Marcela Garc铆a Jim茅nez
Department / Institute
Group
RESEARCH PROFILE
The bone marrow (BM) governs the behavior of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, which are responsible for blood cell production. Dysregulated production of immature and dysfunctional cells within the BM can lead to cancer diseases such as Leukemia. The interaction between Leukemia cells and the BM microenvironment plays a critical role in disease progression, therapy resistance, and metastasis. Thus, there is a pressing need for a better understanding of Leukemia biology. This Ph.D. project aims to develop a versatile 3D bioprinted BM model for fundamental research and drug testing of novel leukemia therapies.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Marcela Garc铆a Jim茅nez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Eindhoven University of Technology (果冻传媒). She holds a veterinarian degree (magna cum laude) from Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Costa Rica. After four years of experience working as a veterinarian in both a hospital and a diagnostic laboratory, she pursued a master's degree in Regenerative Medicine and Technology at Utrecht University. During her master's studies, she utilized advanced techniques such as 3D printing, mechanical testing, cell culture, micro-CT imaging, and confocal microscopy to fabricate and characterize osteochondral implants and growth plate templates for bone regeneration.
Marcela is now working under the supervision of Assistant professor Miguel Dias Castilho in the Biomaterials Design and Processing group, where she is developing a functional 3D bioprinted model using leukemia bone marrow organoids for fundamental research and testing of new therapies for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Recent Publications
Ancillary Activities
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