Dr. Brooke Tornifoglio

Assistant Professor, Mechanical, Manuf & Biomedical Eng

Biography

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Brooke graduated from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA with a BSc in Biomedical Engineering and Minor in Electronics and Systems in May 2017. After her undergraduate degree, she moved to Dublin to complete her MSc in Bioengineering at Trinity College Dublin. Here, she finished with Honours and came joint-first in class for her research `Non-Invasive Characterisation of the Intervertebral Disc Microenvironment through Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Finite Element Analysis' in August 2018. Brooke then started her PhD in Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin and her work `An investigation into diffusion tensor imaging-derived metrics in arterial tissue as biomarkers for disease progression, plaque rupture and graft recellularisation" has been recognised nationally and internationally by numerous awards. In September 2022 she started a post doctoral position aiming to translate magnetic resonance quantitative susceptibility mapping at the carotid arteries to the clinic for in vivo imaging. In July 2023, Brooke started as an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering here at Trinity College Dublin. Brooke's work aims to bridge biomedical engineering and the clinic, with a particular focus on investigating imaging methodologies which capture the microstructure and microenvironment of tissue in the context of biomechanics and device design.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Brooke Tornifoglio, Alan J. Stone, Robert D. Johnston, Salmon S. Shahid, Christian Kerskens, Caitriona Lally, Diffusion tensor imaging and arterial tissue: establishing the influence of arterial tissue microstructure on fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity and tractography, Scientific Reports, 2020Journal Article, 2020, TARA - Full Text
Alan J. Stone, Brooke Tornifoglio, Robert D. Johnston, Karin Shmueli, Christian Kerskens, Caitríona Lally, Quantitative susceptibility mapping of carotid arterial tissue ex vivo: assessing sensitivity to vessel microstructural composition, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 86, 2021, p2512 - 2527Journal Article, 2021, DOI
Tornifoglio B., Johnston R.D., Stone A.J., Kerskens C., Lally C., Microstructural and mechanical insight into atherosclerotic plaques: an ex vivo DTI study to better assess plaque vulnerability, Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2023Journal Article, 2023, DOI , TARA - Full Text
Tornifoglio B., Stone A.J., Kerskens C., Lally C., Ex Vivo Study Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Identify Biomarkers of Atherosclerotic Disease in Human Cadaveric Carotid Arteries, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 42, (11), 2022, p1398 - 1412, p1398-1412Journal Article, 2022, DOI , TARA - Full Text
B Tornifoglio, A. J. Stone, P. Mathieu, E. Fitzpatrick, C. Kerskens, C. Lally, Exploring DTI-derived metrics to non-invasively track recellularisation in vascular tissue engineering, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
E. Fitzpatrick, R. Gaul, C. Smekens, P. Mathieu, B. Meehan, B. Tornifoglio, P.A. Cahill, C. Lally, A short-term decellularisation technique for porcine carotid arteries that conveys a structural stimulus to cells, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
Ruth E. Levey, Brooke Tornifoglio, Alan J. Stone, Christian Kerskens, Scott T. Robinson, Fergal B. Coulter, Robert Bagnall, Raymond O"Connor, Eimear B. Dolan, Peter Dockery, Gabriella Bellavia, Stefania Straino, Francesca Cianfarani, Paul Johnson, Eoin O"Cearbhaill, Caitríona Lally, Garry P. Duffy, Towards a Whole Sample Imaging Approach Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging to Examine the Foreign Body Response to Explanted Medical Devices, Polymers, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
Brooke Tornifoglio, Alan J. Stone, Pattie Mathieu, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christian Kerskens, Caitriona Lally, Measuring Vascular Graft Cellularity Non-Destructively: Merging Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Tissue Engineering, Advanced Materials Technologies, 2023Journal Article, 2023
Shahid SS, Johnston RD, Smekens C, Kerskens C, Gaul R, Tornifoglio B, Stone AJ, Lally C, Exploring arterial tissue microstructural organization using non-Gaussian diffusion magnetic resonance schemes., Scientific reports, 2021Journal Article, 2021, DOI
Michael R Squillante, Thomas Jüstel, R Rox Anderson, Charles Brecher, Daniel Chartier, James F Christian, Nicholas Cicchetti, Sara Espinoza, Daniel R McAdams, Matthias Müller, Brooke Tornifoglio, Yimin Wang, Martin Purschke, Fabrication and characterization of UV-emitting nanoparticles as novel radiation sensitizers targeting hypoxic tumor cells, Optical Materials, 80, 2018, p197 - 202Journal Article, 2018
Angelica S Federici, Brooke Tornifoglio, Caitríona Lally, Orquidea Garcia, Daniel J Kelly, David A Hoey, Melt electrowritten scaffold architectures to mimic tissue mechanics and guide neo-tissue orientation, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 150, 2024, p1 - 15Journal Article, 2024, DOI , TARA - Full Text
Kian F Eichholz, Pierluca Pitacco, Ross Burdis, Farhad Chariyev-Prinz, Xavier Barceló, Brooke Tornifoglio, Ryan Paetzold, Orquidea Garcia, Daniel J Kelly, Integrating Melt Electrowriting and Fused Deposition Modeling to Fabricate Hybrid Scaffolds Supportive of Accelerated Bone Regeneration, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 13, 2023, p1 - 14Journal Article, 2023
Matthew Laffey, Brooke Tornifoglio, Caitríona Lally, Development and Initial Characterisation of a Localised Elastin Degradation Ex Vivo Porcine Aortic Aneurysm Model, Applied Sciences, 13, (17), 2023Journal Article, 2023
Alice Hanly, Robert D Johnston, Claire Lemass, Ann Jose, Brooke Tornifoglio, Caitriona Lally, Phosphotungstic acid (PTA) preferentially binds to collagen- rich regions of porcine carotid arteries and human atherosclerotic plaques observed using contrast enhanced micro-computed tomography (CE-µCT), Frontiers in Physiology, 14, 2023Journal Article, 2023

