Home Department: Undeclared
Mentor: Joseph Wu (Medicine - Cardiovascular Medicine)

"Microplastics, Macro-impacts: Defining Exposure Thresholds for Vascular Impairment in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells"

The average human is estimated to inhale ~70,000 micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) everyday (Yakovenko, 2025), from the annual production of ~10-40 million tons of plastic (Thompson, 2024). Emerging evidence suggests that MNPs are cardiovascular risk factors, yet their effects on the endothelial lining of human vascular systems remain under-researched. Leveraging the Wu laboratory's biobank of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines, Jacob’s project aims to define threshold concentrations at which MNPs impair hiPSC-derived endothelial cell viability, proliferation, and angiogenic tube formation. Transcriptomic profiling by RNA-sequencing will identify pathways underlying MNP-induced endothelial dysfunction and inter-individual variability in susceptibility.