Rising Stars 2024 Winners

Mechanics of T Cell Migration and Plasma Membrane Accumulation at the Cytokinetic Furrow of Dividing Cells

^{Dr. Roberto Alonso-Matilla holds a B.S. degree in Engineering from the University of Valladolid (Spain), completed a post-baccalaureate program in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Yale University, and earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California San Diego. He served as a postdoctoral researcher in Chemical Engineering at Columbia University and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Alonso-Matilla’s research focuses on the biophysics of cancer and immune cell migration during cancer progression. By integrating biophysical modeling, computer simulations, and experimental approaches, he aims to expand current scientific understanding and apply both fundamental and applied science to tackle major challenges in cancer research, ultimately seeking novel solutions for cancer treatment. His research interests include cancer biophysics, immunobiophysics, mathematical biology, cell and molecular biology, mechanobiology, cell migration, cell division, cell volume regulation, immune cell activation, biotransport in tumors, and anti-tumor immunity.}  

Reimaging binding and sensing with machine learning-based protein design

^{Dr. Linna An is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington, with Prof. David Baker, focusing on computational small molecule and protein-interface design. She developed a deep learning-based pipeline for designing small molecule binders and sensors. She first developed a hallucination method, efficiently sampling diverse pocket-containing proteins poised for ligand binding, with collaborators. She then developed a deep learning-based pipeline using pocket-containing proteins, and successfully generated binders to various ligands, including polar and flexible ligands, for the first time. With collaborators, Linna easily converted the binders to sensors by connecting to signaling modules, including ligand-specific nanopore and chemical induced dimerization. Recently, Linna and team renovated the pipeline with the most recent diffusion-based method, and demonstrated its robustness with ligands binding and enzyme engineering. Prior to Postdoc, Linna received her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with Prof. Wilfred A. van der Donk and B.Sc at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). During her Ph.D., she used bioinformatics and identified new natural product antibiotics, produced them through metabolic engineering, and deciphered the enzymology of the novel biosynthetic enzymes.}

Targeted delivery of nanoparticles to hematopoietic stem cells

^{Dr. Tamara Dacoba’s research lies at the interface of materials design, engineering, understanding the disease, and patient care to develop innovative and translational drug delivery solutions. Tamara is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Hammond Lab at MIT, engineering drug delivery strategies to target hematopoietic stem cells. Through the rational design of systems and by characterizing the bio-nano interactions, she has tackled delivery challenges to achieve more effective approaches. Prior to that, she completed her Ph.D. in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology at Maria Jose Alonso’s Lab at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), focusing on exploiting nanoparticles as drug delivery systems for the modulation of the immune response, both for an HIV vaccine and immunotherapies in cancer. Part of her work on HIV was awarded by the Health Department of the Galician Government (Spain) in 2021. She graduated from the same university with a B.S in Pharmacy and a M.Sc. in Drug Research and Development, earning several excellence awards. Tamara is also committed to building an inclusive scientific community through mentoring and creating networking opportunities.} 

Probing life with photons: How optical imaging uncovers the hidden signature of biological systems.

^{Dr. Pu-Ting Dong is fascinated by the relationship between the microbiome and human health. Her curiosity had led her to integrate label-free chemical imaging, multiplex fluorescence in-situ imaging and microbiology to investigate host/microbe and microbe/microbe interactions at the single-cell level. Dr. Dong is currently an NIH/NIDCR K99 Postdoctoral Fellow, working under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Borisy, Dr. Xuesong He, and Dr. Wenyuan Shi at the ADA Forsyth Institute, a leading institute pioneering oral microbiology and immunology research. Pu-Ting earned her Ph.D. in 2020 from Boston University under the mentorship of Dr. Ji-Xin Cheng, who is most know for the development of chemical imaging techniques. Her scientific achievements include 14 first or co-first author papers and contributing to 14 more. Pu-Ting is the exclusive recipient (1/300) of the 2018 SPIE Photonics West Translational Research Award, as well as the recipient of 2024 SPIE QPC Lasers Young Investigator Best Paper Award, the Susan Kinder Haake Travel Award (2024 IADR Microbiology/Immunology session), and the Ned Lally Award (2nd place, Mini-Symposium for Young Investigators, 2024 IADR).}  

