{"id":5278,"date":"2026-05-13T15:01:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5278"},"modified":"2026-08-12T11:53:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:53:24","slug":"gabriela-de-lima-2","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/gabriela-de-lima-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriela De Lima"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/de-Lima-Gabriela-edited.jpg\" alt=\"by Corban Swain\" class=\"wp-image-5804\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;width:187px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/de-Lima-Gabriela-edited.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/de-Lima-Gabriela-edited-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Howard University<\/strong><br>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Ritu Raman<br>Research Supervisors: Giannka Picache, Ronald Heisser<br>Department: Mechanical Engineering<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gabriela de Lima is a rising second-year Mechanical Engineering student at Howard<br>University and a member of the Karsh STEM Scholars PhD pathway program. She is interested<br>in mobility research and is particularly curious about how wearable technology can improve the<br>quality of life for those with limited mobility. Gabriela\u2019s passion was inspired by her observations<br>of the physical demands placed on blue-collar workers in her community. At MIT, she is working in<br>the Raman Lab, prototyping a high-throughput optical stimulation system to exercise muscle tissue.<br>At Howard, Gabriela is actively involved in both academic and community initiatives. She is the<br>director of the mentorship program for the HU Society for Women, Engineering chapter, and the<br>producer of Radio Chango, the podcast for Howard\u2019s Afro-Latine student organization, where she<br>explores topics related to her cultural identity and community. Outside of academia, Gabriela finds<br>joy in creative expression through nail artistry and crocheting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Optical Stimulation System for Incubated Muscle Cell Cultures<br>Gabriela de Lima1, Giannka Picache2, Ronald Heisser Ph.D.2, Ritu Raman Ph.D.2<\/strong><br>1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Howard University<br>2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Skeletal muscle tissue possesses regenerative properties and an incredible force to<br>weight ratio, making it a promising avenue for biohybrid robot integration. Like native muscle,<br>in vitro developed muscles must be exercised during maturation to signal myogenic cells to<br>grow. In recent literature, optical stimulation (OS) has been identified as a less invasive<br>alternative to electrical stimulation for exercise. For the C2C12 cell line expressing<br>channelrhodopsin, blue light exposure enables contraction of the tissue with precise spatial<br>control, where isolated regions are stimulated. Currently, manual OS greatly extends<br>experiment durations, unnecessarily prolonging results. This project aimed to optimize a<br>previously developed light stimulation table to establish a robust automatic OS setup. The<br>device geometry was reconfigured to be compatible with 6-well plates, and the body was<br>re-machined using PETG-HF, a waterproof 3D print filament that can withstand incubator<br>conditions. An interface was developed for remote device control where users can specify light<br>intensity, frequency, duty cycle, and request individual well illumination. The development of<br>this device provides the lab with a reproducible setup for exercising tissue cultures. Wide-scale<br>adoption of this light table will establish a robust, customizable, and high-throughput method<br>to stimulate cell cultures, expediting muscle maturation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5590,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5278","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5805,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5278\/revisions\/5805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}