Anthony Aguilera

Anthony worked in the Dickerson Lab. His project was to find the best design for the cellular structure in myocardial tissue. More specifically, he designed and printed 3D structures and then tested them to see which most closely mirror the characteristics of an actual heart. Learn more about Anthony and his work below!

Briana Canet

Briana was an REU in the Agarwal Lab at FIU, researching biopolymer scaffolds for arranging cardiac cells. The following summer, she interned at Al-Farooq Corporation in Miami, FL focusing on coding.

Christian Cox

In the summer of 2022, Christian Cox participated in Dr. Darryl Dickerson’s Lab. During this time he assisted in tensile and indention testing of heart tissue. He also learned excel add-on “GCODE” to research and designate parameters for the lab’s 3D electro writing printer to ensure computer designs and actual prints are the same dimensions. […]

Antonio Martinez-Margolles

Antonio had two CELL-MET REU experiences. First he worked in the Bifano Lab at Boston University researching optics. Then, he work at the He Lab calibrating an Epi-Illumination Fluorescence Microscope with Piezo Stage that is meant for biological imaging the following summer.

Ishmael Ortiz-Stewart

In the summer of 2022, Ishmael Ortiz-Stewart completed his REU experience in Dr. Sharan Ramaswamy’s Lab at Florida International University. Since completing his research experience, he went on to earn a BS in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico.

Erika Pierre

Erika worked in the Ramaswamy Lab studying cardiovascular therapeutics. She research focused on the histology and mechanical testing of porcine heart ventricles. Learn more about Erika and her work below!

Roy Brooks Rivera

Roy was a CELL-MET REU for two summers. In 2018, Roy worked in the Lahann Lab learning about bio-polymer nanoparticle characterization and how pH can affect the physical properties of these to ensure biocompatibility with the oral environment and better understand design factors. The summer after, he worked in the PFL group with Dr. Agarwal […]

Daniel Santana

Daniel worked in the He Lab under the mentorship of Jing Guo. He focused on Gold NanoRod Synthesis and surface modification of these nanoparticles for Biosensing.

Farnoush Shafiei

In 2021, Farnoush Shafiei worked in the Agarwal Lab. During this time she focused on micro- and meso-mechanics of agarose hydrogels. More specifically, she conducted tensor testing and indentation testing of mechanical properties of a growth hydrogel of different concentrations. Learn more about Farnoush and her work below!

Melody Siles

Melody Siles participated in CELL-MET summer research experiences in 2018 and 2019. She worked in Dr. He’s lab at FIU and participated at the University of Michigan in Max Shtein’s lab with Steve Forrest as her mentor the following summer. She made a gold nanoparticle film on PDMS for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrates […]