Jada Okaikoi is a junior majoring in biomedical engineering. Okaikoi is part of the Maximizing Access to Research Careers program at the University, which provides paid research opportunities for students who intend to pursue a Ph.D., an M.D. or an M.D./Ph.D.
Okaikoi moved to Las Vegas in 2017 and participated in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or JROTC. After graduating from high school in 2019, Okaikoi attended West Point, where she participated in a research lab using 3D bioprinting. Shortly after she started working in the lab, COVID-19 hit, and when the campus reopened, Okaikoi found that her faculty mentor had left West Point. She then worked in a lab that studied collection methods of foodborne pathogen data from military commissaries. Okaikoi worked in that lab for a year before transferring to the University of Nevada, Reno.
When Okaikoi started at the University, her first priority was to find research opportunities. She reached out to multiple faculty members until she found a faculty member whose research combined 3-D bioprinting and live cells and tissues and joined Dr. Heather Burkin’s lab.
The Burkin lab is based in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Nevada, Reno’s School of Medicine. Burkin’s lab is focused on identifying methods to prevent preterm labor and relies on uterine tissue donations from patients who are giving birth by C-section.
Okaikoi is part of an effort to develop a 3D bioprinted uterine tissue model that will allow researchers to screen drugs without being reliant on human tissue donations. The current tissue model developed by the lab is not strong enough to use for detailed contractile measurements.
“My project is to increase the tensile strength of the 3D bioengineered tissues,” Okaikoi said.
Okaikoi will explore the use of biomaterials like fibrin to strengthen the bioprinted tissue. Okaikoi will incorporate fibrinogen, a fibrin precursor, into the bio-ink. Then she will incubate the bioprinted tissues in a special media that contains thrombin to promote the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin threads. Then Okaikoi will compare fibrin-containing tissues to the current model to see if there are improvements in tensile strength and contractility.
“In my opinion, our lab is the greatest lab of all time,” Okaikoi said. She added that the people she works with provide great feedback that has allowed her to grow as a researcher.
“They will they walk you through everything, and then they make sure that you're confident enough to do it by yourself,” Okaikoi said.
Okaikoi plans to pursue a Ph.D. and wants to continue to study tissue engineering with an emphasis on biomaterials development.
“My hope is that I can study biocompatible biomaterials that can be incorporated into 3D bioprinting to make it easier for other researchers who want to use bioprinting as a tool to do experimental studies,” Okaikoi said. “I feel immensely lucky, because not only did I find a great lab, I found great supporting opportunities, like MARC and McNair Scholars and the Undergraduate Research office."
Okaikoi said the skills she learned at West Point have helped her stay on top of her work at the University. Having supportive lab mentors helps her prioritize her schoolwork, she said. The stipend provided to MARC students has also made a difference for Okaikoi.
“It’s a relief you don’t have to have a job if you don’t want to,” Okaikoi said. “It’s amazing.”
On top of being part of MARC and the McNair Scholars programs, Okaikoi is an Honors student and president of the Tau Mu chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., one of nine historically Black Greek organizations, and serves as the Nevada State Facilitator of the far west region for her sorority.
“I do want to thank everybody in the MARC program for all the work and effort they went through to have it established on campus and all the work they do to try and get that money to us,” Okaikoi said. She also thanks Heather Burkin and Craig Ulrich for their mentorship, Jason Ludden for telling her about MARC, and her mom.
“I think anyone interested in a career in research or medicine should apply!” Okaikoi said of the program.
