Ryan Hasselkus
About Ryan Hasselkus
Ryan Hasselkus is a Senior Research Associate at Sana Biotechnology, specializing in high content drug screening and pluripotent stem cell differentiation for disease modeling and drug discovery. He has a background in Biomedical Engineering and extensive experience in developing biomimetic microfluidic systems and scalable processes for cell differentiation.
Current Role at Sana Biotechnology
Ryan Hasselkus serves as a Senior Research Associate at Sana Biotechnology, a position he has held since 2019. In this role, he focuses on high content drug screening and pluripotent stem cell (PSC) differentiation, which are critical for applications in disease modeling and drug discovery. His work involves utilizing advanced techniques such as qPCR, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and functional assays to characterize PSC-derived cell products. His expertise contributes to the development of innovative therapies aimed at addressing various diseases.
Previous Experience in Research
Prior to his current role, Ryan worked at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering as a Research Assistant IV from 2017 to 2019. He also served as a Graduate Student Researcher at the University of Rochester from 2015 to 2017. His experience includes working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Rochester for one year from 2014 to 2015. Additionally, he was an Undergraduate Student Researcher at the University at Buffalo in 2013. These positions provided him with a solid foundation in biomedical research and engineering.
Educational Background
Ryan Hasselkus earned his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo, studying from 2010 to 2014. He furthered his education at the University of Rochester, where he studied Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, achieving a degree in Biomedical Engineering from 2014 to 2017. His educational background equips him with a strong understanding of both the theoretical and practical aspects of biomedical engineering.
Specializations and Expertise
Ryan specializes in high content drug screening and PSC differentiation, which are essential for disease modeling and drug discovery. He possesses extensive experience in differentiating human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) and non-human primate pluripotent stem cells (NHP-PSC). Additionally, he has expertise in developing biomimetic microfluidic systems, known as Organ-chips, which co-culture organ-specific human cells to enhance physiological function in vitro. His work includes developing scalable xeno-free processes for differentiating PSC-derived cells suitable for manufacturing.
Early Career and Additional Roles
In addition to his research roles, Ryan worked as an Assistant Manager at Domino's Pizza from 2013 to 2014. His early career included working as a Student at the University at Buffalo from 2010 to 2014, where he gained foundational knowledge in biomedical engineering. His diverse experiences have contributed to his development as a well-rounded professional in the field of biomedical research.