Dr. Rachelle Palchesko

Biography

Rachelle Palchesko received her B.S. in Biochemistry in 2006, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Provost’s Scholarship from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She obtained her Doctorate of Philosophy in Chemistry from Duquesne University in 2011, where she was advised by Dr. Ellen S. Gawalt. Following her Ph.D., Rachelle was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) under the mentorship of Dr. Adam Feinberg. From 2013 to 2016, she worked exclusively in Dr. Feinberg's lab and was promoted to Special Faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CMU. Rachelle has taught courses on Engineering Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, focusing on the creation of biomimetic extracellular matrix-based materials. Her research primarily addresses the treatment of corneal blindness due to dysfunction of the corneal endothelium and involves engineering transplant quality corneal endothelium using cultured cells. Additionally, she is currently adapting cell injection technology for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis.

Research Interests

Awards