Garrett Beeghly

About Me

I grew up in Charlottesville, VA and completed my Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. After graduating, I moved to the United Kingdom where I worked as a research fellow at the University of Cambridge. Now, I am a PhD candidate in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell. My graduate thesis aims to understand how changes to mammary adipose tissue (i.e., fat tissue) in obesity impact breast cancer risk and prognosis. More broadly, I am interested in how environmental cues integrate across length scales, from local tissue remodeling to systemic changes in immunity and metabolism, to shape cancer outcomes. More details can be found in my CV.

Outside of the lab, I enjoy baking pastries, making drip coffee, hiking in new places, and spending time with my family, friends, and cat.

Positions

Institution: Cornell University
Position: Graduate Research Assistant
Date: August 2018 – Present
Advisor: Claudia Fischbach, PhD
Description: Examined the role of mammary adipocytes as biophysical regulators of obesity-associated breast cancer invasion.

Institution: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Position: Visiting Scientist
Date: June 2023
Advisor: Jochen Guck, PhD
Description: Assessed the mechanical properties of primary adipocytes via Brillouin microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

Institution: New York–Presbyterian Hospital
Position: NIH T35 Trainee
Date: June 2019 – July 2019
Advisor: Jason Spector, MD
Description: Compared the extracellular matrix composition of mammary adipose tissue across patient demographics including age, ethnicity, and body mass index.

Institution: University of Cambridge
Position: Whitaker Research Fellow
Date: August 2017 – July 2018
Advisor: Jacqueline Shields, PhD
Description: Developed an ex vivo model of the tumor-draining lymph node via microfluidic-based culture of organotypic tissue slices.

Institution: University of Virginia
Position: Undergraduate Research Assistant
Date: March 2015 – May 2017
Advisor: Jennifer Munson, PhD
Description: Designed tissue-engineered models of glioblastoma and breast cancer based on quantitative histology of patient tumor samples.

Publications

For an up-to-date list of my publications, please see my Google Scholar.

GF Beeghly, JC Crowley, J Deng, MI Pincus, DJ Falcone, NM Iyengar, C Fischbach. (2024). Membrane tension facilitates vesicle-mediated lipid release by hypertrophic adipocytes to reprogram tumor cell metabolism and promote cancer progression. In preparation.

GF Beeghly, J Deng, C Fischbach. (2024). Elastomer microwells for three-dimensional culture and high-resolution imaging of primary adipocytes. STAR Protocols. DOI.

Y Zheng, D Wang, GF Beeghly, C Fischbach, MD Shattuck, CS O’Hern. (2024). Computational modeling of the physical features that influence breast cancer invasion into adipose tissue. APL Bioengineering. DOI.

GF Beeghly,* AA Shimpi,* RN Riter, C Fischbach. (2022). Measuring and modeling tumor heterogeneity across scales. Nature Reviews Bioengineering. DOI.

RC Cornelison,* JX Yuan,* KM Tate, A Petrosky, GF Beeghly, M Bloomfield, SC Schwager, AL Berr, D Cimini, FF Bafakih, JW Mandell, BW Purow, BJ Horton, JM Munson. (2022). A patient-designed tissue-engineered model of the infiltrative glioblastoma microenvironment. npj Precision Oncology. DOI.

GF Beeghly,* K Amofa,* C Fischbach, S Kumar. (2022). Regulation of tumor invasion by the physical microenvironment: Lessons from breast and brain cancer. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering. DOI.

GF Beeghly, CF Thomas, JX Yuan, AR Harris, JM Munson. (2022). Designing patient-driven, tissue-engineered models of primary and metastatic breast cancer. Bioengineering. DOI

L Ling, JA Mulligan, Y Ouyang, AA Shimpi, RM Williams, GF Beeghly, BD Hopkins, JA Spector, SG Adie, C Fischbach. (2020). Obesity-associated adipose stromal cells promote breast cancer invasion through direct cell contact and matrix remodeling. Advanced Functional Materials. DOI

DK Logsdon, GF Beeghly, JM Munson. (2017). Cancer cell response to doxorubicin depends on stromal fibroblast ratios and interstitial therapeutic transport. Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.   DOI

Training

Institution: Cornell University
Position: Center for Teaching Innovation Fellow
Date: Fall 2021 – Spring 2023
Description: In 2021, I received a Center for Teaching Innovation Fellowship to deepen my own understanding of effective teaching practices and share this knowledge with other graduate students and postdocs by facilitating university-wide workshops. I returned to the program in 2022 as a lead fellow.

Courses

Institution: Yale University
Term: Fall 2021 – 2023
Course: Physical Biology Integrated Workshop (MBB 591)
Instructor: Corey O'Hern, PhD
Description: I provided a 75-minute guest lecture to prime first-year graduate students on cancer classification, pathogenesis, and clinical management with a specific focus on breast cancer. In the following class, students applied this information to simulate tumor invasion via discrete element method modeling.

Institution: Cornell University
Term: Fall 2020
Course: Lab Techniques for Molecular, Cellular, and Systems Engineering (BME 4190)
Instructor: Shivaun Archer, PhD and Claudia Fischbach, PhD
Description: I served as the primary teaching assistant for this course, which introduced students to common biomedical labatory techniques including cell culture, RT-qPCR, flow cytometry, viral transfection, hydrogel fabrication, bulk RNA sequencing, immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopy. My responsibilities included preparing reagents for lab, demonstrating proper lab technique and safety, holding office hours, evaluating lab reports, and writing and grading exams.

Institution: University of Virginia
Term: Summer 2016
Course: Integrative Design and Experimental Analysis Lab (BME 3080)
Instructor: Timothy Allen, PhD
Description: I served as the primary teaching assistant for the summer session of this course, which introduced students to common biomedical labatory techniques including cell culture, RT-qPCR, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and tensile testing of biological materials. My responsibilities included preparing reagents for lab, demonstrating proper lab technique, holding office hours, and grading exams.

Community
Partnership

Outside of lab, I am involved with the Cornell Cancer Community Partnership, which aims to connect cancer researchers at Cornell with cancer patients and survivors in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. As part of this partnership, I presented at the 2019 and 2022 Cancer Research Education Days, where I introduced key concepts in cancer research to over 40 cancer patients and survivors in non-technical language.

Science
Communication

Throughout my academic career, I have engaged in various forms of science communication. Many of these efforts included K–12 outreach by partnering with organizations such as the Ithaca Sciencenter, Cornell Graduate Student Outreach Program, and the Biomedical Engineering Society. By developing hands-on activities with these programs, I aimed to encourage K–12 students, especially those in underserved communities, to become excited about opportunities in STEM.

Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion

As a graduate student, I am dedicated to advocating for change that increases access to academia. At Cornell, I am a member of the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering's diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Moreover, I am an openly queer scientist commited to mentorship. If you are an LGBTQ+ individual in STEM and would like to chat about graduate programs, fellowship applications, or career opportunities, please reach out to me via email or on social media.

Curriculum Vitae

Please find the latest version of my CV attached here. Updated August, 2024.

Contact

155 Weill Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7202

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