Team | Rutz Laboratory | Washington University in St. Louis

**Alexandra Rutz**
she/her/hers
PI
rutzalexandral@wustl.edu

Prof. Rutz graduated from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (B.S., 2011) where she double majored in Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in Biomaterials from Northwestern University in 2016 (Chicago, IL, USA). Her doctoral thesis focused on engineering hydrogel bioinks for 3D printing tissues and organs. With support from the Whitaker International Scholars Program and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, Prof. Rutz conducted her postdoctoral research in Malliaras Bioelectronics Lab at Ecole des Mines de St. Etienne (Gardanne, France, 2016-2017) and the University of Cambridge (Cambridge, UK, 2017-2020). Her work focused on developing new materials for bioelectronics, including slippery coatings from implantable probes, as well as fabricating and studying conducting polymer-based devices. In 2021, Prof. Rutz started her independent career at Washington University in St. Louis where she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her lab is focused on bridging living systems with technologies through the design of materials and development of advanced manufacturing methods. Outside the lab, Prof. Rutz likes to garden and be outdoors, cook & go out to restaurants, and spend time with her husband and pets.

**Somtochukwu Okafor**
she/her/hers
PhD Student
o.somtochukwu@wustl.edu

Somto graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana. As an undergraduate, she researched methods to improve Women’s Health with emphasis on Pre-eclampsia and worked with a team to develop a Pre-eclampsia monitoring device. In the Rutz Lab, Somto is currently working on developing 3D printed conducting scaffolds for Tissue Engineering using PEDOT:PSS. Somto is a member of the McDonnell International Scholar Academy (https://mcdonnell.wustl.edu/) which is a very diverse global community and she participates in several programs which help her to develop her leadership skills. Outside the lab Somto enjoys cooking and dancing.

Tianran Liu
she/her/hers
PhD Student
l.tianran@wustl.edu

Tianran received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. During that time, she worked in Dr. William Murphy’s lab to screen various microenvironmental conditions for human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) expansion and differentiation with hydrogel arrays. In 2019, she started working for FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics. Inc to optimize intracranial delivery strategies for Parkinson’s disease cell therapy.

In the Rutz lab, Tianran currently focuses on developing bioresorbable, extracellular matrix (ECM) – based substrate for flexible bioelectronics.

Outside of lab, Tianran enjoys watching dogs play, rubbing cat bellies, and struggles to keep all her plants alive.

**Anna Goestenkors**
she/her/hers
PhD Student
a.goestenkors@wustl.edu

Anna received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Louisville. While completing her bachelor’s degree, she worked at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center in Dr. David S.K. Magnuson’s lab studying activity-based rehabilitation and the effects of stretching on locomotor recovery following spinal cord injury.

She completed her Master’s Thesis in Dr. Thomas Roussel’s lab where she worked on optimizing a respiratory training device for spinal cord injury patients by improving the physical design through computational fluid dynamics studies and the user interface by incorporating programming algorithms and a touch screen to allow patients to operate the device independently and record their results for later analysis.

In the Rutz Lab, Anna is currently working on developing a conductive bioink using PEDOT:PSS. Outside of lab, Anna enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing piano, listening to podcasts, and baking.

**Jae Park**
he/him/his
PhD Student
j.g.park@wustl.edu

Jae received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Science and Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the Chung-Ang University, Korea. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the Yonsei University, where he worked under the supervision of Prof. Jungmok Seo. His work during the Master’s Degree involved developing functional hydrogels for bioelectronic applications and slippery coatings for implantable biomaterials.

In the Rutz lab, he is working on developing electro-responsive PEDOT:PSS actuators for dynamic cell culture substrates. Outside the lab, he explores nice coffee places in St. Louis.

**Sandy Montgomery**
she/her/hers
Undergraduate Student
montgomery.sandy@wustl.edu

Sandy is an undergraduate research assistant who helps with lab tasks and is working with Tianran on a project involving PLGA-based flexible bioelectronics. Sandy is a dual-degree student and she previously attended Pacific Lutheran University. At PLU, she worked in Dr. Dean Waldow’s polymer chemistry lab, synthesizing conductive polymers to use as electrolytes in batteries.

Outside of Rutz Lab, Sandy enjoys spending time with her partner and cat, doing trivia with her friends, and baking.

**Justin Yu**
he/him/his
Undergraduate Student
j.s.yu@wustl.edu

Justin is an undergraduate research assistant who helps with lab tasks and is working with Anna on a project to develop simulations for granular hydrogel configurations using a computational-based approach.

Outside of Rutz Lab, Justin enjoys going to the gym, listening to music, and trying new foods.

**Cayleigh O’Hare**
she/her/hers
Undergraduate Student
c.ohare@wustl.edu

Cayleigh is an undergraduate research assistant who helps with lab tasks and is working with Somto on a project to develop 3D-printed conducting scaffolds for tissue engineering using PEDOT:PSS.

Outside of Rutz Lab, she enjoys sampling sushi, making Spotify playlists, and going for runs in nature.

Rutz Lab Alumni