Michael Spelman

Class of 2015

Education: BS in Biological Sciences at UCSB; MS in Biological Sciences at Cal Poly

 

Biography

Michael's interest in stem cell research came from his general propensity to ask abstract questions about technology and medicine in a way that the intricately combines the two. He was hopeful that this will allow him to contribute to the research community in a somewhat novel, unforeseen way. He wanted to focus on biomedical applications and how biology and technology can be combined to optimize current methods and expand on them as well. He wanted ultimately to end up working in an industrial setting, helping to expand an exciting new start-up company or changing things up an already established institute. Although, a career in medicine had also always been a potential option in his mind as well.

His internship site was Organovo in San Diego. He worked in the Therapeutics department under his PI, Benjamin Shepherd, and his supervisor, Vaidehi Joshi. His project centered on improving the structural integrity of 3D printed constructs using formulated media, with the eventual application towards in-vivo studies. The role he played in this project involved researching various media components, and testing their effects on ECM deposition by relevant cell types in both 2D and 3D culture, as well as performing analysis of the collected samples including qRT-PCR, histology, and spectrophotometry.

After graduating, Michael obtain a position as a research associate at Clearlight Diagnostics.