Biography
Dr. Brittany A. Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at FIU. Prior to joining FIU, Dr. Gonzalez worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Katherine Yutzey’s laboratory. She completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy at FIU and her B.S. at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Dr. Gonzalez’s lab investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying heart development and cardiovascular disease, with a particular focus on heart valve mechanobiology and tissue engineering. The lab aims to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop tissue engineering approaches to study and treat cardiovascular disease, with a focus on heart valve disease. She was awarded a prestigious grant, NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), where she will be investigating the role of matrifibrocytes in a fibrotic-like response during myxomatous heart valve disease progression.
Awards & Honors
- 2025, NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), NIH, NHLBI
- 2023, American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, USA
- 2023, NIH F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH, NHLBI
- 2021, NIH T32 Institutional Training Grant
- 2020, Dissertation Year Fellowship, Florida International University
- 2018, McKnight Doctoral Affiliate, Florida International University
- 2016, NSF Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship Awardee, Florida International University
Education
- PhD, Florida International University, Biomedical Engineering, 2020
- B.S, Georgia Institute of Technology, Biomedical Engineering, 2015