Research Expertise

Description

The Biomedical Imaging and Biomechanics lab is a research laboratory based in Biomedical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. We are affiliated with the Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Biomedical Engineering Department and the Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering. Our focus is on discovering improved imaging-derived biomarkers to aid clinical decision making. By investigating imaging methods to characterise the underlying microstructure and microenvironment of tissues and linking these to experimental ground truths, we aim to bridge the gaps between imaging, biomechanics, device design and tissue engineering. In doing so, our research zeroes in on the clinical translation of preclinical findings.

Recognition

First place for Best Diffusion Talk at the Postgraduate meeting of The British and Irish Chapter of ISMRM 2020
First place for Best Presentation at the annual meeting of The British and Irish Chapter of ISMRM in Cardiff, Wales 2022
Trinity St. James's Cancer Institute Cancer Research Stimulus Awards 2024
Finalist for the Engineers Ireland Biomedical Research Medal at the 27th Annual Conference of the Section of Bioengineering of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland 2022
Second place for Best non-neuro oral presentation at MRFest21 at The British and Irish Chapter of ISMRM 2021
Recipient of the Student Support Grant at the 36th Annual Scientific Meeting of ESMRMB, Rotterdam, Netherlands 2019
First place for Best Cardiovascular Research Oral Presentation (mature researcher category), at the 26th Annual Conference of the Section of Bioengineering of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland 2020
First place for Best Cardiovascular Research Oral Presentation (early researcher category), at the 25th Annual Conference of the Section of Bioengineering of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland 2019
Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund 2024
Recipient of the Women in STEM Conference Support Award by Cerenovus at the 11th European Solid Mechanics Conference at the National University of Ireland, Galway 2022
Nominated for the Trinity Teaching Award for Postgraduate Students 2021
Awarded Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship 2023

Member of European Mechanics Society
PRO of Engineers Ireland Academic Society
Member of European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
Member of European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology
Member of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Paper reviewer for ASME Journal of Engineering and Science in Medical Diagnostics and Therapy (JESMDT)
Paper reviewer for DOVE Medical Press
Paper reviewer for Advanced Materials Technologies
Paper reviewer for IEEE
Paper reviewer for Nonlinear Engineering Modeling and Application