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Kelly Vazquez, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Engineering |
Trained as a physicist, Dr. Vazquez completed her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she established a true love for interdisciplinary research. Following her PhD, she conducted her postdoctoral work at the renowned Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes on the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus in islet cell biology. During her career, she has been awarded grants from the NIH and the Children's Diabetes Foundation, and has conducted research at both Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
As a passionate scientist and engineer, she is dedicated to find innovative treatments to help fight autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. Overall, it is her greatest aspiration to see more first generation, minority, and women scientists, such as herself, pursue a career in STEM. Therefore, her enthusiasm for teaching and mentorship, coupled with her passion for science, has motivated her to pursue a career as a professor.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, 2022
University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, 2018
North Central College
B.A. Physics with High Honors, 2016
Postdoctoral Training
University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus
Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes
ACORN Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2022-2023
Awarded NIH Supplement to Promote Diversity in Research (NIDDK)
- Soft tissue mechanics; biomedical engineering
- Actin cytoskeletal remodeling; cellular forces
- Islet cell biology in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes
For more information, visit the Vazquez Lab research website.
K. Vazquez, A. Laurin, D. Horton, R. Benninger (2023), “Influence of the Mechanical Environment on Beta-cell Function and Cytoskeletal Remodeling", talk for the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
K. Vazquez, A. Laurin, D. Horton, R. Benninger (2023), “Influence of the Mechanical Environment on Beta-cell Function and Maturity", presentation at the American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
K. Vazquez, A. Laurin, D. Horton, R. Benninger (2023), “Influence of the Mechanical Environment on Islet Function and Maturity", presentation at the 2023 Diabetes Day Symposium, Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, Aurora, CO.
K. Vazquez, A. Laurin, D. Horton, R. Benninger (2023), “Influence of the Mechanical Environment on Beta-cell Function and Maturity", presentation at the Structural Biology and Biophysics Symposium, CU-Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO.
K. Vazquez, J. Notbohm (2022), “Alignment of tractions between neighboring cells in a monolayer causes more persistent migration,” podium talk for American Physical Society March Meeting, Chicago, IL.
K. Vazquez, J. Notbohm (2021), “Collective pack size during cell migration modulated by an apparent cell-substrate friction”, podium talk for American Physical Society Annual March Meeting.
K. Vazquez, J. Notbohm (2021), “Collective Cell Motion in Wound Healing”, podium talk for the Society of Experimental Mechanics Annual Meeting.
K. Vazquez, J. Notbohm (2020), “Collective Cell Motion in Wound Healing”, podium talk for the American Physical Society Annual March Meeting, Denver, CO.
K. Vazquez, J. Notbohm (2020), “Collective Migration in Wound Healing”, podium talk for the Society of Experimental Mechanics Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL.
K. Vazquez, L. Amundson, T. Crenshaw, C. Henak (2019), “Effects of Organic Trace Mineral Recovery Diets on Mechanical Properties of Porcine Articular Cartilage.” Poster presentation at the 2019 Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, Austin, TX.
K. Vazquez, L. Amundson, T. Crenshaw, C. Henak (2019), “Effects of Organic Trace Mineral Recovery Diets on Mechanical Properties of Porcine Articular Cartilage.” Poster presentation at the 2019 Translational Science Meeting, Washington, D.C.
K. Vazquez and C. Henak (2017), “Cyclic Loading Decreases Stiffness and Increases Surface Damage of Articular Cartilage”. Poster talk at 2018 Orthopedic Research Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
Vazquez KJ, Saraswathibhatla A, Notbohm JN. Effect of substrate stiffness on apparent cell-substrate friction during collective cell migration. Scientific Reports. 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06504-0.
Sivagurunathan S, Vahabikashi A, Yang H, Zhang J, Vazquez K, Rajasundaram D, Politanska Y, Abdala- Valencia H, Notbohm J, Guo M, Adam SA and Goldman RD (2022), Expression of vimentin alters cell mechanics, cell-cell adhesion, and gene expression profiles suggesting the induction of a hybrid EMT in human mammary epithelial cells. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. (PMCID: 36200046).
Vazquez KJ, Andreae JT, Henak CR. Cartilage-on-cartilage cyclic loading induces mechanical and structural damage. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2019; 98:262–267. PMCID: PMC6698399.
For an exhaustive list of publications by Dr. Vazquez, visit google scholar.