Rikki Rooklin

Rikki Rooklin is a 2nd year PhD student specializing in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) in the lab of Dr. Katrina Knight in the Translational Research Laboratories in Urogynecology (TRLU). 

Her research focuses on the cellular mechanistic changes in human uterine-derived smooth muscle cells in the context of uterine fibroids, a highly understudied gynecologic condition in which non-cancerous tumors develop within the myometrium of the uterus that effects nearly 77% of the female population prior to menopause. 

Given the limited models for studying uterine fibroid development, Rikki is investigating the biomechanics and biological mechanism underlying tumor formation and associated risk factors with the goal to develope uterus-in-a-dish model for translational research.

Rikki obtained her BE in Bioengineering from Hofstra University in 2019. During her time at Hofstra, she worked in the lab of Dr. Michael Dores. She used her background in tissue engineering to help develop blood-brain-barrier models in a dish to study the impact of Cryptoccous neoformans colonization and infection. She went on to obtain her MSc in Bioengineering at New York University in 2022. At NYU, her Master's work was done in the lab of Dr. Alesha Castillo where her research focused on interactions between mechanobiological cues and musculoskeletal systems, with consideration given at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels.

  • MSc, Bioengineering, New York University, 2020 - 2022
  • BE, Bioengineering, Hofstra University, 2015 - 2019

  • Mesentier-Louro, L.A., Goldman, C., Ndayisaba, A., Buonfiglioli, A., Rooklin, R.B., Schuldt, B.R., Uchitelev, A., Khurana, V., & Blanchard, J.W. (2025). Cholesterol-mediated Lysosomal Dysfunction in APOE4 Astrocytes Promotes α-Synuclein Pathology in Human Brain Tissue. In bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2025.02.09.637107.
  • Goldman, C., Suhy, N., Schwarz, J.E., Sartori, E.R., Rooklin, R.B., Schuldt, B.R., Mesentier-Louro, L.A., & Blanchard, J.W. (2023). Reconstruction of the Blood-Brain Barrier In Vitro to Model and Therapeutically Target Neurological Disease. J Vis Exp, (200), 10.3791/65921.MyJove. doi: 10.3791/65921.
  • Lee, H.H., Carmichael, D.J., Ríbeiro, V., Parisi, D.N., Munzen, M.E., Charles-Niño, C.L., Hamed, M.F., Kaur, E., Mishra, A., Patel, J., Rooklin, R.B., Sher, A., Carrillo-Sepulveda, M.A., Eugenin, E.A., Dores, M.R., & Martinez, L.R. (2023). Glucuronoxylomannan intranasal challenge prior to Cryptococcus neoformans pulmonary infection enhances cerebral cryptococcosis in rodents. In Del Poeta, M. (Ed.). PLoS Pathog, 19(4), e1010941.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010941.
  • Cabahug-Zuckerman, P., Liu, C., Atria, P., Cai, C., Fang, E., Qureshi, S., Rooklin, R., Ponce, C., Morocho, C., & Castillo, A.B. (2022). CXCL12 in late-stage osteoblasts and osteocytes is required for load-induced bone formation in mice. In bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2022.08.25.505279.
  • Lee, H.H., Carmichael, D.J., Ríbeiro, V., Parisi, D.N., Munzen, M.E., Hamed, M.F., Kaur, E., Mishra, A., Patel, J., Rooklin, R.B., Sher, A., Carrillo-Sepulveda, M.A., Eugenin, E.A., Dores, M.R., & Martinez, L.R. (2022). Glucuronoxylomannan intranasal challenge prior to Cryptococcus neoformans pulmonary infection enhances cerebral cryptococcosis in rodents. In bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2022.10.24.513461.
  • Gandhi, J., Jahan, I., Rooklin, R., Martinez, L., & Dores, M.R. (2020). The Cryptococcus neoformans capsule polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan induces endothelial barrier permeability via the phosphorylation and internalization of VE‐cadherin. The FASEB Journal, 34(S1), 1.Wiley. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06503.
headshot of Rikki Rooklin
Contact Rikki Rooklin
Researcher Graduate Student
Undergraduate Researcher
Bioengineering Department
RBR19@pitt.edu