial locations of cells in collagen-based engineered tissues. Ultrasound standing wave fields were used to organize cells into planar bands within collagen gels, resulting in a significant two-fold increase in cell-mediated gel contraction, suggesting that ultrasound-induced cell organization leads to a differential extracellular matrix remodeling. Further, using ultrasound to spatially band endothelial cells within collagen gels resulted in vessel sprouting. These novel technologies have important applications to the fabrication of engineered tissues with desired tissue characteristics. Kelley is a third year graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and her thesis research is co-advised by Dr. Diane Dalecki and Dr. Denise C. Hocking. Kelley is also a student member of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (RCBU). Kelley’s research is part of a larger, multidisciplinary project, led by Drs. Dalecki and Hocking and funded by the NIH, that aims to develop novel ultrasound technologies for the field of tissue engineering.

Candace Gildner Awarded NIH Predoctoral Fellowship

Candace Gildner, an MD/PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Department, was recently been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual MD/PHD Fellows from the NIH. This prestigious, four-year award covers her PhD research as well as her remaining two years in medical school. The overall goal of this project is to determine how chronic exposure to cigarette smoke affects extracellular matrix remodeling in the lung. Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for the development of several non-neoplastic lung disorders, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary hypertension, and interstitial lung disease. Candace's research will focus on whether chronic exposure to tobacco smoke hinders normal tissue repair by altering the ability of cells to polymerize a fibronectin matrix. Her studies will provide insight into factors that regulate the deposition, conformation and physiologic properties of extracellular matrix fibronectin and determine if these factors are localized to lung tissue in response to cigarette smoke. Candace was born and raised in Rochester, NY. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and completed a MS thesis in Biomedical Engineering at UR. She is currently in her fourth year as a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, working under the direction of Dr. Denise C. Hocking.

 

Contact Us

Denise C. Hocking, Ph.D.
University of Rochester
School of Medicine and Dentistry
Box 711
601 Elmwood Avenue
Rochester, NY 14642

Telephone: 585-273-1770
Fax: 585-273-2652

Denise_Hocking@
urmc.rochester.edu