Name : Katie Worley, PhD

Institutions:

• PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• BS in Chemical Engineering and BS in Human Biology from Michigan State University

Q&A

-How long have you been at Visikol?
3 years

-What do you do at Visikol?
I am a Principal Scientist and I design, oversee, plan, and execute projects related to our in vitro services. My focus is typically our liver-based assays, but I dabble in other areas as well.

-What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on here at Visikol?
It is really hard to pick a favorite project, because I’ve worked on a lot of really cool projects. I would say my favorite types of projects are ones where I get to develop and optimize an assay. One of the coolest projects I worked on involved extracting cells directly from primary kidney tissue and then developing a 2D fibrosis assay using those cells.

-Most challenging part of working in the science field?
The most challenging part of working in science is making sure you are asking the right questions so that the answers you get are relevant.

-Most rewarding part about working in the science field?
The most rewarding thing to me is learning new things. Every time you run a study you learn something new to add to our collective knowledge.

-How does your department help Visikol accelerate the drug discovery process?
I think one of the most influential things that we do in our department is developing new in vitro assays. We strive to create assays that allow for physiologically relevant compound screening so that drugs can be screened out quickly, which can save time and money in the long term.

-Fun fact about yourself?
I enjoy painting and drawing in my free time.