Sara Dutton Sackett, PhD
Associate Scientist
Principal Scientist
(608) 263-0628
sackett@surgery.wisc.edu
Sara Dutton Sackett, PhD, is an Associate Scientist for the division of Transplantation. Dr. Sackett received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She followed this with a postdoctoral fellowship in Aachen, Germany at the RWTH University Hospital Aachen prior to joining the Odorico research team in 2012.
For more than 20 years Dr. Sackett has focused on understanding biological systems, development and disease. Her sustained long-term goal is to continue to be inspired by what we can learn from biology and the developmental and signaling pathways involved, particularly how alternations in gene expression through manipulation of signaling pathways contribute to the specification of a cell type or to human disease. Her interest has grown in developing and combining innovative technologies in stem cell biology and matrix biology to establish in vitro systems to study human pancreatic stem cell-pancreatic ECM interactions, to improving the transplantation of differentiated stem cells and islets with goals to translate these findings to clinical applications. Dr. Sackett is a dedicated and devoted mentor, whose lab environment encourages creative and independent thinking, multidisciplinary approaches and collaboration.
Specialties: Molecular biology, microscopy, laser capture microdissection, immunohistochemistry, rodent handling and husbandry, mouse model development, bile duct ligation, caecal ligation and puncture, bone marrow transplantation, kidney subcapsular transplants and other animal surgeries.
Dan M. Tremmel, BS, PhD Candidate
Graduate Student, Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Dan’s research focus is to characterize the composition of the human pancreatic and islet matrisome, with the goal of using this information to enhance the microenvironment in which stem cell-derived beta cells are differentiated and transplanted. He has produced a human pancreatic hydrogel scaffold to test the hypothesis that pancreas-specific extracellular matrix will enhance the differentiation, function and engraftment of these cells. He has also developed a protocol for the culture of endothelial cell tubes within the hydrogel to study the role of vasculature in islet health and development, as well as to support cell engraftment.
Undergraduates
Vansh Jain
Vansh is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in International Studies and Biochemistry. He joined Dr. Odorico’s lab in Summer 2016. Vansh’s research interests include the use of histological staining techniques and microscopy to study endothelial cell, extracellular matrix and islet interactions. Vansh was awarded the Hilldale Undergraduate Faculty Research Fellowship in 2019 and was selected as a winner of the 2019 UW Cool Science Image Contest alongside Dan Tremmel.
Jenna Menadue
Jessica Suderski
Nick Quirini
Colin Steck
Recent Past Members
Austin Feeney, BS, MS
As a recent graduate in Biomedical Engineering (BME) from UW-Madison, Austin will continue to work with the Odorico Lab during the completion of his one-year Master’s degree in BME. During his undergraduate studies and previous work in the lab, Austin has developed interests in using biomaterials to influence stem cell fate and serve as scaffolds for transplantation studies. Austin works closely with other researchers in the lab to decellularize human pancreata and form hydrogels for cell differentiation and transplantation experiments. Additionally, he has been interested in quantifying aspects of pancreas donations through experimentation and looking at associations with clinical parameters of the donated organ. He recently matriculated in the MD/PhD program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Gopika Nair, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California San Francisco
Trevor Schell, BS
Medical Student, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Rachel Maguire
Andrew Curran
Marina Ignatowski
Collaborators
UW Collaborators
Matthew Brown, PhD, University of Wisconsin
William Burlingham, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Luis Fernandez, MD, University of Wisconsin
Jenny Gumperz, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Michelle Kimple, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Lingjun Li, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Matthew Merrins, PhD, University of Wisconsin
James A Thomson, PhD, VMD, University of Wisconsin
Extramural Collaborators
Danwei Huangfu PhD, Associate Professor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center