CGR Leadership

Linda G. Griffith, PhD
Linda G. Griffith, PhD

Scientific DirectorLinda G. Griffith, PhD

MIT School of Engineering Teaching Innovation Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering

MIT MacVicar Fellow

(See full bio)

Keith B. Isaacson, MD
Keith B. Isaacson, MD

Clinical Director
Keith B. Isaacson, MD

Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

Newton-Wellesley Hospital Medical Director for Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery

(See full bio)

Michal (Mikki) Tal, PhD
Michal (Mikki) Tal, PhD

Associate Scientific Director
Michal (Mikki) C. Tal, PhD
Principal Scientist
MIT Department of Biological Engineering

(See full bio)

Learn more at talresearchgroup.org

Peter Movilla, MD
Peter Movilla, MD

Associate Clinical Director
Peter R. Movilla, MD

Associate Medical Director, Newton Wellesley Hospital – Mass General Brigham

Associate Clinical Director & Research Affiliate – MIT Department of Biological Engineering

(See full bio)

Recent Alumni with Ongoing Collaboration

Lauren Baugh, PhD
Lauren Baugh, PhD

Lauren Baugh, PhD

Mammalian Engineer
Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc.

(See full bio)

Alex Brown, PhD
Alex Brown, PhD

Alex Brown, PhD

Scientist
Human Assay Technologies Group, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

(See full bio)

Juan Gnecco, PhD
Juan Gnecco, PhD

Juan Gnecco, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University

(See full bio)

Britt Goods, PhD
Britt Goods, PhD

Britt Goods, PhD

Assistant Professor of Engineering, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth University

For more information, see The Goods Lab website.

(See full bio)

Clara Ives
Clara Ives

Clara Ives

Technical Associate through 2022

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(See full bio)

Allison Lenhard
Allison Lenhard

Allison Lenhard
Incoming Mechatronics Engineer NASA JPL

(See full bio)

Megan I. Loring, MD
Megan I. Loring, MD

Megan I. Loring, MD

Associate Director of the Endometriosis & Adenomyosis Care Collaborative and Gynecologic Surgeon, Newton-Wellesley Hospital Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
(See full bio)

Duncan O’Boyle
Duncan O’Boyle

Duncan O’Boyle

Microfluidics Engineer
Parallel Fluidics

(See full bio) 

Current CGR Lab Students, Postdocs, and Staff

Kira Buttrey
Kira Buttrey

Kira Buttrey

Undergraduate Student, Biological Engineering

Buttrey joined the CGR team of the Griffith Lab in the summer of 2020. During the 2020-2021 academic year she worked as a lab technician and researcher. During COVID, Buttrey took a leave of absence from classes to work in the lab as a more immersive experience. She returned to classes in the fall of 2021, continuing involvement with CGR through a UROP (undergraduate research experience).

Buttrey’s main project has been adopting 3D methods to culture endometrial stromal cells and preserve their decidualization response. She has also been involved in coculture experiments and lightsheet microsopy to characterize endometrial glands and nerve fibers.

She is on track to graduate with a degree in biological engineering in spring 2023, with minors in Spanish and computer science and looks forward to continuing work with CGR through a senior thesis research project.

Elise Gubbins
Elise Gubbins

Elise Gubbins
PhD Student, Biological Engineering

Gubbins earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Yale in 2018 and is now excited to have the opportunity to be at MIT and work on women’s health – a particularly important and understudied area. Her work is focused on generating functional tissue engineered models of mucosal barrier tissues. Her primary interest is in the interplay of cell-generated mechanical forces with differentiation, regeneration, and morphogenic pattern development.

Natasha Hardcastle, PhD
Natasha Hardcastle, PhD

Natasha Hardcastle, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher

(See full bio)

Matthew Johnson
Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson
PhD Student, Mechanical Engineering

Johnson earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2021 before joining the endometriosis device team in March 2022. His previous research experience in microfluidic device design, three-dimensional tissue culture, and electromechanical systems is being applied to develop cutting-edge devices for micro-physiological systems. Johnson’s current research is focused on design iteration and validation toward the realization of an easy-to-use microfluidic platform that enables in vitro replication of complex biological phenomena such as endometriosis lesions, metabolic processes, inter-tissue crosstalk, and immune responses using a novel actuated fluidic circuit.

Ellen Kan
Ellen Kan

Ellen Kan
PhD Student, Biological Engineering, NSF Graduate Research Fellow

Kan, who earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Yale in 2019, is excited to be part of a multidisciplinary team that is working on novel approaches to improving women’s reproductive health. Her current research is focused on building a vascularized model of the endometriotic lesion microenvironment. By using this model to study the interplay of hormones and the immune system in endometriosis, we hope to better elucidate disease progression and identify relevant targets for drug development. Kan is also motivated by her past studies of the social and historical aspects of reproductive health, which further inform and ground her scientific research in real-world applications.

