Dr. Kacey Marra Named Associate Editor for Cells Tissues Organs

Dr. Kacey Marra Named Associate Editor for Cells Tissues Organs

McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Kacey Marra, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Plastic Surgery and Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, and co-director, Adipose Stem Cell Center, has been named an associate editor for the journal, Cells Tissues Organs.

Dr. Marra is recognized for her interdisciplinary research in the design, synthesis, characterization, and assessment of polymeric biomaterials. Dr. Marra joined the Department of Surgery as an assistant professor in November 2002. Prior to that appointment she was with Carnegie Mellon University as a research scientist at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), and an associated faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (1998-2002), and the Department of Materials Science Engineering (2000-2002). In 1996-7, Dr. Marra was a post-doctoral fellow at the Emory University School of Medicine with advisor Elliot Chaikof, MD, PhD. At Emory, Dr. Marra worked on the synthesis of novel synthetic blood vessels.

Dr. Marra is actively involved in research efforts investigating polymeric biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. She is the director of the Plastic Surgery Laboratory as well as co-director of the Adipose Stem Cell Center. Her research is focused on the utilization of adipose-derived stem cells for tissue engineering applications such as soft tissue reconstruction. Additionally, a major research effort in her laboratory is the long-term delivery of neurotrophic factors for long gap nerve repair. Dr. Marra participates in numerous outreach programs, including a high school student program she developed in her laboratory (ROHSS: Research Opportunities for High School Students).

Congratulations, Dr. Marra!