Education

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, 2020, Columbia University
M.S., Biomedical Engineering, 2015, Columbia University
Sc.B., Biomedical Engineering, 2010, Brown University

Areas of Research Interest

Orthopedics; osteoarthritis; tissue engineering; synovium; cartilage; stem cells; cell migration; clinical translation

Background

Rob began his research career as an undergraduate at Brown University with Dr. Edith Mathiowitz, where he wrote his honors thesis on drug-eluting bioabsorbable microfilaments for sutures. Following graduation, he joined the concept development group at DePuy Mitek, a medical device company specializing in soft tissue repair for sports injuries. He then made the move to the Orthopedic Cell Biology Laboratory at Rhode Island Hospital. There he developed a functional multi-axial loading bioreactor and investigated a clinically-relevant placental derived stem cell source for cartilage tissue engineering. Rob joined the Cellular Engineering Laboratory in 2013 and completed his PhD in 2019. When not hard at work in the lab, Rob can often be found running in Central/Riverside Park, playing in his co-ed softball league, cooking, or volunteer teaching.

Selected Publications and Patents

1. Stefani RM, Barbosa S, Tan AR, et al. Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields Promote Repair of Focal Articular Cartilage Defects with Engineered Osteochondral Constructs. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 2020. doi:10.1002/bit.27287. link

2. Stefani RM, Lee AJ, Tan AR, et al. Sustained low-dose dexamethasone delivery via a PLGA microsphere-embedded agarose implant for enhanced osteochondral repair. Acta Biomaterialia. 2020;102:326-340. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2019.11.052. link

3. Estell EG, Silverstein AM, Stefani RM, et al. Cartilage Wear Particles Induce an Inflammatory Response Similar to Cytokines in Human Fibroblast-Like Synoviocytes. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2019;37(9):1979-1987. doi:10.1002/jor.24340. link

4. Stefani RM, Halder SS, Estell EG, et al. A Functional Tissue-Engineered Synovium Model to Study Osteoarthritis Progression and Treatment. Tissue Engineering Part A. 2018;25(7-8):538-553. doi:10.1089/ten.tea.2018.0142. link

5. Silverstein AM, Stefani RM, Sobczak E, et al. Toward understanding the role of cartilage particulates in synovial inflammation. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2017;25(8):1353-1361. doi:10.1016/j.joca.2017.03.015. link

6. Nover AB, Stefani RM, Lee SL, et al. Long-term storage and preservation of tissue engineered articular cartilage. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2015;34(1):141-148. doi:10.1002/jor.23034. link

7. Sengun MZ, Tang H, Spenciner DB, Whittaker GR, Miller G, Hernandez J, Stefani RM, inventor; Medos International Sarl, assignee. Surgical Filament Snare Assemblies. US 9,895,145 issued February 2018. link

8. Bilgen B, Chu D, Stefani RM, Aaron RK. Design of a Biaxial Mechanical Loading Bioreactor for Tissue Engineering. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments). 2013;(74):e50387. doi:10.3791/50387. link

9. Lavin DM, Stefani RM, Zhang L, et al. Multifunctional polymeric microfibers with prolonged drug delivery and structural support capabilities. Acta Biomaterialia. 2012;8(5):1891-1900. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2012.01.019. link