Ayse Nihan Kilinc, PhD
Ayse Nihan Kilinc, PhD

Ayse Nihan Kilinc, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

(Bio coming soon)

Mollie O’Brien
Mollie O’Brien

Mollie O’Brien

Research Coordinator, Department of Surgery,
Boston Medical Center

Research Project Manager for the Center for Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Newton-Wellesley Hospital

(See full bio)

Lauren Pruett, PhD
Lauren Pruett, PhD

Lauren Pruett, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Pruett earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia in 2022 and is now excited to have the opportunity to pursue postdoctoral research at MIT and work on women’s health – a particularly important and understudied area. Her PhD work focused on design of a synthetic hydrogel for accelerated biomaterial-tissue integration. At MIT, she is applying her prior experiences to design synthetic hydrogels to develop vascularized tissue models.

Current and Alumni Clinical Fellows

Christina (“Stina”) Alicia Salazar, MD, 2015 – 2017 Fellow

Assistant Professor of Women’s Health, University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School

Christina (“Stina”) Alicia Salazar, MD

Christina (“Stina”) Alicia Salazar, MD

Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine

OB/GYN Residency: Cleveland Clinic / Case Western Reserve MetroHealth

Fellowship: AAGL FMIGS Newton Wellesley

CGR Experience Statement: Working in collaboration with MIT researchers was one of the highlights of my fellowship training. It was fundamental in helping me understand how to construct a bridge between bench scientific investigations and clinical research.

My own experiences working with Dr. Linda Griffith and her team at MIT were pivotal in helping me develop the skills I needed to excel. In my current practice I have made it apriority to continue similar collaborative work by partnering with Dr. Livia Eberlin at UT Austin on endometriosis research.

I feel lucky to have had Dr. Isaacson as my mentor during my fellowship. It is unique to have the opportunity to learn from an innovator and researcher who is also a prolific surgeon. It has helped my own career tremendously to have attained the skill sets and be trained by a leading expert in his field, whose patients travel from all over the United States and abroad in order to consult with him and undergo surgery. I hope to carry the torch and continue providing excellent care for patients both as a clinician and a researcher.”

Jovana Tavcar, MD, 2019 – 2021 Fellow

Jovana Tavcar, MD

Jovana Tavcar, MD

Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Mass General Brigham

Medical School: University of Belgrade

OB/GYN Residency: Medstar Georgetown University Hospital/Medstar Washington Hospital Center

MIGS Fellowship: Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Mass General Brigham

CGR Experience Statement : “Being part of the CGR team was a tremendous experience for me. It is an invaluable opportunity to witness the state of the art basic science, contribute to moving the boundaries in the endometriosis spectrum diseases, but also to witness the challenges of scientific work in this area of women’s health and how long is the way ahead of us.

[As a mentor,] Dr. Isaacson is an amazing advocate for women’s health, particularly area of endometriosis and reproductive health. His tremendous enthusiasm in this field is the moving force for decades. He holds his standards remarkably high, as they should be, which motivates fellows to achieve greatness.

My goal is to continue contributing to the basic science research in gynecologic pathology, specifically endometriosis, adenomyosis, and reproductive health…There are so many unanswered questions, that will help so many women suffering, usually in silence. It takes a village, but CGR has enough human enthusiasm and brain power to move the mountain.”

Marron Wong, MD, 2016 – 2018 Fellow

Marron Wong, MD

Marron Wong, MD

Gynecologist, Kaiser Permanente

Assistant Professor, Drexel University College of Medicine

Volunteer Faculty, UCSF

Medical School: UCSF 2008 – 2012

OB/GYN Internship and Residency UCSF 2012 – 2016

MIGS Fellowship: Newton-Wellesley

CGR Experience Statement : “As a fellow, we cared for patient after patient with severe endometriosis. It was fantastic to be able to contribute in a small way to this brilliant team of people who are working to understand endometriosis and find a cure.

Besides his contributions to research through CGR and the excellent clinical care Keith Isaacson provides to his patients, Keith’s other legacy is his ever-growing cadre of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery fellows. We are all so lucky to have been able to learn from his mentorship.

[Currently] I care for many patients with endometriosis since we are an endometriosis referral center, and I have a pelvic pain clinic. These patients have often suffered for years without a diagnosis. It can be really helpful to talk about the basic science behind endometriosis to help explain the cause of the pain and other symptoms these patients have endured for so long.”

Kelly Wright, MD, FACOG, FACS, 2011 – 2012 Fellow

Kelly Wright, MD

Kelly Wright, MD

Director, Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 2003

M.D., Texas A&M University College of Medicine, College Station, TX, 2007

Intern/Resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital Combined Residency Program, June 2007 – June 2011

Fellow in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (FMIGS), Newton-Wellesley Hospital

CGR Experience Statement: “Seeing CGR was the first time I had seen any lab dedicated to the study of endometriosis and adenomyosis, which was quite exciting, as most labs I had seen were dedicated to cancer and other ‘fatal’ diseases.

Keith [Isaacson] was a mentor to me all the way from residency through attending hood, and he was president of AAGL when I was a fellow. His leadership always inspired me to try and follow in his footsteps!

