RESEARCH INTERESTS
Caitlin is very excited to explore the applications of polymeric materials in drug delivery. She hopes to be able to engineer more effective delivery solutions for therapeutics to create more effective treatment strategies.
EDUCATION
PhD, Bioengineering, Stanford University - Expected 2021
BS, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto - June 2016
HONORS, AWARDS, and SCHOLARSHIPS
Mericos Foundation Fellowship, Stanford University, 2016
Centennial Thesis Award, University of Toronto, 2016
Varsity Blues Women’s Hockey Award of Merit for Academic and Athletic Excellence, University of Toronto, 2016
Larry and Judy Tanenbaum Award of Merit, University of Toronto, 2016
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Entrance Scholarship, University of Toronto, 2016
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 2015 – 2016
Research Advisor: Prof. Alison McGuigan
Caitlin worked on an undergraduate thesis designing a tool for performing a 3D cell mixing assay to visualize cancer-stroma interactions by using soft lithography techniques.
Environmental Health, University of Massachusetts Amherst, May 2015 – Aug 2015
Research Advisor: Prof. Krystal Godri-Pollitt
Caitlin followed Prof. Godri-Pollitt to UMass Amherst for the summer to write manuscripts for the data they had collected over the past two years the SOCAAR lab at the University of Toronto.
SOCAAR Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 2013 – 2015
Research Advisor: Prof. Greg Evans & Prof. Krystal Godri-Pollitt
Caitlin worked on a project characterizing the personal exposure of asthmatic children to oxidant air pollutants and evaluated this pollutant property as a predictor of airway inflammation. While working part-time over the school year, she was involved in a second project investigating airway responses in mice exposed to exhaust released from a gasoline direct injection engine. In her second summer in the lab, Caitlin investigated the pro-inflammatory response of precision cut murine lung slices to gasoline direct injection engine exhaust.
ABOUT
Caitlin is Canadian born and raised. She grew up in a Toronto suburb and later went to the University of Toronto to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering and play defence on the Women’s Varsity ice hockey team. Caitlin knew she wanted to pursue graduate studies in bioengineering and tried to incorporate biology through research and by completing a bioengineering minor. Caitlin misses the snow, but has taken up cycling and golf to take advantage of the California climate. When not in the lab or riding her bike, Caitlin is often in the kitchen cooking, baking or eating her creations.