Dr. Coulombe specializes in cardiovascular regenerative engineering to address global needs to develop novel therapies for heart attack and technologies for cardiotoxicity assessment. A major focus of her research is to re-engineer contractility in the heart after myocardial infarction (heart attack) using engineered human myocardium with cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. Complex biology underlies the engineering of heart tissue so that it has electromechanical function for predicting toxicity or integrating with the heart electrically and via neovasculature. Dr. Coulombe earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester summa cum laude in 2001 and was a Whitaker Predoctoral Fellow, earning a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington in 2007. She was an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein post-doctoral fellow in Pathology at the University of Washington where she won an NIH Pathway to Independence K99/R00 award in 2012. She was recruited to Brown in January 2014 and is now an Associate Professor of Engineering in the Instute for Biology, Engineering and Medicine.
| Kaiser NJ, Bellows JA, Kant RJ, Coulombe KLK. "Digital Design and Automated Fabrication of Bespoke Collagen Microfiber Scaffolds." Tissue engineering. Part C, Methods, 2019. |
| Kaiser NJ, Kant RJ, Minor AJ, Coulombe KLK. "Optimizing Blended Collagen-Fibrin Hydrogels for Cardiac Tissue Engineering with Human iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes." ACS biomaterials science & engineering, vol. 5, no. 2, 2019, pp. 887-899. |
| Liu M, Shi G, Zhou A, Rupert CE, Coulombe KLK, Dudley SC Jr. "Activation of the unfolded protein response downregulates cardiac ion channels in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes." Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, vol. 117, 2018, pp. 62-71. |
| Kaiser NJ, Munarin F, Coulombe KLK. "Custom Engineered Tissue Culture Molds from Laser-etched Masters." Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, no. 135, 2018. |
| Kant RJ, Coulombe KLK. "Integrated approaches to spatiotemporally directing angiogenesis in host and engineered tissues." Acta Biomaterialia, vol. 69, 2018, pp. 42-62. |
| Rupert CE, Coulombe KLK. "IGF1 and NRG1 Enhance Proliferation, Metabolic Maturity, and the Force-Frequency Response in hESC-Derived Engineered Cardiac Tissues." Stem cells international, vol. 2017, 2017, pp. 7648409. |
| Munarin F, Kaiser NJ, Kim TY, Choi BR, Coulombe KLK. "Laser-Etched Designs for Molding Hydrogel-Based Engineered Tissues." Tissue engineering. Part C, Methods, vol. 23, no. 5, 2017, pp. 311-321. |
| Rupert, Cassady E., Chang, Heidi H., Coulombe, Kareen L. K. "Hypertrophy Changes 3D Shape of hiPSC-Cardiomyocytes: Implications for Cellular Maturation in Regenerative Medicine." Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, 2016. |
| Roberts MA, Tran D, Coulombe KL, Razumova M, Regnier M, Murry CE, Zheng Y. "Stromal Cells in Dense Collagen Promote Cardiomyocyte and Microvascular Patterning in Engineered Human Heart Tissue." Tissue engineering. Part A, vol. 22, no. 7-8, 2016, pp. 633-44. |
| Munarin F, Coulombe KL. "A novel 3-dimensional approach for cardiac regeneration." 2007 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, vol. 2015, 2015, pp. 1741-4. |
| Gerbin KA, Yang X, Murry CE, Coulombe KL. "Enhanced Electrical Integration of Engineered Human Myocardium via Intramyocardial versus Epicardial Delivery in Infarcted Rat Hearts." PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 7, 2015, pp. e0131446. |
| Kaiser, Nicholas J, Coulombe, Kareen L K. "Physiologically inspired cardiac scaffolds for tailored in vivo function and heart regeneration." Biomedical Materials, vol. 10, no. 3, 2015, pp. 034003. |
| Coulombe, None, Rupert, C. "The Roles of Neuregulin-1 in Cardiac Development, Homeostasis, and Disease." Biomarker Insights, 2015, pp. 1. |
| Rupert CE, Coulombe KL. "The roles of neuregulin-1 in cardiac development, homeostasis, and disease." Biomarker Insights, vol. 10, no. Suppl 1, 2015, pp. 1-9. |
| Coulombe, Kareen L.K., Bajpai, Vivek K., Andreadis, Stelios T., Murry, Charles E. "Heart Regeneration with Engineered Myocardial Tissue." Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, vol. 16, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-28. |
| Coulombe KL, Murry CE. "Vascular Perfusion of Implanted Human Engineered Cardiac Tissue." Proceedings of the IEEE ... annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference. IEEE Northeast Bioengineering Conference, vol. 2014, 2014. |
| Paul, Jonathan D., Coulombe, Kareen L.K., Toth, Peter T., Zhang, Yanmin, Marsboom, Glenn, Bindokas, Vytas P., Smith, David W., Murry, Charles E., Rehman, Jalees. "SLIT3–ROBO4 activation promotes vascular network formation in human engineered tissue and angiogenesis in vivo." Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, vol. 64, 2013, pp. 124-131. |
| Kreutziger, Kareen L., Piroddi, Nicoletta, McMichael, Jonathan T., Tesi, Chiara, Poggesi, Corrado, Regnier, Michael. "Calcium binding kinetics of troponin C strongly modulate cooperative activation and tension kinetics in cardiac muscle." Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, vol. 50, no. 1, 2011, pp. 165-174. |
| Kreutziger, Kareen L., Muskheli, Veronica, Johnson, Pamela, Braun, Kathleen, Wight, Thomas N., Murry, Charles E. "Developing Vasculature and Stroma in Engineered Human Myocardium." Tissue engineering. Part A, vol. 17, no. 9-10, 2011, pp. 1219-1228. |
