Current Studies | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

A little heart bowl holds produce and sits on produce with a stethoscope.

The Castro Lab is currently conducting the following studies in the area of vascular health.

A man lays on an examination table while a doctor moves his leg.

Use of bioglass in vascular healing

This study investigates the vascular healing properties of a newly developed bioglass material. This novel material employs photochemical tissue bonding, triggering immediate covalent bonding of structural vascular proteins, thus promoting vascular healing.

A plate of low carb food sits on a table.

Effects of diet composition on vascular health

In this study, the lab investigates how the metabolic signatures of different diets (low-carb, ketogenic, vegan, and low-B vitamin) impact vascular health.

An MRI machine with a patient going into machine and a doctor using the machine's controls.

Developing contrast agents for atherosclerosis

This study contributes to developing a non-toxic MRI contrast agent for the early detection of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of vascular disease. The proposed contrast agent is based on ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles (USIONP) developed in the Adair Lab at Penn State.