Mentor: Dr. Elena Aikawa
Dr. Casey Clift obtained her Bachelor of Science in 2014 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Biomedical Engineering, where she received the Provost Award in Biomedical Engineering. In 2021, she received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina in the Department of Cell and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Her dissertation work was focused in the translational and post-translational regulation of extracellular matrix proteins in pediatric cases of Congenital Aortic Valve Stenosis. Casey focused in using multi-modal imaging modalities, such as MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry, coupled with histopathological evaluation and chromatographic proteomics.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Elena Aikawa at CICS, Casey will use multi-omics strategies and bioengineered models of calcific valve disease to understand the role of biomechanics, cell-cell, and cell-ECM interactions on valve epigenetics and proteomics.
Keywords
- Proteomics
- Aortic Valve Stenosis
- Extracellular Matrix Biology
- Biomaterials