Profile

Kacey G. Marra

Associate Professor

Bio

Kacey G. Marra, PhD, is an associate professor in the Departments of Plastic Surgery (primary) and Bioengineering (secondary) at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a core faculty member in the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, where she has served as a member of the Executive Committee since 2004. After earning her PhD in organic chemistry in 1996 from the University of Pittsburgh, she was a postdoctoral fellow for Elliot Chaikof at Emory University. Following four years as a research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University conducting bone tissue engineering research, Kacey became the director of the Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh in 2002. Dr. Marra has a publication record of over 130 peer-reviewed articles in the area of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, including a landmark paper that was among the first to examine the effects of adipose stem cells in peripheral nerve gaps. Dr. Marra has presented or co-authored more than 500 abstracts. Dr. Marra has served as principal investigator on NIH, NSF, and DoD grants in the area of regenerative medicine, and she also has both industry and foundation support. Her laboratory consists of 25+ members, and she also co-directs the Adipose Stem Cell Center with Dr. J. Peter Rubin.