SharePostdocs and Students
The following students, postdoctoral fellows and other affiliated scholars are participating in platform activities:
Faisal Aldaye
Lab: Pamela Silver
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.Sc. in Chemistry from Dalhousie University in 2002; Ph.D. in Bionanotechnology from McGill University in 2006
Research Interests: Developing a cancer vaccine using the fundamental principles of DNA Nanotechnology
Contact: faisal_aldaye@hms.harvard.edu
Erin M. Anderson
Lab: David Mooney
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. Bioengineering, University of Washington, 2006; Ph.D. candidate, Engineering Sciences, Harvard University
Research interests: Tissue engineering, recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells, polymer scaffolds
Contact: (617) 495-1689, eanders@fas.harvard.edu
Mohammad Reza Badrossamay
Lab: Kit Parker
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials and Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: M.Eng. Fiber Science and Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, 1999; Ph.D. Polymer and Fiber Science, University of California, Davis, 2008
Research Interests: Tissue Engineering, Biosensors, Biomaterial synthesis and processing
Contact: (617) 495-3206, mrbadros@seas.harvard.edu
Buz Barstow
Lab: Pamela Silver
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: Ph.D., Cornell University, 2009
Research Interests: Directed evolution of enzymes that function in novel environments and catalyze novel reactions
Contact: buz.barstow@wyss.harvard.edu
Michael Bucaro
Lab: Joanna Aizenberg
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics
Education: B.S. Engineering Physics, University of Virginia; Ph.D. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University
Research Interests: Smart biomaterials that utilize extreme nanotopography, matrix elasticity-directed cell differentiation, biomimetic systems, skeletal mineralization and biodetection
Contact: (617) 495-9727 (lab)
Otger Campas
Lab: Donald Ingber and L. Mahadevan
Platform: Biomimetic microsystems
Education: Ph.D. Physics (Biophysics), Institut Curie (Paris) and University of Barcelona ; B.S. Theoretical Physics, University of Barcelona
Research Interests: Role of physical forces in tissue morphogenesis; Interaction physical force and gene expression in development; Self-assembly of cells into tissues; Morphological variation
Contact: (617) 495-5854, ocampas@seas.harvard.edu
Lan Cao
Lab: David Mooney
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, China; Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle
Research Interests: Controlling Notch signaling in angiogenesis and stem cells
Contact: lcao@deas.harvard.edu
Bor-rong Chen
Lab: Radhika Nagpal and Matt Welsh
Platform: Anticipatory Medical Devices
Education: B.S. Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University, 2000; M.S. Computer Engineering, Tufts University, 2004; Ph.D. Computer Science, Harvard University, 2009
Research Interests: Network architecture, power management, and programming frameworks for distributed embedded sensor systems
Contact: (617) 496-4510, brchen@eecs.harvard.edu
Ratmir Derda
Lab: George Whitesides, Don Ingber
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.S. in Physics, Math and Biophysics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia, 2001; Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007
Research Interests: Three-dimensional culture of cells as model for tumor development, bacterial biofilms and organ assembly. Development of experimental model systems to investigate the role of molecular diffusion on cell function.
