Contact Information

Biography

Dr. Leda Klouda, assumed the role of Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of Undergraduate Research at Duquesne University in 2021. Prior to coming to Duquesne, she held teaching and research positions at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, Baylor College of Medicine & Texas Children’s Hospital, and Rice University.

Dr. Klouda is a distinguished scholar with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, her doctoral research being focused on the development of a thermally responsive hydrogel for craniofacial bone tissue engineering. Her scholarly pursuits extend to the realm of biomaterials and cardiovascular biology, where she investigates cell-material interactions and endeavors to advance cardiac tissue regeneration.

Within the academic community at Duquesne, Dr. Klouda oversees the Biomedical Engineering Capstone projects and actively collaborates on research endeavors related to cardiac cell mechanobiology. Beyond her academic roles, she contributes to the University Sustainability Committee as a member of the steering committee from 2023 to 2026 and participates in initiatives promoting Women In STEM.

Education

  • Ph.D., Bioengineering, Rice University
  • M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, National Technical University Athens

Areas of Expertise

  • Biomaterials
  • Tissue Engineering

School

About

Dr. Klouda has published 18 journal articles and 3 book chapters. Representative publications can be seen below:

  1. D. Mostert, I. Jorba, B. Groenen, R. Passier, M. Goumans, H. van Boxtel, N. Kurniawan, C.V.C. Bouten, L. Klouda, Methacrylated human recombinant collagen peptide as a hydrogel for manipulating and monitoring stifness-related cardiac cell behavior, iScience 26, 106423, 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106423
  2. D. Mostert D, B. Groenen B, L. Klouda, R. Passier, M. Goumans, N. Kurniawan, C.V.C. Bouten, Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes align under cyclic strain when guided by cardiac fibroblasts. APL Bioeng. 2022. Dec 20;6(4):046108. PMCID: PMC9771596
  3. L.Klouda, C.V.C. Bouten, K. Schenke-Layland, The Future of Tissue Engineering, Guest Editorial, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering 6, 2018, p. 3-4
  4. L. Klouda, Thermoresponsive hydrogels in biomedical applications. A seven-year update (Invited review article), European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 97, 2015, p. 338
  5. L. Klouda, K.R. Perkins, B.M. Watson, M.C. Hacker, S.J. Bryant, R.M. Raphael, F.K. Kasper, A.G. Mikos, Thermoresponsive, in situ crosslinkable hydrogels based on N-isopropylacrylamide: Fabrication, characterization and mesenchymal stem cell encapsulation, Acta Biomaterialia 7, 2011, p. 1460
  6. L. Klouda, M.C. Hacker, J. D. Kretlow, A.G. Mikos, Cytocompatibility evaluation of amphiphilic, thermally responsive and chemically crosslinkable macromers for in situ forming hydrogels, Biomaterials 30, 2009, p. 4558
  7. L. Klouda, C.M. Vaz, A. Mol, F.P.T. Baaijens, C.V.C. Bouten, Effect of biomimetic conditions on mechanical and structural integrity of PGA/P4HB and electrospun PCL scaffolds, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine 19, 2008, p. 1137
Google Scholar Profile
  • BMED 201 Biomedical Electronics & Instrumentation I
  • BMED 440 Biomedical Engineering Capstone I
  • BMED 441 Biomedical Engineering Capstone II
  • BMED 407/507: Polymers in Healthcare