Sarah Elizabeth Gullbrand

Sarah Elizabeth Gullbrand is a Research Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and a Research Scientist at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center. She also directs the Research Shared Instrument Core at the VA Medical Center.

• Education: BS (Biomedical Engineering) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2009), PhD (Biomedical Engineering) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2014)
• Current Positions: Research Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania; Research Scientist, VA Medical Center

Her research focuses on musculoskeletal regeneration, particularly intervertebral disc degeneration, mechanical loading effects, and tissue engineering. She explores non-invasive imaging for spinal tissues, nutrient transport mechanisms, and scaffold-based repair strategies. Recent work includes CRISPRa upregulation of genes to enhance engineered disc properties and longitudinal studies of disc nutrition in animal models.

Scientific awards include the 2015 ISSLS Prize for Lumbar Spine Research in Bioengineering and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Her research is supported by VA Career Development Awards (CDA-1 and RR&D CDA-2), with publications featured in high-impact journals and media outlets like the Philadelphia Inquirer and Popular Science. She also contributes to educational outreach programs engaging high school students in orthopaedic research.