About
Karina earned her bachelors' from UCLA in 2024, double majoring in Bioengineering and Mathematics, before continuing at UCLA and earning masters' degrees in Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering. She is a current MD/PhD student at Yale and hopes to use her engineering background to further research and develop cardiac devices. During her time at UCLA, Karina was heavily involved with the Boelter Hall Engineering Makerspace, where many of her pet projects remain to this day.
Education and Degree(s)
BS Bioengineering - UCLA
BS Mathematics - UCLA
MS Bioengineering - UCLA
MS Mechanical Engineering - UCLA
Publications
Bender, K., Chesley, S., Drake, J.L., Ho, M., Lin, E., Saxton, K., Sharma, N., Tripsas, C.K., Li, Q., Hsu, J.J., 2025. Development of a Stereolithography 3D Printing-Based Micropatterning Method to Study Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Mechanobiology. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-025-03921-w
Li, Q., Ye, L., Bender, K., Phan, J., Shiomi, A., Talapaneni, S., Meng, Y., Di Carlo, D., Tintut, Y., Demer, L., & Hsu, J. (2025). Abstract Tu0066: The Role of Type VIII Collagen in Modulating Endothelial Cell Stiffness in Inflammation. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 45(Suppl_1), ATu0066–ATu0066. https://doi.org/10.1161/atv.45.suppl_1.Tu0066