[At CGR,] there was a real focus on adenomyosis as a big component of the pain that women with endometriosis can experience, which had largely been ignored up until recently. Keith and CGR were the first places I saw in depth review of adenomyosis and attempts to try and study it.

Endometriosis and adenomyosis are estimated to affect 10 percent of women and account for $69 billion in health care dollars and lost wages in the United States alone. Surgeons need to collaborate with experienced investigators to study endometriosis and adenomyosis in high resource labs rather than simply on our own.”

Collaborators and Advisors

Mauricio Abrão, MD

Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil; Director, Endometriosis Division, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sao Paulo University, Brazil; President, Brazilian Endometriosis and Minimally Invasive Gynaecology Society (SBE)

endometriosis surgery and diagnosis; infertility

Website: http://endometriosis.ca/about/board/mauricio-abrao/

Eric Alm, PhD

MIT Professor of Biological Engineering and Director, MIT Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics

human microbiome in health and disease

Website: http://almlab.mit.edu

Bryan Bryson, PhD

MIT Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering, Senior Investigator, Ragon Institute of MIT/Harvard

Computational Modeling, Infectious Disease, Microbial Pathogenesis, Microbial Systems, Omics, Systems Biology

Website:  https://brysonlab.mit.edu/

Jerry Chan, MD, PhD

Director, KK Research Centre

Consultant, Department of Reproductive Medicine

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore

Associate Professor Duke-NUS Medical School

Cancer & Stem Cell Biology Program

Website: http://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/content/chan-jerry

Hilary Critchley, MD, PhD FRSE FRSB FMedSci FFSRH FRCOG FRANZCOG

Professor of Reproductive Medicine and an Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Edinburgh.

Website: https://www.ed.ac.uk/centre-reproductive-health/professor-hilary-od-critchley

Stacey Ann D’mello Peters

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Bergen / Haukeland University Hospital, Norway

Visiting Research Fellow, MIT

(See full bio)

Asgi Fazleabas, PhD

Michigan State University Professor & Associate Chair, Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

Director, Women’s Health Research

Co-Director, Reproductive & Developmental Sciences Program

analysis of endometriosis disease mechanisms in baboon models

Lab website: http://expeng.anr.msu.edu/rdsp/faculty/profile/asgi_fazleabas

John Guttag, PhD

MIT Dugald C. Jackson Professor Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

data-driven medical inferences

Website: http://www.csail.mit.edu/user/798

Mark Hornstein, MD

Director, Reproductive Endocrinology D

Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology

assisted reproductive technologies/in vitro fertilization, laparoscopic surgery

Hilde Jørgensen, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oslo

minimally invasive surgery, cytokine networks in endometriosis and infertility

Roger Kamm, PhD

MIT Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering

Director, NSF-funded Center for Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS)

Biological Machines/Microfluidics; Angiogenesis/Vasculogenesis; Neurological Disease; Cancer; Simulation and modeling

Website: https://web.mit.edu/meche/mb/

Douglas Lauffenburger, PhD

MIT Ford Professor of Biological Engineering and Biology

Head, MIT Department of Biological Engineering, 1998 – 2019

immunology & systems biology of endometriosis, infectious disease transmission, and chronic inflammation

Website: http://web.mit.edu/dallab/

Stacey Missmer, ScD

Associate Professor of Epidemiology Harvard School of Public Health

genetic and epidemiologic research in reproductive medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, reproductive biology

Website: http://endometriosisfoundation.org/board/member/stacey-missmer/

http://endometriosisfoundation.org/ephect/werf-ephect-working-group/

Stephanie Morris, MD

Associate Medical Director for Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Newton-Wellesley Hospital

medical education in gynecology surgery

Website: http://newton.patch.com/groups/announcements/p/an–nwh-recognized-for-excellence-in-minimally-invasib9a29421ad

Kevin Osteen, PhD

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology

Pierre Soupart Chair in Obstetrics and Gynecology Vanderbilt University

Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College

reproductive medicine, human endometrium, endometrial dysfunction, endometriosis, progesterone action, environmental endocrine disruptors, developmental exposure

Website: https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/facultydata/php_files/show_faculty.php?id3=843

Katharina Ribbeck, PhD

MIT Eugene Bell Career Development Professor of Tissue Engineering in the Department of Biological Engineering

biophysics and biology of mucosal barriers; preterm birth; infectious disease modulation by mucosal barriers

Website: http://kr-lab.mit.edu/

David Trumper, PhD

MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Design of precision mechatronic systems; Magnetic levitation for nanometer-scale motion control; Novel actuation and sensing devices

Website: http://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/trumper@mit.edu

Tal Research Group Collaborators

Learn more at talresearchgroup.org

Erin C. Sanders, MSN, WHNP-BC
Clinical Scientist
MIT Department of Biological Engineering

Paige Hansen
Lab Manager/Technical Associate
MIT Department of Biological Engineering

Emelia von Saltza
Emelia von Saltza

Emelia von Saltza
Technical Associate
MIT Department of Biological Engineering