Plopper Lab Members

Dr. George Plopper

Dr. Plopper received his Ph.D. in Cell & Developmental Biology from Harvard University, under the direction of Don Ingber, M.D./Ph.D. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute with Vito Quaranta, M.D. for three years, he served as Assistant Professor in Biology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Plopper arrived at Rensselaer in 2001, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. His primary appointment is in the Department of Biology, and he holds a joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Plopper was awarded the Trustees' Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Stem Cells & Development, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, The Open Stem Cell Journal, The Open Lung Cancer Journal, and World Journal of Stem Cells.

Lindsey McKeen, Ph.D. student

Lindsey received her Bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer in May 2007, and joined the Plopper lab later that year. Her research is focused on identifying the molecular mechanisms responsible for generating signature morphological features that distinguish benign breast tumors from malignant breast cancers. She is working in close collaboration with Dr. Bülent Yener's group in the Department of Computer Science to define quantitative, morphology-based graph features in developing breast tumors. She has developed a three-dimensional culture model of breast acini to examine the effects of stromal fibroblasts in the evolution of breast cancer and normal breast development. Contact Lindsey at mckeel2#at#rpi.edu.

Tiffany Bradke, Ph.D. student

Tiffany received her Masters in Biology from the Medical College of Ohio before entering the graduate program in Biology in 2006. Her research is focused on elucidating the mechanism of action of boric acid and phenyl boronic acid, which selectively inhibit the migration of breast and prostate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unaffected. Her project was initiated in collaboration with the late Dr. Steven Carper, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nevada. Contact Tiffany at millet#at#rpi.edu.

Kira Henderson, Ph.D. student

Kira joined the lab when she entered the Accelerated B.S./Ph.D. Program at Rensselaer in 2007, completed her Bachelors' degree in Biology in 2009, and immediately transitioned into her Ph.D. Her project is focued on understanding the mechanism of human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation in three-dimensional collagen gels. She is examining the role of Discoidin Domain Receptor-1 (DDR1) in stimulating collagen remodeling, gel compaction, and osteogenic differentiation of these cells. Contact Kira at hendek#at#rpi.edu.

Erin McAuley, Undergraduate student

Erin is currently in her third year as a Bioinformatics major. She has helped establish a collaboration with Dr. David Corr's research group in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. These studies aim to utilize the precision and CAD/CAM fabrication ability of direct writing to characterize the effect of both physical and biochemical stimuli on human adult and embryonic stem cells, to determine how these factors direct the differentiation and development of these cells. Erin is also a member of Professor Edick's Cancer Research Group. Erin can be reached at mcaule#at#rpi.edu.