University of California-San Diego · EngineeringChristman Lab
Karen L Christman · La Jolla, California
Research Focus
Dr. Karen L. Christman's lab at UC San Diego focuses on developing innovative biomaterials to treat heart conditions, specifically aiming to improve recovery after heart attacks (myocardial infarctions). The lab creates advanced materials that can be delivered minimally invasively to help heal heart tissue and promote recovery by targeting the underlying damage and improving cardiac function. By engineering solutions that are both effective and safe, this research aims to reduce the incidence of heart failure following myocardial infarctions.
myocardial infarctionbiomaterialstissue engineeringcardiac recoveryinjectable hydrogelsimmune modulationheart failurevascular repairextracellular matrixbiocompatibility
Research Aims
5AIM 01Develop minimally invasive biomaterials for acute myocardial infarction therapy.
AIM 02Investigate the effectiveness of injectable extracellular matrix in heart tissue repair.
AIM 03Evaluate immune responses related to biomaterial treatments in cardiac scenarios.
AIM 04Create polymers that target delivery of therapeutics to the heart.
AIM 05Study safe applications of biomaterials in post-heart attack intervention.
Skills the Lab Values
injectable hydrogel designbiomaterial testingcell culture techniquesanimal modelsflow cytometryimmunohistochemistrydrug delivery systemsbiodistribution analysisphase transition materialsenzymatic response systems
Output against the department
Publications182bottom 46% of dept.149th of 278
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations11ktop 33% of dept.92nd of 278
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.