| Kreutziger, Kareen L., Murry, Charles E. "Engineered Human Cardiac Tissue." Pediatr Cardiol, vol. 32, no. 3, 2011, pp. 334-341. |
| Mignone, John L., Kreutziger, Kareen L., Paige, Sharon L., Murry, Charles E. "Cardiogenesis From Human Embryonic Stem Cells." Circulation journal : official journal of the Japanese Circulation Society, vol. 74, no. 12, 2010, pp. 2517-2526. |
| Piroddi, Nicoletta, Kreutziger, Kareen L., Scellini, Beatrice, Lundy, Scott, Ferrantini, Cecilia, Tesi, Chiara, Regnier, Michael, Poggesi, Corrado. "Effect of Troponin Ca2+ Binding Properties on the Kinetics of Myofibril Force Initiation and Relaxation." Biophysical Journal, vol. 98, no. 3, 2010, pp. 415a. |
| Stevens, K. R., Kreutziger, K. L., Dupras, S. K., Korte, F. S., Regnier, M., Muskheli, V., Nourse, M. B., Bendixen, K., Reinecke, H., Murry, C. E. "Physiological function and transplantation of scaffold-free and vascularized human cardiac muscle tissue." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 106, no. 39, 2009, pp. 16568-16573. |
| Kreutziger, Kareen L., Piroddi, Nicoletta, Scellini, Beatrice, Tesi, Chiara, Poggesi, Corrado, Regnier, Michael. "Thin filament Ca 2+ binding properties and regulatory unit interactions alter kinetics of tension development and relaxation in rabbit skeletal muscle." The Journal of Physiology, vol. 586, no. 15, 2008, pp. 3683-3700. |
| Kreutziger, Kareen L., Gillis, Todd E., Davis, Jonathan P., Tikunova, Svetlana B., Regnier, Michael. "Influence of enhanced troponin C Ca 2+ -binding affinity on cooperative thin filament activation in rabbit skeletal muscle." The Journal of Physiology, vol. 583, no. 1, 2007, pp. 337-350. |
| Martyn, D.A., Smith, L., Kreutziger, K.L., Xu, S., Yu, L.C., Regnier, M. "The Effects of Force Inhibition by Sodium Vanadate on Cross-Bridge Binding, Force Redevelopment, and Ca2+ Activation in Cardiac Muscle." Biophysical Journal, vol. 92, no. 12, 2007, pp. 4379-4390. |
| Adhikari, Bishow B., Regnier, Michael, Rivera, Anthony J., Kreutziger, Kareen L., Martyn, Donald A. "Cardiac Length Dependence of Force and Force Redevelopment Kinetics with Altered Cross-Bridge Cycling." Biophysical Journal, vol. 87, no. 3, 2004, pp. 1784-1794. |
The focus of the Coulombe lab is to advance heart regeneration and health. We use technologies in tissue engineering, biomaterials, stem cell biology, mechanics, and imaging to understand growth and maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes), cell-matrix interactions in 3D heart tissue, and mechanical properties of engineered cardiac scaffolds and tissues. Leveraging systems engineering, we re-engineer contractility of the heart after heart attack in preclinical models to promote new vessel growth, electrical coupling, and whole heart contractility after engineered tissue implantation, and we advance cardiotoxicity testing in vitro with our engineered human cardiac microtissues.
Our long-term goal is to develop functional human myocardium to evaluate toxicity of pharmaceutical drugs and environmental toxicants, to study human disease processes, and regenerate the injured heart.
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | PhD | University of Washington |
| 2001 | BS | University of Rochester |
| Senior Fellow | University of Washington, pathology | 2008-2013 | Seattle, WA |
2023 Brown University's Innovation of the Year
2021 NSF CAREER Award
2021 Young Innovator Award, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, BMES
2019 Finalist, Young Investigator Award, Regenerative Medicine Workshop at Charleston
2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring in Engineering, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, Brown University
2017 Rising Star Award, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Group, Biomedical Engineering Society
2016 Athletic Hall of Fame, University of Rochester
2015 Salomon Award, Brown University
2014 Biomedical Engineering Society, Outstanding Contribution, Cardiovascular Engineering
2012 NIH NHLBI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
2009 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Future Faculty Fellow, University of Washington
2001 Whitaker Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellow in Biomedical Engineering
2001 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (declined)
2001 Summa cum laude, B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester
2000 Take Five Scholar, University of Rochester
2000 Robert L. Wells Prize for the Top Ranked Senior in the School of Engineering, BME Outstanding Senior Award, Women’s Scholar Athlete Award, University of Rochester
2000 All-American, Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association
1999 Susan B. Anthony Award, Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society, Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, University of Rochester
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Choi, Bum-Rak | Associate Professor of Medicine (Research) |
| Mende, Ulrike | Professor of Medicine |
Institute for Biology, Engineering and Medicine, School of Engineering and Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University.
Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiovascular Institute, Rhode Island Hospital/Lifespan.
CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology Group, VA Providence Health Care System.
| ENGN 1490 - Biomaterials |
| ENGN 1520 - Cardiovascular Engineering |
| ENGN 1931K - Cell-Material Interactions in Tissue Engineering |
