Karin Wuertz-Kozak - Featured Faculty 2020
Karin Wuertz-Kozak
Kate Gleason College of Engineering
Karin Wuertz-Kozak is the Endowed Kate Gleason Full Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. Her main research interests lie in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Wuertz-Kozak’s research aims to understand the cellular mechanisms underlying specific pathologies, with a focus on intervertebral disc and skin, and to utilize this knowledge for the development of novel treatment options that allow for tissue regeneration and pain reduction. Her group uses cells, biomaterials, biologics, genome engineering, and mechanical cues to promote tissue regeneration.
Various projects are currently conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Wuertz-Kozak, incorporating a wide range of state-of-the-art-techniques. These range from the production of electrospun, nanofibrous scaffolds for drug testing, tissue engineering, and skin regeneration, to the use of bioreactors to study the involvement of mechanotransduction in disease progression. Furthermore, she employs CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering to enhance the regenerative potential of mesenchymal stem cells, either directly or through the release of extracellular vesicles with enhanced biological functionality. Moreover, her recent work has identified the transient receptor potential channel TRPC6 as a novel therapeutic target in degenerative disc disease and scleroderma, and ongoing and future projects focus on translating these findings into targeted, molecular therapies.
Dr. Wuertz-Kozak obtained her M.Sc. degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Regensburg in Germany (2003), her Ph.D. degree in Human Biology from the University of Ulm in Germany (2006), and her MBA in Leadership and Sustainability from the University of Cumbria in the UK (2015). Before joining RIT in October 2019, she was an Assistant Professor at the ETH Zurich, where she was the recipient of the Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship Award, the most prestigious young investigator award in Switzerland. Dr. Wuertz-Kozak has published more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been repeatedly recognized for her excellence in teaching.
Karin Wuertz-Kozak
Full Professor
RIT Kate Gleason College of Engineering