Madeline Cramer receives TERMIS-AM Outstanding Student Award
Madeline Cramer, a bioengineering PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, received the 2021 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Outstanding Student Award from TERMIS-AM.
The award recognizes Cramer’s research in the lab of Stephen Badylak, professor of surgery at Pitt and deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The group studies the use of biologic scaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM) to facilitate functional tissue and organ reconstruction. ECM is the non-cellular part of the tissue that provides essential structural support and also initiates biochemical and biomechanical cues.
The title of the winning paper is “The Influence of Matrix Bound Nanovesicle Associated Interleukin-33 on Macrophage Phenotype.”
“Biologic scaffolds composed of ECM, and, more recently, matrix bound nanovesicles (MBV) embedded within the ECM are known to direct macrophages toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype, but the mechanisms of MBV-mediated macrophage activation are not fully understood,” Cramer explained.
“In this study, we determined the gene signature of macrophages following exposure to MBV, with a specific focus on the contribution of MBV cargo protein interleukin-33 (IL-33). We found that MBV-associated IL-33 is required for anti-inflammatory macrophage activation by MBV and likely is a determining factor in the remodeling outcome to MBV and ECM.”
This honor includes publication of her paper in Tissue Engineering Part A, a $500 honorarium, and an oral presentation of her work at their December Webinar Series. Cramer will receive $1,000 travel toward the 2022 annual meeting in Toronto where she will be recognized for the award.