Contact: rderda@gmwgroup.harvard.edu
Yanan Du
Lab: Ali Khademhosseini
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.A. in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing; Ph.D. in Bioengineering from National University of Singapore, Singapore
Research Interests: Applications of microscale technologies in bottom-up tissue engineering and microfluidic systems for cell-based bio-sensing
Contact: du_yanan@mit.edu
Alexander Epstein
Lab: Joanna Aizenberg
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics
Education: B.S. Engineering, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; S.M. Applied Physics, Harvard University
Research Interests: Customizable high-aspect-ratio micro/nanostructures as sensors, actuators, special wettability and other smart surfaces; shape memory polymers; mechanically active and/or textured anti-biofouling surfaces; rapid application and scaling up of nanostructured surfaces; mechanical stability of sea sponge glass skeletons and applications to architecture
Contact: (617) 495-9727, alexepstein@gmail.com
Nikolai Eroshenko
Lab: George Church
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University; PhD student in School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University
Research Interest: High-throughput iPS generation
Contact: eroshenko@genetics.med.harvard.edu
Adam W. Feinberg
Lab: Kit Parker
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.A. Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University; Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida
Research Interests: Tissue engineering, microengineered surfaces and microfluidics
Contact: (617) 495-3130 office, (617) 495-4870 lab, feinberg@seas.harvard.edu
Elaine Gee
Lab: Donald Ingber and Collin Stultz
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. Physics, California Institute of Technology, 2004; Ph.D. candidate in Biophysics, Harvard University
Research Interests: Exploring protein mechanotransduction during extracellular matrix formation with mechanical molecular devices; Manipulating extracellular matrix properties using structured protein-DNA biomaterials to control cell behavior
Contact: gee@fas.harvard.edu
Kaustabh Ghosh
Lab: Donald Ingber
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India, 2001; Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2006.
Research Interests: To develop injectable biomaterials that can specifically home to target disease/injury sites in the body and selectively recruit stem/progenitor cells required for in situ tissue repair and regeneration
Contact: kaustabh.ghosh@childrens.harvard.edu
Franziska Graf
Lab: William Shih, Don Ingber
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.Sc. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Jacobs University, 2007; Ph.D. Candidate. Biological Sciences, Public Health, Harvard University
Research Interests: Developing artificial extracellular matrix material using DNA-protein hybrids
Contact: fgraf@fas.harvard.edu
Anna Grosberg
Lab: Kit Parker
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials and Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.Eng. Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2002; Ph.D. Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, 2008
Research Interests: Cardiac Mechanics, Cell Modeling, Heart Disease
Contact: (617) 495-3206, grosberg@seas.harvard.edu
Basma Hashmi
Lab: Donald Ingber
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution/Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Boston University 2008; Ph.D. candidate Bioengineering, Harvard University.
Research Interests: Identifying critical mechanical and chemical cues for organogenesis in order to reprogram adult stem cells or iPS cells for therapeutic tissue and organ engineering; developing a synthetic ECM scaffold that mechanically and chemically mimics epithelium-mesenchymal cell interactions at critical stages that trigger organogenesis
Contact: bhashmi@seas.harvard.edu
Umai Kanapathipillai
Lab: Donald Ingber
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: M.Sc. Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University; Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University 2008
Research Interests: Programmable biomimetic polymer scaffolds for organ development and cancer reversion
Contact: mathumai.kanapathipillai@childrens.harvard.edu
Joo H. Kang
Lab: Don Ingber
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.S. Chemical Engineering / Life Science, Sogang University, Korea, 2002; M.S. BioSystems, KAIST, Korea, 2004; Ph.D. Bioengineering, KAIST, 2008
Research Interests: Isolation of rare cells from blood for tumor and stem cell studies; microfluidics and microfabrication techniques for bio-applications; particle behaviors in microfluidic devices; cell mechanotransduction studies using artificial microenvironment
