Home Department: Bioengineering
Mentor: Reinhold Dauskardt, Materials Science & Engineering

The stratum corneum, or outermost layer of the skin, is essential for protecting the body from infections and other environmental stressors. This layer also produces natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) to maintain the skin’s hydration, elasticity, and resilience. Chyna will study how exposing the skin to different treatments, such as detergents, can affect the layer’s mechanical properties to better understand how we can maintain the stratum corneum, thus maintaining the body’s wellbeing.