Bio Builders: Superpowered by Stem Cells – Meet the Lab

How can we use stem cells to improve human health?

Meet the Bio Builders—a team of scientists in the Thomson Lab at the Morgridge Institute for Research who are using stem cells to repair damaged tissue and improve human health treatments. In the resources below, you’ll learn about these scientists and their lab, discover why their research matters in real life, and try out an activity. Take notes as you explore!

Learn Why Research Matters

The Thomson Lab pioneered stem cell research, and they now use stem cells to repair damaged tissue and improve human health treatments. In the following video, you’ll learn about one reason why they research this, through a real-world story about a woman who was born a twin but lost her sister at a young age from a nervous system disorder.

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Questions to Consider:

Now that you know a little about stem cells from Shannon’s story, what else could you imagine using stem cells for? Why was she fascinated by them?

How did Shannon’s sister, Lauryn, influence Shannon’s career? Is there someone in your life who has had a lot of impact on you?

“With stem cells, we have all this potential to understand things that we haven’t understood, and the potential to cure, or at least have an improved quality of life for patients.”

— Shannon Strader

Meet The Scientists

Meet the Bio Builders. Flip over their cards to learn more about them (and discover their secret superpower)! Who do you relate to the most?

Elizabeth Perrin

Research Specialist

I have many tasks in the lab! Some days I make cells to use in experiments. Other days I’m creating proteins, working with students, or helping to get our blood vessel grafts ready to test!

Elizabeth Perrin

Research Specialist

Planning and strategy.

Thunderstorms in the middle of the night. 🌩️

How vaccines help our immune system to fight off illnesses. 💉

I was pretty convinced I would be either a writer or editor when I grew up. It wasn’t until I took a high school chemistry class that I became interested in science.

Jue Zhang

Assistant Scientist

I make tissue-engineered blood vessels! These blood vessels get used to help people who need bypass surgery, which redirects blood around a section of a blocked artery in your heart.

Jue Zhang

Assistant Scientist

Focus and perseverance.

A special dumpling from my hometown. 🥟

Artificial Intelligence

One time on a field trip to a park we had to ride a train for 12 hours round trip just to spend a few hours at our destination. 🚆

Marcela Tabima

Biomedical Engineer

I work in the Thompson Lab and create replacement blood vessels. These are the tubes that carry blood pumped from the heart to the rest of the body.

Marcela Tabima

Biomedical Engineer

Enthusiasm.

Hot chocolate with cheese inside. 🧀

How the human body works and responds to mechanical stimuli.

Chemistry lab inspired me when we learned about the different reactions you can get with ordinary substances. 🧪

Bret Duffin

Research Coordinator

I grow stem cells in the lab. These are cells that can grow into any other type of human cell when given the right conditions. I study how to do this! I get them to grow into other cell types of the body.

Bret Duffin

Research Coordinator

Patience.

I love to eat peanut butter and swiss cheese sandwiches. 🥪

I like learning about things that we can’t see. This includes the microscopic world of cells as well as the stars and planetary systems in space. 🔭

Our science class made diagrams of animal and plant cells. Learning the different parts of the cell and how they work together sparked my interest in cellular biology.

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Ask questions!

Being a scientist means asking new questions and learning new things. Click through the topics below to ask questions of the scientists at the Thomson Lab and learn about their research.