Contact: joohkang7@gmail.com
Hyun Jung Kim
Lab: Donald Ingber
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems Platform
Education: B.S. Biotechnology, Yonsei University, 1998; M.S. Biotechnology, Yonsei University, 2000; Ph.D. Biotechnology, Yonsei University, 2005
Experience: Postdoctoral scholar, Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, 2007-2009
Research Interests: Artificial intestine microsystems
Contact: hjkim@wyss.harvard.edu
Jaeyun Kim
Lab: David Mooney
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. Seoul National University, Chemical Engineering, 2001; M.S. Seoul National University, Chemical and Biological Engineering, 2003; Ph.D. Seoul National University, Chemical and Biological Engineering, 2007
Research Interests: Cancer vaccine using biodegradable polymer scaffold, immune adjuvant, cancer imaging and targeted drug delivery using nanoparticles
Contact: (617) 496-1940, jaeyun@seas.harvard.edu
Philseok Kim
Lab: Joanna Aizenberg
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics
Education: Ph.D. Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008
Research Interest: Stimuli-responsive soft materials for dynamic and reversible micro- and nano-scale pattern formation
Contact: (617) 495-9727 pkim@seas.harvard.edu
Netanel (Nati) Korin
Lab: Don Ingber
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 2008
Research Interests: Blood-tissue interactions in Cancer and atherosclerosis, 3D Gel microfluidic devices, Platelet-cancer cell interactions, gel rheology, flow modeling
Contact: netanel.korin@childrens.harvard.edu
Sriram Kosuri
Lab: George Church
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.S. Bioengineering U.C. Berkeley, 2001; Sc.D. Biological Engineering MIT, 2006
Research Interests: Genome Engineering & DNA Synthesis
Contact: skosuri@genetics.med.harvard.edu
Won Gu Lee
Lab: Ali Khademhosseini
Platform: Biomimetic microsystems
Education: B.S. control, M.S. mechatronics, Pusan National University; Ph.D. optofluidics from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
Research Interests: Cellular engineering for global health and future medicine: biomedical and optofluidic instrumentation of cell-based diagnostic and therapeutic systems
Contact: http://optofluidics.org
Hu Li
Lab: James Collins
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.S. Applied Mathematics, Jilin University; Ph.D. Computational Biology, National University of Singapore
Research Interests: Developing and applying systems biology approaches to studying nature and the underlying principles of complex biological systems, and to better understand how individual network components interact to generate specific biological functions on a global scale. Specifically, focusing on breast cancer, stem cells and neurodegenerative diseases
Contact: huli@bu.edu
Chenxiang Lin
Lab: William Shih
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. Chemistry, Peking University, 2004; Ph.D. Chemistry, Arizona State University, 2009.
Research Interest: Therapeutic drug delivery to cells enabled by DNA nanotechnology
Contact: Chenxiang_Lin@dfci.harvard.edu
Taylor Lloyd
Lab: Don Ingber
Platform: Anticipatory Medical Devices
Education: Sc.B. Materials Engineering, Brown University, 2001; M.D., Harvard Medical School, 2012
Research Interests: Biomechanics, Gait and Motion Analysis, Mechanical Design
Contact: Taylor_Lloyd@hms.harvard.edu
Mariko Matsunaga
Lab: Joanna Aizenberg
Education: B.S. Applied Chemistry, Waseda University, Japan, 2003; Ph.D. Nano-Science and Nano-Engineering, Waseda University, Japan, 2008
Research Interests: Self-assembly/dispersion and other controllable actuations of 3D micro- and nano-patterns, Appilcations of dynamic functionality imparted to the 3D micro (nano)-patterns, Chirality, and Interfacial chemistry and electrochemistry
Contact: (617) 495-9727, mmatsuna@seas.harvard.edu
Keith Pardee
Lab: Jim Collins
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.Sc., University of Alberta; M.Sc., University of British Columbia; Ph.D. candidate, University of Toronto
Research Interests: My research background is in protein biochemistry and the interaction of small molecules with biological systems. Using tools from synthetic biology and systems biology I am focusing on breast cancer, and the possibility of reverse-engineering cancer cells.
Contact: kpardee@bu.edu
Kirstin Hagelskjaer Petersen
Lab: Radhika Nagpal
Education: Electrotechnical Engineer, Odense University College of Engineering, Denmark; Studies of Renewable Energy Sources, Nordex, Finland; M.Sc in Moden Artificial Intelligence, University of Southern Denmark
Research interests: Electromechanical solutions to bio-inspired robotics design, in particular three-dimensional collective construction.
