Undergraduate research projects also strengthened her desire to pursue further education in the field of biomedical engineering. “In my junior year I was assigned a project of my own, in which I designed a protocol to try to separate strands of DNA with attached ‘cage’ particles based on the number of attachments using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).”
As a new student in the graduate program, Haslauer has joined Dr. Elizabeth Loboa’s Cell Mechanics Laboratory at North Carolina State University. Her project involves the design of a novel scaffold that will be used in bone tissue engineering applications. “I am trying to combine knowledge of polymers and design components of fabrics with current knowledge regarding cell and tissue growth to design a three-dimensional scaffold.”
Her project is still in the beginning stages of development, but she has “high hopes that this scaffold will be an effective means of culturing tissue in three dimensions.”
After she’s earned her degree, Carla would like to work in industry. “I haven’t yet decided if I want to work for a biomedical device company or focus more on tissue constructs,” she says, “but I hope that as I become more immersed in my research that particular path will become clearer. My main goal still remains to have a positive impact on people’s lives.”
