Martha Elena Diaz Hernandez
Martha Elena Diaz Hernandez is an instructor in the department of Orthopaedics at Emory School of Medicine. Academically, she is on the pathway toward independence, working closely with Director, of Emory Musculoskeletal Research Center, Dr. Hicham Drissi. Her broad area of interest is stem cell-based regenerative medicine, where she focuses on identifying adequate cells for musculoskeletal tissue repair such as cartilage, bone, and disc using animal models. She has extensive experience in pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, embryology, and cell differentiation. Her current publications include the derivation of mesenchymal progenitors from induced pluripotent stem cells, the derivation of notochordal-like cells from embryonic stem cells, the genetic mice model of Runx1 overexpression and its role in fracture repair, and intervertebral disc degeneration. She has multiple collaborations within the department where she is focusing on cartilage preservation to study the regenerative abilities of mesenchymal stem cells derived from iPSC using post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) model in rats.
Abstracts this author is presenting: