Ericka

Ericka M. Bueno, PhD. - Associate Research Scientist

Ericka joins us from the Department of Chemical Engineering where she was conducting her graduate work on the effects of bioreactor fluid dynamics on cartilage tissue engineering under the supervision of Dr. Gilda Barabino. She also investigated the manipulation and alignment of collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix through mechanical stimulation.

In 2004, she was a visiting research scholar at Georgia Tech/ Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissues in Atlanta, GA.

At the EMERL, Dr. Bueno works on a variety of projects, all of which have collagen as a commonality. One of these projects investigates the live processes of synthesis and organization of collagen fibers by fibroblasts in vitro using long-term live microscopy. This information is utilized to modulate the synthesis of an engineered functional corneal stroma in vitro. Dr. Bueno also works on the implementation of a compression bioreactor for the stimulation of collagen alignment and promotion of mechanical strength in tissue-engineered cartilage constructs. In addition, as a fundamental step towards the engineering of a bioinspired device capable of organizing collagenous fibers on the nanoscale for use in tissue engineering, Dr. Bueno investigates the transport of collagen monomers through nanoporous track-etched synthetic membranes.

 

Graduate Education

Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering. Northeastern University, Boston, MA. January, 2006. "Engineered Cartilage Constructs for Repair: Bioreactor Studies".

Undergraduate Education

BS in Chemical Engineering, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia., March, 1999.

Publications

  • 2004 Increased rate of chondrocyte aggregation in a wavy-walled bioreactor Ericka M. Bueno, Bahar Bilgen, Rebecca L. Carrier and Gilda A. Barabino, Biotechnology and Bioengineering Journal, 88 (6), pp. 767-777.
  • 2005 The wavy-walled bioreactor supports increased cell proliferation and matrix deposition in engineered cartilage constructs Ericka M. Bueno, Bahar Bilgen and Gilda A. Barabino. Tissue Engineering Journal. 11 (11-12), pp. 1699-1709.
  • 2007 Enhancing cell seeding of scaffolds in tissue engineering through manipulation of hydrodynamic parameters Ericka M. Bueno, Gary L. Laevsky and Gilda A. Barabino. Journal of Biotechnology. Accepted.

 

Select Conference Presentations/Proceedings

  • Novel model for in vitro engineered cartilage development: relationships between bioreactor fluid dynamics and tissue structure-function. Ericka M. Bueno, Bahar Bilgen, Jeffrey W. Ruberti and Gilda A. Barabino. Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting. February 10-14th, 2007. San Diego, CA.
  • Collagen transport through nanoporous track-etched membranes. Ericka M. Bueno and Jeffrey W. Ruberti. Device Technologies-Nano to Macro Scales session. BMES Annual Meeting. October 14th, 2006.Chicago, IL.
  • Comparison of engineered cartilage development in four well-characterized dynamic fluid environments. Ericka M. Bueno and Gilda A. Barabino. Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine 24th Scientific Conference. Physical Stimuli Session. January 12th, 2006, Cancun, Mexico.
  • Effect of bioreactor geometry on the efficiency of chondrocyte attachment to polymer scaffolds. Ericka M. Bueno and Gilda A. Barabino. One of six finalist papers at the national PhD student paper competition, Cell and Tissue Engineering section. Honorable mention. American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2005 Summer Bioengineering Conference. Vail, CO. June 2005.