Ultrabithorax-based Biomaterials to Enhance Endothelial Activation and Neovascularization

Kayla Bayless, PhD

Texas A&M

Kayla Bayless is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular & Cellular Medicine at Texas A&M University. Her research program focuses on better understanding how signals from physiological stimuli, such as lipids, shear stress, and growth factors, initiate angiogenesis. Her research investigates the ability of cytoskeletal and adaptor proteins to promote sprouting in a 3D environment. More recently, she has investigated novel biomaterials made from the Ultrabithorax transcription factor which can be engineered to express a variety of growth factor fusions that self-assemble into fibers, sheets, and films and elicit promise for instructing vascular growth in tissue engineered constructs.