CHRISTOPH HOFSTETTER - Key Persons
Abi is an undergraduate in the class of 2023 at the University of Washington. He is majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Bioethics on the premed track. He is very interested in the medical field and hopes to become a physician in the future. He is founder of HiddenHealth, a website platform designed to engage students to educating others on global health issues and medical research. Away from school, Abi spends his time volunteering at the ED at Evergreen Health, playing tennis, creating digital art, and has recently gotten into cycling.
Ali earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering, which he worked in the field of tissue engineering and mostly focused on neural regeneration. He developed conductive nanofibrous scaffold to modulate neural cell behaviour and promote regeneration in combination with in vitro electrical stimulation.
He has extensive experience with the design and fabrication of bioengineering tools such as biomaterial and bio-scaffolds for tissue engineering and controlled release targeted drug delivery. Also, he previously worked with neurosurgery groups to alleviate symptoms of patients with Neurological Disorder using Deep Brain Stimulation and Spinal Cord Stimulation. In his current role, he is expanding his knowledge and experiences to the in vivo model by developing closed-loop stimulation in rats with spinal cord injury (SCI) to provide functional recovery after SCI.
Anna Marie was a Neurosurgery Intern for the Hofstetter Laboratory. She helped to document motor neuron survival following a novel surgery in the rat spinal cord. After her internship, Anna Marie completed her B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Western Washington University. She went on to work at the Allen Institute for Brain Science where she helped classify neuronal and glial cell types in the human brain through transcriptional profiling.
Brian began working for the Hofstetter Lab as a freshman at UW. Over the two years he spent with the lab he went from a bioengineering major to an informatics major focusing in data science. This change in major coincided with the Hofstetter Lab's development of contrast-enhanced ultrasound where Brian was able to apply his data science and image processing education.
Brian is an undergraduate in the class of 2020 at the University of Washington, majoring in Electrical Engineering with a concentration of Digital Signal and Image Processing. He is passionate about biotech and medical device industries where he could contribute his work to the creation of ideas and devices that could help people for the better. He joined Dr. Bruce's lab to further his passion and knowsledge of image processing and ultrasound imaging, specifically on spinal cord injury. His work in the lab is mainly focused on reconstructing and processing data to obtain perfusion and blood flow images and 3D rendering volume models after spinal cord injury.
Christoph Hofstetter, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician scientist in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington. Dr. Hofstetter earned his M.D. from University of Vienna, and Ph.D. at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Dr. Hofstetter is an expert in experimental and translational spinal cord injury research. His research focuses on the development on biomarkers for prognosis and treatment guidance following acute spinal cord injury. Together with his collaborator Dr. Matt Bruce, his laboratory has developed a novel type of contrast-enhanced ultrasound which allows to visualize specific segments of the vascular tree. This innovative imaging modality allows his laboratory to assess the impact of trauma on local tissue perfusion. Dr. Hofstetter also investigates the use of stem cells and specialized polymers to improve recovery following acute spinal cord injury. His research also includes the use of transcutaneous electrical stimulation with both preclinical and clinical trials in close collaboration with Drs. Moritz and Perlmutter. Dr. Hofstetter is former chairman of the Section of Spinal cord Injury of the North American Spine Society and serves as Associate Member of the AO Spinal cord injury knowledge forum.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Chuc is an undergraduate at the University of Washington, double majoring in Psychology and Biology with a focus in Physiology. She discovered her interest in the nervous system as a high school student after enrolling in a college level Psychology course as part of the Running Start program. Seeking an opportunity to further her knowledge, she applied for an internship in the Neurological Surgery Summer Student program at UW, and was placed in the Hofstetter Lab. After the internship, she was invited to remain in the lab to continue her research efforts. Her work in the lab is focused on the use of hemostatic nanoparticles to prevent blood loss after traumatic spinal cord injury.
Dane received a Master's degree in Applied Bioinformatics through the University of Oregon, completed a year-long internship at the University of Washington with the Applied Physics Laboratory and Neurological Surgery Department, and has continued as a data science consultant. He works on image processing using contrast enhanced ultrasound in a spinal cord injury model. He created visual representations of inflammation patterns, perfusion rates, and other unique trends that aligned with different SCI injury types. He plans to publish his findings in the near future.
Dr. Tobias Prasse is a third year surgical resident who worked at the University Hospital of Cologne (Germany) after graduating Medical School in 2019. In 2020 he defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Rostock (Germany) dealing with bisphenol A and its effects on the morphology and biomechnical properties on rat bone. He joined the Hofstetter Lab in 2021 as a postdoctoral research scholar to analyze the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury with special focus on chronic damage. When he is not in the lab, he enjoys exercising and exploring the Seattle area.
Dylan joined the lab in July of 2020 and is an undergraduate in the class of 2025 at George Fox University. Throughout high school he focused his studies on numerous STEM courses. He is majoring in biology on the pre-med track, with additional interest in studying both calculus and Physics. In his free time, he loves strategic board games, playing piano, longboarding, and competing in esports for his school. Dylan has future aspirations to enter the medical field as a surgeon.
Jeff joined the lab in 2017 as a recent graduate from Western Washington University. He previously worked in Western's Behavioral Neuroscience program, studying the neural basis of sucrose craving under Dr. Jeffrey Grimm. In the Hofstetter lab he assists with all active projects by performing histological analysis of tissue specimens, and by evaluating the functional deficits associated with spinal cord injury. He enjoys outdoor activities all over the Seattle area, including hiking and rowing.
