Bio

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Alabama, 2001Ph.D. Bioengineering, Rice University, 2006Post-Doc Bioengineering, University of Washington, 2006-2007

Lakeshia Taite designs biomaterials to create cell-instructive microenvironments that encourage tissue growth or regeneration. By tuning the properties of synthetic polymers, naturally derived polymers and hybrid materials combining both, Professor Taite can engineer biofunctional materials capable of supporting cellular processes leading to novel tissue growth, tissue regeneration or the treatment of disease.

Professor Taite received her B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Alabama and completed her Ph.D. in bioengineering at Rice University. She then performed postdoctoral research in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. She has previously held faculty and research positions in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Grove School of Engineering at the City College of New York, and the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Research Interests

  • Biomaterials
  • Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine
  • Targeted Drug Delivery
  • Polymer Synthesis & Characterization

Selected Publications

  • “Nitric Oxide Releasing Polyurethanes” Biomacromolecules 6(2): 838-844 (2005) ABS Ho-Wook Jun*,Lakeshia J. Taite*,Jennifer L. West (*These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.)
  • “Bioactive Hydrogel Substrates: Probing Leukocyte Receptor-Ligand Interactions In Parallel Plate Flow Chamber Studies” Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 34(11): 1705-1711 (2006) ABS Lakeshia J. Taite, Maude L. Rowland, Katie A. Ruffino, Brian R. Smith, Michael B. Lawrence, Jennifer L. West
  • “Sustained Delivery Of Nitric Oxide From Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogels Enhances Endothelialization In a Rat Carotid Balloon Injury Model” Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, 2(2): 113-123 (2011) ABS Lakeshia J. Taite, Jennifer L. West
  • “Self-Assembly of Elastin-Based Peptides into the ECM: The Importance of Integrins and the Elastin Binding Protein in Elastic Fiber Assembly” Biomacromolecules, 12(2): 432-440 (2011) ABS Dhaval Patel, Rohan Menon, Lakeshia J. Taite
  • "Mathematical Modeling of Hyperbranched Water Soluble Polymers with Applications in Drug Delivery” Macromolecular Reaction Engineering, 5(9-10): 373-384 (2011) ABS Amin Zargar*, Kai Chang*, Lakeshia J. Taite, F. Joseph Schork (*These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.)
  • "Targeted Diazeniumdiolates: Localized Nitric Oxide Release From Glioma-Specific Peptides and Proteins” International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 422(1-2): 264-270 (2012) ABS Shahana Safdar, Lakeshia J. Taite
  • “Synergistic Activity of avb3 Integrins and the Elastin Binding Protein Enhance Cell-Matrix Interactions on Bioactive Hydrogel Surfaces” Biomacromolecules, 13(5): 1420-1428 (2012) ABS Dhaval Patel, Susan E. Vandromme, Michael E. Reid, Lakeshia J. Taite
  • “Targeted nitric oxide delivery preferentially induces glioma cell chemosensitivity via altered p53 and O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity” Biotechnology & Bioengineering, 110(4):1211-1220 (2013) ABS Shahana Safdar, Courtney A. Payne, Nam H. Tu, Lakeshia J. Taite
  • “Structural Optimization of Highly Branched Thermally Responsive Polymers as a Means of Controlling Transition Temperature” Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 51(9): 2068-2078 (2013) ABS Kai Chang, Nathan C. Rubright, Patti D. Lowery, Lakeshia J. Taite
  • “Modeling of Highly Branched Water Soluble Polymers with Applications to Drug Delivery Model Extensions and Validation” Macromolecular Reaction Engineering, 9(6): 545-555 (2015) ABS Seung Yeon Kim, Robert Van Dyke, Kai Chang, Lakeshia J. Taite, F. Joseph Schork
  • “Decellularized matrices in regenerative medicine” Acta Biomaterialia, 74: 74-89 (2018) ABS Doris A. Taylor, Luiz C. Sampaio, Zannatul Ferdous, Andrea S. Gobin, Lakeshia J. Taite

Courses Taught

  • ENGR 1624 Fall 2021