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Melissa Skala

Melissa Skala

Carol Skornicka Chair
Professor
gscholar website
lab website

Dr. Skala’s lab develops biomedical optical imaging technologies for cancer research, cell therapy, and immunology. Current projects focus on tumor immunology and immunotherapy, cell-level metabolic heterogeneity, and cell-cell interactions. Collaborative projects leverage these unique photonics-based tools for clinical problems, including quality control in T cell and stem cell therapies, designing personalized treatment plans for cancer patients, monitoring diseases in the eye, discovering new therapies for a range of diseases, and many others. Projects are highly diverse and range from translational research to hypothesis-driven questions to algorithm / instrumentation development.

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Contact

3262, Morgridge Inst Research
330 N Orchard St
Madison, WI

  • PhD 2007, Duke University
  • MS 2004, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
  • BS 2002, Washington State University

  • Optical imaging
  • Tissue engineering
  • Cancer
  • Metabolism
  • Immunology and cancer immunotherapy
  • Machine Learning
  • High-throughput tool development
  • Cell-cell interactions
  • Cellular heterogeneity
  • Translational research

  • 2022 Morgridge Institute for Research, Carol Skornicka Chair in Biomedical Imaging
  • 2021 Retina Research Foundation, Daniel M. Albert Chair
  • 2019 AIMBE (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering), Fellow
  • 2019 Optica (formerly OSA, Optical Society of America), Fellow
  • 2019 SPIE (International society advancing light-based research), Fellow
  • 2019 UW Carbone Cancer Center , UW Carbone Cancer Center Ride Scholar
  • 2018 SPIE , Senior Member
  • 2018 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Innovation Award
  • 2016 National Science Foundation, CAREER Award - Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET)
  • 2010 NIH/NCI , NIH/NCI Pathway to Independence Award (K99 / R00)
  • 2007 National Institutes of Health, NRSA Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2004 Department of Defense, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Individual Predoctoral Fellowship
  • 2004 American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery competitive research grant

  • Samimi, K., Pasachhe, O., Guzman, E. C., Riendeau, J., Gillette, A. A., Pham, D. L., Wiech, K. J., Moore, D. L., & Skala, M. (2024). Autofluorescence lifetime flow cytometry with time-correlated single photon counting. Cytometry A.
  • Schiefelbein, A. M., Krebsbach, J. K., Taylor, A. K., Haimson, A. K., Varley, P. R., Skala, M., Eason, J. M., & LoConte, N. K. (2024). Same People, Different Results: Categorizing Cancer Registry Cases Across the Rural-Urban Continuum. WMJ, 123(2), 78--87.
  • Morrow, C. S., Gillette, A. A., Skala, M., & Moore, D. L. (2024). Classification of Neural Stem Cell Activation State In Vitro using Autofluorescence. J Vis Exp(206).
  • Cappabianca, D., Pham, D., Forsberg, M. H., Bugel, M., Tommasi, A., Lauer, A., Vidugiriene, J., Hrdlicka, B., McHale, A., Sodji, Q. H., Skala, M., Capitini, C. M., & Saha, K. (2024). Metabolic priming of GD2 TRAC-CAR T cells during manufacturing promotes memory phenotypes while enhancing persistence. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev, 32(2), 101249.
  • Morrow, C. S., Tweed, K., Farhadova, S., Walsh, A. J., Lear, B. P., Roopra, A., Risgaard, R. D., Klosa, P. C., Arndt, Z. P., Peterson, E. R., Chi, M. M., Harris, A. G., Skala, M., & Moore, D. L. (2024). Autofluorescence is a biomarker of neural stem cell activation state. Cell Stem Cell, 31(4), 570--581.e7.
  • Hoang, N., Liu, Y., Bates, P. D., Heaton, A. R., Lopez, A. F., Liu, P., Zhu, F., Chen, R., Kondapelli, A., Zhang, X., Selberg, P. E., Ngo, V. N., Skala, M., Capitini, C. M., & Rui, L. (2024). Targeting DNMT3A-mediated oxidative phosphorylation to overcome ibrutinib resistance in mantle cell lymphoma. Cell Rep Med, 5(4), 101484.
  • Pham, D. L., Gillette, A. A., Riendeau, J., Wiech, K., Guzman, E. C., Datta, R., & Skala, M. (2024). Perspectives on label-free microscopy of heterogeneous and dynamic biological systems. J Biomed Opt, 29(Suppl 2), S22702.
  • Fidalgo, D. S., Samimi, K., Oyen, M. L., Skala, M., Jorge, R. M., Parente, M. P., Malanowska, E., Oliveira, D. A., & Myers, K. M. (2023). Development of a multilayer fetal membrane material model calibrated using bulge inflation mechanical tests. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater, 150, 106344.
  • Ayuso, J. M., Farooqui, M., Virumbrales-Mu~noz, Mar'ia,, Denecke, K., Rehman, S., Schmitz, R., Guerrero, J. F., Sanchez-de-Diego, C., Campo, S. A., Maly, E. M., Forsberg, M. H., Kerr, S. C., Striker, R., Sherer, N. M., Harari, P. M., Capitini, C. M., Skala, M., & Beebe, D. J. (2023). Author Correction: Microphysiological model reveals the promise of memory-like natural killer cell immunotherapy for HIV± cancer. Nat Commun, 14(1), 7292.
  • Ayuso, J. M., Farooqui, M., Virumbrales-Mu~noz, Mar'ia,, Denecke, K., Rehman, S., Schmitz, R., Guerrero, J. F., Sanchez-de-Diego, C., Campo, S. A., Maly, E. M., Forsberg, M. H., Kerr, S. C., Striker, R., Sherer, N. M., Harari, P. M., Capitini, C. M., Skala, M., & Beebe, D. J. (2023). Microphysiological model reveals the promise of memory-like natural killer cell immunotherapy for HIV($pm$) cancer. Nat Commun, 14(1), 6681.

  • B M E 399 - Independent Study (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • BIOLOGY 699 - Directed Studies (Spring 2025)
  • PATH 990 - Research (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 200 - Biomedical Engineering Design (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 300 - Biomedical Engineering Design and Leadership (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 399 - Independent Study (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Fall 2024)
  • BIOLOGY 699 - Directed Studies (Fall 2024)
  • PATH 990 - Research (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 790 - Master's Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Summer 2024)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • PATH 990 - Research (Summer 2024)
  • B M E 399 - Independent Study (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • PATH 990 - Research (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 399 - Independent Study (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Summer 2023)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Summer 2023)