e6a76be7302864d9a5bfff0a001ce385.jpg?sfvrsn=298f0fbb_0 "Chelsea Magin")
Chelsea Magin PhD
(She/Her)
Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine
- Bioengineering (CEAS)
Background
Chelsea M. Magin, PhD, received her BS in materials science and engineering and her PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida.
Research + Funding
In 2019, Dr. Magin began her Ludeman Center-funded research project titled, “3D-Printed Human Arterial Models to Study Sex Differences in Vascular Disease.” Her research focused on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); a disease that is four times more likely to impact women than men. The cause of this difference remains unknown and Dr. Magin’s lab aims to use engineering strategies to study it. PAH is a form of a pulmonary vascular disease that causes high blood pressure in the lungs and results in scarring of the small blood vessels leading to impaired blood flow and increased blood pressure. This increase in blood pressure causes damage to the heart.
Dr. Magin and her team studied how cells from male and female patients respond to signals from the surrounding tissue. She did this by 3D printing realistic models of pulmonary blood vessels using materials with stiffnesses that match healthy and diseased pulmonary blood vessels. Next, her team tested how cells from male and female patients responded differently to changes in their environment, like stiffening from scarring in PAH, to gain a better understanding of how to cure pulmonary vascular diseases.
In addition to the financial support of the Ludeman Center, Dr. Magin received mentorship and sponsorship from the incredible leaders at the center who are dedicated to its mission of advancing women’s health research.
Transforming Women’s Health
Dr. Magin’s career in engineering, still a male-dominated field, inspired her to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of her work, including research. When she realized she could conduct experiments in a way that specifically highlights and advances women’s health research, she dedicated her research and training efforts towards supporting women and other underrepresented groups to become the next generation of biomedical engineers. Her lab is currently focusing on engineering 3D models of lung tissue to study lung diseases and treatments.
