Kristin M. Fischer

Dr. Kristin M. Fischer serves as Associate Professor of Biology at Hampden-Sydney College, teaching core courses including Principles of Biology with Lab, Anatomy & Physiology, Histology, and Tissue Engineering from her office in Pauley Hall 204.

Her academic foundation includes:

• B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech
• M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences
• Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences

Research focuses on skeletal muscle regeneration through advanced biomaterials development, specializing in electrospun and hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Her lab investigates concussion modeling mechanisms and histological analysis techniques, with student projects exploring myotube formation enhancement, 3D scaffold fabrication, and protein-based maturation assessment. This work bridges biomedical engineering principles with biological systems to address regenerative medicine challenges.

Publication trends from 2014-2016 reveal concentrated expertise in cardiac and skeletal muscle scaffold design, emphasizing hierarchical pore architectures, photocurable elastomers, and scalable tissue construction methods. Her collaborative work with Virginia Tech and Wake Forest researchers demonstrates strong interdisciplinary approaches to biomaterials innovation within regenerative medicine.

Dr. Fischer actively mentors undergraduate researchers through hands-on projects in tissue engineering, with ongoing work examining conductive scaffolds, concussion biomechanics, and histological validation techniques. Her collaborations extend to prominent institutions including MIT (Robert Langer's lab) and Harvard-affiliated research centers.