Kata Alilovic

Student NameKata Alilovic

Faculty Mentor NameChristine E. Schmidt, Ph.D.

CollegeHerbert Wertheim College of Engineering

MajorBiomedical Engineering

MinorNA

Research InterestsBiomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Drug delivery, Carcigoenesis, Transport Phenomena

Academic AwardsUWC Davis Scholarship August 2017-Present, Fernandez Family Scholarship Spring 2020, University Scholars Program 2020, University Women’s Club First Lady Scholarship 2020, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Dean’s List Fall 2017- Spring 2020, President Honor Roll Fall 2017, Spring 2020

OrganizationsPhi Sigma Rho Sorority,B.MEntor

Hobbies and InterestsBasketball, Reading

Research Project

Developing Natural Based Bio-inks For 3D Tissue Engineering?

This project aims to develop protocols for photocrosslinking of collagen extracted from rat tail tendons as well as decellularized tissue that will be used for 3D bioprinting. 3D bioprinting enables the creation of in vitro models of various tissues as testbeds for therapeutics, revolutionizing the future of medicine. Goal is to apply already optimized bioprinting protocols in order to obtain 3D structure. This will require further optimization of the parameters for printability using bio-printer. Rheological properties of thermally gelling hydrogels such as collagen and decellularized tissue matrices and photo-cross-linkable hydrogels will be assessed across multiple hydrogel concentrations and compared. Cell viability in 3D printed structures will be accessed.