Olivia Tonti is a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Program. The National Science Foundation has given her the Graduate Research Fellowship.
What does the Graduate Research Fellowship recognize?
The Graduate Research Fellowship is a signal of the innovative and impactful research that students will perform in the years ahead. The fellowship recognizes outstanding graduate students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.
What does your research focus on?
My research explores proteomic changes in developing mouse hindlimbs, focusing on how mechanical loading resulting from embryonic motility affects the development of the tendon-bone enthesis. I plan to translate that research to study the spatiotemporal proteome distribution and mechanical properties of the glial and fibrotic scars after traumatic spinal cord injury.
Bio
I am a first-year biomedical engineering PhD student working in Professor Sarah Calve’s Musculoskeletal Extracellular Matrix Laboratory. I received my bachelor's degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.