M. Nichole Rylander, Associate Professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded two grants to further her breast cancer research efforts.
Rylander received a five year National Institutes of Health Research Project Grant from the National Cancer Institute in collaboration with M. D. Anderson entitled “Deciphering the Mechanism of Lymphovascular Space Invasion Using a Lymphovascularized Bioengineering Breast Stromal Platform”. This proposal is focused on using vascularized in vitro breast cancer platforms to elucidate the mechanical and biological mechanisms of lymphovascular space invasion associated with inflammatory breast cancer progression.
She has also received a grant from the National Science Foundation Engineering of Biomedical Systems Program entitled ”Determining the Role of Mechanics and Lymphatic Pumping on Lymphovascular Space Invasion Using a Lympho-vascularized Breast Skin Platform”. This proposal will develop the first multi-layer breast tumor and skin platform to determine the physical mechanisms driving skin invasion for aggressive breast cancers.
Both of these awards were made possible through initial seed funding from the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Network Foundation and the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Rylander is a current recipient of the Werner W. Dornberger Centennial Teaching Fellowship at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research involves multi-disciplinary elements of bioheat transfer, nanomedicine, biomedical optics, tissue regeneration, and cancer engineering.
