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karapeak.bsky.social
Kara Peak
@karapeak.bsky.social
35 followers 63 following 12 posts
🤰🏻Postdoc with Victor Barocas & Kyoko Yoshida at the University of Minnesota
🫀 AHA Fellow
🫁 PhD with Victor Varner at the University of Texas at Dallas
🥼soft-tissue biomechanics, women’s reproductive health, development, computational modeling
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Kara Peak
loke-ctr.bsky.social
Fully-funded 4-year PhD studentships for home or overseas students, applications open till 4 November. 🔗 Please like and share to spread the word! www.trophoblast.cam.ac.uk/phd-students...

Take a look at projects for 2025/26 www.trophoblast.cam.ac.uk/opportunitie...

#PhD, #PhDPosition
October 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
drcnatale.bsky.social
Excited to share the latest work from our lab investigating human placental pericytes!
October 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bnatale.bsky.social
Checkout our new work demonstrating how TGFb1 impacts placental pericyte secretion of proangiogenic and proinflammatory factors and inhibits pericyte phagocytosis. Out today in Scientific Reports. @drcnatale.bsky.social
#pericytes #placenta
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The regulation of placental pericyte function through transforming growth factor β-1 signalling - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - The regulation of placental pericyte function through transforming growth factor β-1 signalling
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:42 PM
karapeak.bsky.social
#BMES2025

🥼presented my work & plans for my future lab
🌅 enjoyed beautiful San Diego
🔬spotted my IF image representing the biomechanics section of my doctoral alma mater

not pictured: awesome work in women’s health & reproductive science + many great conversations with fellow researchers
Kara stands smiling in front of her research poster. She wears a multicolored floral dress with a white BMES conference name tag on a blue lanyard around her neck. A view from Torrey Pines Natural Reserve looking from above on some ocean-side cliffs down towards the ocean below. Kara poses next to a banner at the UT Dallas booth. The banner shows the Department of Bioengineering’s research areas in a column of 6 topics with associated images. Starting from the top and moving downwards, the banner reads in white text “Bioimaging, Biomaterials, Biomechanics, Biosensors, Neural Engineering, Systems Biology.” Kara uses her hands to frame the Biomechanics section. A close up of an immunofluorescent image of an early embryonic chick lung airway shows cell nuclei (blue), epithelial cells (red), and proliferating cells (green). A view from the entrance of the San Diego convention center of a rainbow arching over Petco Park stadium. Palm trees line the street. A skyscraper is on the left-hand side of the photo.
October 18, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bmeunite.bsky.social
Headed to BMES? Don't miss our stellar 2025 BME UNITE Fellows at the Meet The Faculty Candidate Forum! Visit Drs. @jfrancois-eng.bsky.social, Kara Peak, and Taj Yeruva at their posters on Saturday, Oct 11, from 12-2:30 PM in Exhibit Hall F, G & H.