Jinci is currently a medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She graduated with a BS at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Psychology. With a interest in medicine and research, she applied for the Neurological Surgery Summer Student Program and was selected to work in the Hofstetter Lab. She spent her summer doing research on validating our novel technique, ultrafast contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with the microsphere deposition technique. She has also researched non-traditional treatments for adolescents with mood disorders at the University of Minnesota.
Jonah earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans, where he worked on the development of a novel minimally-invasive therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. He has extensive experience with the design and fabrication of targeted contrast agents and their use in conjunction with either focused ultrasound, in a therapeutic context, or specialized imaging. In his current role, his primary focus is the development and application of novel high speed ultrasound contrast imaging techniques to assess injury-induced hemodynamic changes in the spinal cord.
Julia graduated in the class of 2020 at University of Washington, majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Diversity. In addition to academics, she is an author and production manager for Grey Matters, UW's undergraduate neuroscience journal. She is also a program leader for the cultural exchange program Unite UW. In the Hofstetter lab, Julia studies neuroinflammation and extracellular matrix interactions while also applying her editing and peer review skills to lab publications.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Juliana is a class of 2021 undergraduate at the University of Washington. After a year in business school, she decided to switch her major to a B.S. in Public Health and Global Health. Beyond school, Juliana spends her time playing violin, volunteering at the ED of Seattle Children's Hospital, and watching sports. In the lab, she is involved with studying the effects of bladder denervation after SCI.
Justin Nelson is currently a medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He graduated summa cum laude from Boise State University where he engaged in research investigating the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. His current interests include brain and spinal cord injury research and the field of neurosurgery.
Job Titles:
- Lab Manager
- Research Scientist
Lindsay received her Bachelors of Science in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. During and after college she spent time tutoring college-level biology and English courses. She came to the Hofstetter lab from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. There she worked for a behavioral testing and surgical core facility. In the Hofstetter lab she puts her experience in rodent behavior and microsurgery to work, but also keeps the lab running smoothly as the lab manager. She enjoys cooking, fishing, and movie trivia.
Dr. Bruce worked a number of years at Philips Ultrasound and then Supersonic Imagine in the south of France (Provence) and now at CIMU in the Applied Physics Laboratory here at the University of Washington. It is an exciting time to be working in ultrasound with advances in hardware, computing, and transducers enabling the expansion of ultrasound capabilities from patient monitoring, handheld to premium level systems.
Michael Cruz is currently a rising second year medical student at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He graduated cum laude at California State University Long Beach in 2012 where he studied Political Science and competed nationally in collegiate debate. His first passion has always been mentoring and teaching others, and he had fully intended to become a political science professor before switching careers to pursue medicine. His teaching track record includes science tutoring, high school competitive debate coaching, premedical mentorship, and professional training. Michael first came to the Hofstetter lab as an undergraduate post-bacc student, and has remained involved after he was accepted into UWSOM. His general research interests involve exploring clinical and basic science approaches to functional recovery after CNS injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. He recently finished a project involving development of an animal model to investigate plasticity induction with transcutaneous electrical stimulation after an acute spinal cord injury. In his off-time, Michael enjoys weight-lifting, hiking and reading books.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Research Coordinator
- Clinical Coordinator for the Hofstetter Lab
Natalie Kai Yi Yap is a new research clinical coordinator for the Hofstetter Lab. She graduated from the University of Washington with a double Bachelor's degree in Biomedical engineering and Dance in Spring of 2021. Her final year capstone project focused on the development of a novel locally targeted drug delivery microneedle device to reduce inflammation during secondary spinal cord injury. She has been actively managing the clinical front for multiple studies for the lab by using her knowledge and experience gathered during her undergraduate studies. One of her many important tasks is to recruit participants for studies as well as ensure the studies are compliant with human subject regulations. Natalie hopes to enter medical school specializing in neurological surgery and she believes her experience at the Hofstetter lab will further perpetuate her goal.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Rachel began working with the Hofstetter Lab during the Autumn of 2016 and volunteered in the lab a couple of days a week assisting with histology and data analysis. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2018 with a B.S. in Microbiology, and is beginning optometry school at Pacific University in Fall 2019.
Ronak Jaisalmeria is a rising junior at Redmond High School. He has participated in various STEM based competitions such as Science Olympiad, Brain Bee, and USABO. He was chosen to represent Washington State in the National Brain Bee in 2020. He is a central administrator and teacher of the 501©3 nonprofit Science Infinity, an organization dedicated to educating younger students in STEM fields. He created an experimental device to help out Parkinson's patients to prevent freezing of gait and is very interested in learning lab based aspects of brain and spinal-cord based injuries.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Dr. Zin Khaing is an assistant professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Khaing's expertise is in the areas of plasticity and regeneration of the central nervous system. Her current work examines 1) vascular changes that underlies secondary damage after acute spinal cord injury and 2) the key role extracellular matrix molecules play in neuroinflammation, regeneration and tissue homeostasis.
Dr. Khaing obtained her PhD in Developmental, Cellular and Molecular Biology from NYU-Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York with Dr. James Roberts and Dr. Mariann Blum. Her post-doctoral work was in the lab of Dr. Christine Schmidt at the University of Texas at Austin, where she developed biologically relevant biomaterials to interact with and augment the central nervous system.