Melissa Skala, PHD

Pubmed

Member of the SCRMC Stem Cell Bioengineering Focus Group

Research Description:

Our goal is to develop optical imaging technologies and quantitative single-cell analysis to understand stem cell behavior, monitor and test engineered tissues. Our techniques are non-invasive and do not require labeling. Current technologies specifically monitor single-cell metabolism, microvessel morphology and blood flow, blood oxygenation, collagen content and architecture, and dynamic interplay between epithelial, stromal, and immune cells. We are particularly interested in organotypic cultures derived from primary human tissues for high-throughput drug screening, especially in cancer.

Selected References:

• Pham DL, Cappabianca D, Forsberg MH, Weaver C, Mueller KP, Tommasi A, Vidugiriene J, Lauer A, Sylvester K, Lika J, Bugel M, Fan J, Capitini CM, Saha K, Skala MC. Label-free metabolic imaging monitors the fitness of chimeric antigen receptor T cells. Nat Biomed Eng. 2026 Apr;10(4):785-802. PMID: 40958004
• Datta R, Miskolci V, Gallego-López GM, Britt E, Gillette A, Kralovec A, Giese MA, Qian T, Votava J, Zhao W, Fan J, Huttenlocher A, Skala MC. Single cell autofluorescence imaging reveals immediate metabolic shifts of neutrophils with activation across biological systems. Front Immunol. 2025 Aug 7;16:1617993. PMID: 40852713
• Samimi K, Pasachhe O, Guzman EC, Riendeau J, Gillette AA, Pham DL, Wiech KJ, Moore DL, Skala MC. Autofluorescence lifetime flow cytometry with time-correlated single photon counting. Cytometry A. 2024 Aug;105(8):607-620. PMID: 38943226
• Walsh AJ, Mueller KP, Tweed K, Jones I, Walsh CM, Piscopo NJ, Niemi NM, Pagliarini DJ, Saha K, Skala MC. Classification of T-cell activation via autofluorescence lifetime imaging. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021; 5(1):77-88. PMCID: PMC7854821.
• Qian T, Heaster TM, Houghtaling AR, Sun K, Samimi K, Skala MC. Label-free imaging for quality control of cardiomyocyte differentiation. Nat Commun. 2021 Jul 28;12(1):4580. PMCID: PMC8319125