#BMES2025 #BMES #biomedicalengineering
BMES Meet the Faculty Candidate Forum Sat, Oct 11 12 - 2:30 PM Exhibition Hall F, G & H Joshua François (Harvard): Poster I6 Kara Peak (UMN): Poster I9 Taj Yeruva (UMD): Poster K15
October 7, 2025 at 4:34 PM
karapeak.bsky.social
🌴San Diego, here I come! I’ll be presenting twice at #BMES2025 later this week.
☀️ Thursday: finite element model to understand abnormal umbilical coiling
☀️ Saturday: Meet the Faculty - hear about projects I have planned for my future independent lab
⬇️ More info in the flyer below ⬇️
A flyer with a dark grey background features information on Kara’s upcoming presentations at the BMES Annual Meeting in white text. The white BMES logo is in the top left corner and underneath is a headshot of Kara in front of a yellow circle. To the right, the text reads “Finite element model predicts decreased umbilical coiling due to vessel thickening in gestational diabetes.” A calendar clipart is followed by the time and date of “10-11am, 2:45-3:45pm Thursday, Oct. 9.” Finally, a location pin clipart is followed by the conference location at “Poster Z34, Exhibit Hall F, G & H.” Underneath is more text with information about Kara’s “Meet the Faculty” poster. The “Peak Lab: Multi-scale Mechanisms of Pregnancy & Development” poster is from “12:00-2:30pm Saturday, Oct. 11” at “Poster I9, Exhibit Hall F, G & H.” The University of Minnesota’s logo featuring the golden yellow “M” and phrase “driven to discover” is in the bottom right corner.
October 6, 2025 at 7:45 PM
karapeak.bsky.social
I’m excited to be presenting my work and future research plans next week! 🔗 Link below to register to attend ⬇️
bmeunite.bsky.social bmeunite.bsky.social @bmeunite.bsky.social · Sep 22
Don't miss the fourth and final BME UNITE Future Faculty Seminar on Monday, September 29th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. Tahoura Samad, @karapeak.bsky.social and Claudia Varela to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
Dr. Tahoura Samad (MIT): The search for new antimicrobials: hiding in plain sight Dr. Kara Peak (University of Minnesota): What to expect when you're expecting: Interplay of biochemical and mechanical signaling in fetal-placental development Dr. Claudia Varela (Boston University): Implantable devices and human-engineered culture models to biomechanically probe the infarcted heart
September 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
karapeak.bsky.social
I’m grateful to have been selected by the UMN Postdoctoral Association and Office of Postdoctoral Initiatives to receive the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to our Academic Community Award. #NPAW2025 #PostdocAppreciation #UMNProud
Kara stands in front of a metal statue of Goldy the Gopher and the University of Minnesota’s red stone “M” logo. Kara is holding a certificate in front of herself and smiling. A close up image of the certificate. A logo for the Graduate School Office of Postdoctoral Initiatives is in the top left. The main text reads “The University of Minnesota Graduate School, Office of Postdoctoral Initiatives proudly presents Dr. Kara Peak Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Science & Engineering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our Academic Community Award” with two signatures below.
September 17, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
ondinecleaver.bsky.social
Sign up and join us!
socdevbio.bsky.social Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · Sep 4
#Undergraduates #Postbacs @socdevbio.bsky.social is hosting a webinar Get Into Grad School September 21 at 3pm ET. Learn about doctoral programs, the key elements of a compelling grad school application, and the interview process. Register: bit.ly/3HFJ9BG
SDB logo Webinar: Get Into Grad School September 21, 2025, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm ET Headshots of Carole LaBonne, Ondine Cleaver, Madison Martinez, Cristina Guerena, Jerry Wei Heng Tan, and Talia Marc
September 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
pratted.bsky.social
The 2025-2026 BME TT Faculty jobs list has 27 positions. #FacultySearch #BME #BMEJobsList

Add a job: forms.gle/bwEzwHAEehBj...
Jobs list: ericaprattlab.com/bme_jobs_list/
September 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bmeunite.bsky.social
The third BME UNITE Future Faculty Seminar will be on Monday, September 15th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. @jfrancois-eng.bsky.social, Joan Pulupa, and Amy Lee to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
Dr. Joshua François (Harvard Medical School): Quantifying Single-Cell Responses to Irradiation in 3D Dr. Joan Pulupa (Columbia University): Visualizing the 4-D Genome in Living Cells Dr. Amy Lee (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Establishing biobanking strategies and formulations for cell therapy scalability
September 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
madeleineoudin.bsky.social
Coming up next week our 3rd BME UNITE seminar series featuring talented BME postdocs on the market - Monday Sept 15th at 1PM EST with @bmeunite.bsky.social

Register here: ucla.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
September 9, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
sriwomenshealth.bsky.social
The Society for Reproductive Investigations is now accepting abstracts for the 2026 Annual Meeting!

Be a part of the SRI 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting and share your research with a global audience.

Submit your abstract today! www.sri-online.org/events/2026/...
August 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
madeleineoudin.bsky.social
Coming up next week Monday Aug 25th at 1PM EST our second BME UNITE seminar : with Taj Yeruva, @matteaallert.bsky.social and @saidaral.bsky.social . Register here: ucla.zoom.us/meeting/regi... @bmeunite.bsky.social
August 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bmeunite.bsky.social
The second BME UNITE Future Faculty Seminar will be on Monday, August 25th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. Mattea Allert, Taj Yeruva, and Said Arévalo Alquichire, PhD to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
Dr. Mattea Allert (University of Minnesota): Perspectives in Multi-Modal Modeling from Birth to Adulthood: A Journey from the Early Microbiome to Neurological Disease Mechanisms Dr. Taj Yeruva (University of Maryland-College Park): Beyond the Barrier: Rethinking Mucus to Engineer Materials for Drug Delivery Dr. Said Arevalo-Alquichire (Harvard Medical School): RUNX1-based therapeutics for the treatment of vitreoretrinal diseases
August 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
deniswirtz.bsky.social
These are the most challenging times for early-career scientists and engineers.

