Anastasia’s PhD research demonstrated how kidney cells grown on fractally-patterned curved and biomimetic shapes in vitro developed better structure and function than cells on standard flat petri dishes. Her shape-stimulated cells were also more responsive in toxicity testing applications.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow in Prof. Ralph Weissleder’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Anastasia aims to grow higher-fidelity patient-derived tissues and mathematically model their growth and exosome signaling using chaos math to discover insights on disease progression.
Through the course of her career, Anastasia seeks to develop and deliver better biomedical technologies for personalized medicine. She considers that patient-derived engineered tissues could one day be used to predict and therefore prevent and treat disease, to support a healthier society.