Contact: kirstin.petersen@wyss.harvard.edu
Michael Thomas Petralia
Lab: Robert Wood
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics, Anticipatory Medical Devices
Education: B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 2006; Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory, 2012
Research Interests: Designing and fabricating soft actuators, generators, and sensors from 3D dielectric elastomer (DE) films; Applying particle-spring mesh models to predict the conformation of DE and other soft actuation systems
Contact: petralia@seas.harvard.edu
Anna Laromaine Sagué
Lab: George Whitesides
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: Postdoctoral Research Prof. Stevens´ lab, Materials Department, Imperial College, London, UK; Ph.D. Chemistry, Materials Science Institut (ICMAB-CSIC), Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Research Interest: Development of new methodologies for detection of different analytes; bio-analytes using nanotechnology tools
Contact: alaromaine@gmwgroup.harvard.edu
Michael Sismour
Lab: George Church
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: Ph.D. Chemistry, The University of Florida; B.S. Microbiology and Cell Science, The University of Florida
Research Interests: Integrating biological and chemical technologies; development of chemical and artificial biological systems capable of evolution
Contact: msismour@genetics.med.harvard.edu
Catherine (Katie) Spina
Lab: Jim Collins
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.A. Chemistry: Biochemistry, Boston University, 2004; M.A Medical Science, Boston University School of Medicine, 2005; M.D./Ph.D. candidate at Boston University School of Medicine
Research Interests: Utilizing reverse-engineered gene networks to characterize stem cell development, breast carcinogenesis and identify targets that can be perturbed to regulate cancer
Contact: kspina@bu.edu
Hiroto Tanaka
Lab: Robert Wood
Platform: Biomimetic Microsystems
Education: B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Tokyo in 2003; M.Sc. in Mechano-Informatics from The University of Tokyo in 2005; Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology from The University of Tokyo in 2008
Research Interests: Aerodynamics of flapping wings of insects; Fabrication of insect-sized wings by micromolding
Contact: tanaka@seas.harvard.edu
Halil Tekin
Lab: Ali Khademhosseini
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. and M.S. Electrical Engineering Department - Control Engineering program, Istanbul Technical University (ITU), 2005 and 2007, respectively; Ph.D. student Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Research Interests: Focuses on biomaterials, microengineering 3D biomimetic tissue constructs, and high-throughput screening systems
Contact: Halil@MIT.edu
Ben Wang
Lab: Ali Khademhosseini
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.A. Chemical Engineering, Qufu Normal University; Ph.D. candidate in the Centre for Biomaterials and Biopathways of Zhejiang University, China
Research Interests: Single-cell manipulation, nanoparticles for drug delivery and biomineralization
Contact: benwang83@gmail.com
Zeev Waks
Lab: Pamela Silver
Platform: Biomaterials Evolution
Education: B.Sc. Biotechnology Engineering, Technion Institute of Technology
Research Interests: Single molecule imaging, mRNA metabolism, heterogeneity in cell populations; synthetic biology
Contact: zeevwaks@fas.harvard.edu
Ian Wheeldon
Lab: Ali Khademhosseini
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Queen's University, Canada,
1999; M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada,
2003; Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York.
Research Interests: self-assembled biomaterials; protein engineering directed towards biomaterials development; and high-throughput screening systems
Contact: iwheeldon@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Chih-Han Yu
Lab: Radhika Nagpal
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics
Education: B.S. Computer Science, National Taiwan University; M.S. Computer Science, Stanford University
Research Interests: Artificial Intelligence with applications in automation systems, Biologically-Inspired Robotics, Cooperation Control in Multi-Agent Systems, Self-Organizing Principles and Group Behaviors in Biology, Graph Theory and Dynamics, Machine Learning
Contact: chyu@fas.harvard.edu
Will Yuen
Lab: David Mooney
Platform: Programmable Nanomaterials
Education: B.A.Sc, University of Toronto, 2005; S.M. Harvard University, 2007; Ph.D. Harvard University, Expected 2010
Research Interests: Angiogenesis, drug delivery, transport phenomena, statistical inference
Contact: 617-495-1689; yuen@seas.harvard.edu
Lauren Zarzar
Lab: Joanna Aizenberg
Platform: Adaptive Architecture and Robotics
Education: B.A. Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania; B.S. Economics; Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; Ph.D. candidate, Chemistry, Harvard University
Research Interests: Responsive and reversible actuation of nano/microscale structured polymeric surfaces
Contact: zarzar@fas.harvard.edu