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BE Seminar: “Endothelial cells and the promise of regeneration on demand” (Brisa Palikuqi, UCSF)
February 22 @ 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Brisa Palikuqi
Postdoctoral Scholar, Orofacial Sciences, School of Dentistry, UCSF
Dr. Brisa Palikuqi is a postdoctoral fellow in Ophir Klein’s lab at UCSF. She was born and raised in Albania and moved to the United States when was 16. Dr. Palikuqi received her PhD from Weill Cornell Medicine where she engineered a platform of vascularized organoids and tissue explants. As a postdoctoral fellow, her research has been focused on the role of the blood and lymphatic endothelial cell niche in intestinal regeneration and repair. Dr. Palikuqi aims to take advantage of in vivo and in vitro models to induce regeneration on demand for precision medicine.
Research Synopsis:
In this seminar, I explore the pivotal role of tissue stem cells and their microenvironment, known as the niche, in regeneration. With a focus on the endothelial cell niche, my work introduces an innovative in vitro vascularized perfusable model tailored for human tissue explants and organoids. My findings also highlight the crucial contribution of paracrine factors derived from lymphatic endothelial cells in facilitating intestinal regeneration and repair in vivo. I will also outline future research directions for my independent laboratory, where I aim to unravel the complexities of endothelial cell interactions and paracrine signaling in tissue regeneration. The overarching goal is to leverage this knowledge for engineering vascularized and physiologically relevant organoids, advancing our understanding of regenerative medicine and stem cell biology.