My team is doing its bit to help by maintaining and even expanding our database of funding opportunities for early-career researchers.

We found 437 of them.

Download it freely here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
August 11, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Kara Peak
deniswirtz.bsky.social
The updated version of the database of PhD fellowships produced and maintained by my team can be downloaded by anyone here:

research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

For each of the 187 fellowships, you will find a short description, deadline, $ amount, link, etc.

Good luck!
August 8, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Kara Peak
deniswirtz.bsky.social
My team has updated our free database of POSTDOC fellowships.

This database contains 286 entries. For each entry, we provide a link, short description, deadline, amount, and eligibility criteria.

Download this updated and expanded database here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
August 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
pratted.bsky.social
The BME Faculty Jobs List is back for 2025-2026! Our goal is to support early-career faculty candidates with a centralized & open-access database. Please share & contribute! #FacultySearch #BME #BMEJobsList

Add a job: forms.gle/bwEzwHAEehBj...
Jobs list: ericaprattlab.com/bme_jobs_list/
Header of Pratt Laboratory website showing a colorful word cloud with terms like "computational," "biomaterials," "medical," and "systems," above the text "Tenure Track Faculty Positions in Biomedical Engineering." *alt-text generated using OpenAI GPT-4.1 mini*
July 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
aimbe-official.bsky.social
📣 AIMBE has released data surveying >100 biomedical engineering departments on the impact of disruptions to research & training

Of respondents:
-71% reported grant terminations
-45% indicated reduced graduate student enrollment

Please share our 1-pager widely with your network 👇

bit.ly/3IXDVRW
aimbe.org
August 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bmeunite.bsky.social
The first BME UNITE seminar will be on Monday, August 11th, at 1 pm EST. Come hear from Drs. Julia Brisbane, Sindhuja Govindarajan, and @prnano9.bsky.social to learn more about their science and future research programs! Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
Dr. Julia Brisbane (Georgia Institute of Technology): Health Disparities in Biomedical Engineering Courses Dr. Sindhuja Govindarajan (University of Pennsylvania): Engineering the Next Generation of Neuroimaging Tools Dr. Patricia Nano (University of California - Los Angeles): Maps to Mechanisms: Probing Cell Fate with Atlases and Pertubation Screens of the Human Brain
August 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
karapeak.bsky.social
I’m grateful & thrilled to have been selected as a Fellow in the BME UNITE Future Faculty program as I head into my first faculty application cycle. I’ll be giving a virtual presentation about my work and ideas for my future lab at 1pm EST/12pm CST on September 29. More info below ⬇️
bmeunite.bsky.social bmeunite.bsky.social @bmeunite.bsky.social · Aug 4
We are excited to announce our 2025 cohort of BME UNITE Future Faculty Fellows! The BME UNITE seminar series is designed to showcase future faculty candidates from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds in BME. Register here: tinyurl.com/bmeunite25
Names, photos, and institutions of 2025 BME UNITE Future Faculty Fellows. Text seminar details with link to presentation schedule.
August 4, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
bmeunite.bsky.social
The 12 trailblazing early-career scientists selected as BME UNITE Fellows are: Mattea Allert, Said Arevalo-Alquichire, Julia Brisbane, @jfrancois-eng.bsky.social , Amy Lee, ‪@prnano9.bsky.social‬, Kara Peak, Joan Pulupa, Tahoura Samad, Sindhuja Tirumalai Govindarajan, Claudia Varela, and Taj Yeruva.
August 4, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Kara Peak
madeleineoudin.bsky.social
Excited to share our new cohort of 2025 @bmeunite.bsky.social Future Faculty Fellows! These outstanding scientists are all on the job market this year. Register here for upcoming seminars to learn about their amazing work! ucla.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
August 4, 2025 at 2:48 PM