Design of a Zebrafish Swim Tunnel to Measure Cardiac Regenerative Capacity
Megan Martik, Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2026 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2026.
Ischemic heart disease and stroke are major drivers of cardiovascular disease mortality. In humans, cardiac injury leads to the formation of a fibrotic scar without replacement of cardiomyocytes. This reduces the heart’s ability to recover, irreversibly lowering an individual’s cardiovascular health. However, the regenerative capacity of the heart after injury is quite variable across species. While cardiac regeneration is limited to early embryonic development in humans, it is maintained through early postnatal life in mice and retained into adulthood in zebrafish. Understanding this divergence in regenerative capacity will improve the therapeutic strategies available for human cardiac regeneration, a pressing need given an aging US population.
Our research uses zebrafish models with gene expression reporters, lineage tracers, and cell specific ablation constructs to understand the gene regulatory networks guiding how their hearts regenerate. The addition of a swim test to measure zebrafish cardiac performance will complement our genetic approaches and improve our understanding of the cardiac function in these regenerating hearts. While large swim tunnels are available from commercial vendors, they are costly and not fit for our purpose. The goal of this URAP project is to design, build, and validate a benchtop-sized swim tunnel for zebrafish phenotypic screens.
Role:
The student will first be tasked with reviewing existing systems and preliminary drafting of a simplified swim tunnel. This will involve literature review, engineering design, and protocol development. After consultation with the lab group, and alongside your mentor, the student will proceed with final design and building of a benchtop system. There will also be opportunities for the student to learn and apply scientific programming to automate image capture and analysis within the swim tunnel (coding experience is helpful but not required). The student may also contribute to zebrafish care and husbandry if interested, and there is potential for learning additional imaging and molecular biology methods according to interest.
Students will interact directly with their mentor, Dr. Brad Hansen, for day-to-day tasks and will meet with Dr. Martik weekly to discuss research progress.
Qualifications: We are looking for a committed and focused student with an interest in bioengineering and regenerative biology. The ideal candidate for this position would have genuine interest and curiosity in the questions being investigated in the laboratory, and a clear vision for how a URAP experience will contribute toward their own career goals. It is very important that they take lab research seriously and have the time to commit to the project.
MCB, BioE, or IB Major – Required
Bio 1A – Required
Genetics 104 or 140 – Highly desirable but not essential
Biochemistry 102 or equivalent (e.g., C110) – Highly desirable but not essential
Developmental Biology 141 – Desirable but not essential
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Brad Hansen, Post-Doc
Hours: 12 or more hours
Related website: www.martiklab.org
Biological & Health Sciences