Boston University Medical Campus
CityLab

Meet the CityLab Staff

Founder of CityLab, Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry

Carl Franzblau has been a faculty member of Boston University School of Medicine for more than 50 years. His research involved the study of extracellular matrix proteins, collagen and elastin and the role they play in the pathogenesis pf disease. He has been the Principal Investigator of several large program projects involving the response of the lung to injury. He studied animal and cell culture models as well as conducting studies in the clinic. As the PI, it was his responsibility to oversee all aspects of these projects.

In the early 1990s, when Carl was the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Sciences, he had an epiphany that our nation needed better-trained students to enter our graduate programs and become the next generation of biomedical scientists. In that spirit, he created CityLab with SEPA support in 1991 to give middle and high school students and teachers an opportunity to experience real scientific investigations. He has served as the PI on all of CityLab’s SEPA awards since that time and has dedicated himself to STEM education for the latter half of his career.

Carl conceived of the original mobile science laboratory concept in the mid-1990s and the MobileLab “hit the road” in 1998. This is just one example of the pedagogical innovations that have emanated from CityLab and had a transformative impact on STEM education. The MobileLab has served hundreds of thousands of students and teachers since its debut and now mobile labs for STEM education are found all over the U.S. and abroad (India, Hong Kong, Israel, Qatar, Jordan, Australia, among others).

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Director Research Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry Clinical Associate Professor, School of Education

Don DeRosa has been at CityLab since the program began in 1992. He has several years of teaching experience at both the pre-college and college level. Since 1984, he has taught biology, chemistry and Earth science to students in grades 7-12, Anatomy and Physiology at Mass Bay Community College and science education courses at Bridgewater State College.  Don has also presented many teacher workshops in biotech education in both the U.S. and Europe. In addition to his responsibilities at CityLab, he is the Director of Science Educations at the School of Education where he teaches science teaching methods to pre-service teachers. Don is co-author of Teaching Children Science: A Discovery Approach.

Don has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Vermont, an M.Div. from St. John’s Seminary, an M.A.T. in Science Education and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University.

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Administrator

Patty comes to CityLab with a wealth of experience. As past executive director of the Hyde Community Center, and as past member of the Newton School Committee, she is instrumental in the smooth operation of CityLab.

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CityLab Science Educator and Laboratory Manager

Mark is a cell biologist and educator with extensive experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, gene expression, and bioinformatics. With technical expertise leading to co-authorship on peer-reviewed scientific publications, he has been known as the “transfection go-to-guy”, “master of the screaming riboprobe”, and has cloned a wide assortment of DNA mutants. As an educator, Mark earned the M.Ed. degree, and certification in Middle School Science. He has developed inquiry-based curricula teaching eighth grade biology, chemistry, and astronomy.  Prior to joining CityLab, Mark worked as a Teacher/Naturalist at the Mass Audubon Society engaging younger children in the exploration of nature and science. His passion is teaching hands-on science and math to kids, sparking curiosity, destroying misconceptions, while allowing them to realize that it’s ok to like science.

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Director of Research

Carla joined the CityLab team in 2000 to combine her passions for science, education, and business. She first entered a research laboratory through a National Science Foundation Student Science Training Program while a high school student in New York. One day after her high school graduation, she began work in a cancer research laboratory in NY, an experience that ultimately influenced her career path. She spent summer and winter vacations during her college years investigating the roles of viruses and biochemical modulators in cervical cancer. After graduating from Tufts University with degrees in electrical engineering and Spanish, she began a long graduate school path that included studies at Dartmouth College (Masters in Biomedical Engineering) and University of Rochester (Masters of Business Administration). While in Rochester, Carla worked as an engineer for a surgical laser start-up company that designed devices to facilitate minimally invasive surgical procedures. She then decided to return to school to study cancer biology and earned her D.Sc. from Harvard University in 2000.

Carla has a long-standing interest in education. During the past 13 years, she has helped thousands of students to prepare for standardized entrance exams at all levels and has volunteered for several programs that encourage women to study science and engineering. She is now running Symmetry Learning, a company that develops and markets an innovative inquiry-based science education program for grades K-8.

Carla enjoys fine dining and traveling.

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