Microelectrode Arrays for Selective Peripheral Nerve Stimulation and a Machine Learning Tool to Improve Neuromodulation Safety

^{Dr. Rebecca Frederick is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon. Her postdoctoral research focuses on developing new implantable devices for small diameter peripheral nerves and developing open-source tools for the neural engineering research community. Current research projects include 2-photon based fabrication of implantable microelectrode arrays to facilitate neuroscience studies in small diameter nerves, and the development of machine learning models to guide the selection of neuromodulation parameter combinations and reduce instances of stimulation-induced tissue damage. Dr. Frederick earned her B.S.E. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University and earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Texas at Dallas. During her Ph.D., her research focused on multiple aspects of neural engineering including selective motor recruitment via peripheral nerve stimulation, tracking chronic in vivo performance of implanted devices, and electrochemical properties of neural interface microelectrodes. Dr. Frederick’s previous research demonstrated selective motor recruitment for 9.5 months with a wireless microelectrode array, and also established methods for optimizing activated iridium oxide films for neuromodulation applications.} 

Mapping Lung Histological Architecture to Uncover Scarring vs. Regenerative Motifs in Mice and Humans

^{Dr. Jason Guo is an NIH/NHLBI F32 Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University with Dr. Michael Longaker. His postdoctoral research focuses on mapping the histological architecture of the lungs during scarring vs. regenerative trajectories to identify divergent biological factors that drive these two processes. Jason received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering with Dr. Antonios Mikos at Rice University, where he developed new methods for the spatial patterning of tissue-specific biomaterials using click chemistry. Previously, Jason received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Jason’s work has been recognized by awards such as the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award, Society For Biomaterials Postdoctoral Recognition Award, and a departmental Outstanding Thesis Award. In his long-term career, Jason aspires to answer systems-biological questions about lung disease using a constantly evolving suite of bioengineering tools.} 

Neuroplasticity and early cochlear implant use

^{Dr. Ariel Edward Hight completed his undergraduate studies at Saint Louis University and his master’s degree at the University of Southern California, studying Biomedical Engineering and then Medical Device Engineering. He then pursued a PhD in Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Polley, where his dissertation focused on compensatory plasticity mechanisms within the auditory cortex following noise-induced hearing loss. Currently, Dr. Hight is a postdoctoral fellow at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, jointly in the laboratories of Dr. Robert Froemke and Dr. Mario Svirsky. His research investigates how central auditory pathways enhance speech perception following implantation and activation of cochlear implants, which are neuroprosthetic devices restore hearing in individuals with severe to profound hearing loss. To explore these mechanisms, Dr. Hight studies both human and rodent models of cochlear implant use, employing longitudinal psychophysical assessments and high-density neural recordings. His work is supported by the prestigious K99 MOSAIC award through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).} 

Matrix Damage Mimetic Biomaterials for Immunomodulatory Tissue Engineering

^{Dr. Alisa Isaac started her research training working on trauma-related preclinical models evaluating regeneration and rehabilitation at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research. She was then an NSF Graduate Research Fellow during her PhD at Texas A&M University, where she investigated the adaptive immune response to biomaterials (published in Nature Communications, 2024). Currently a post-doctoral fellow at The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic-Serving institution, Dr. Isaac is developing damaged extracellular matrix mimetic immunomodulatory materials for tissue regeneration through a research award from The UT System Trauma Research & Combat Casualty Care Collaborative. Dr. Isaac’s postdoctoral work has also included translational and tissue engineering research in examining the efficacy of drug delivery systems in large animal models and investigating mechanotransductive spatiotemporal changes in critical-sized bone defects. She is a SABER IRACDA scholar at UT Health San Antonio, where she received pedagogical training in partnership with local primarily undergraduate institutions and is engaged in community outreach for biomedical STEM education & recruitment.}  

Biomolecular Circuits for Gene Therapy

^{Dr. Noa Katz is a Stanford Science Fellow and an EMBO and Fulbright postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. She earned a doctorate at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and came to Stanford as a postdoctoral scholar in 2021. She pursues research at the intersection of engineering and the life sciences. Her dissertation focused on exploration of protein-RNA interactions through combining high throughput experimental methods with machine learning prediction algorithms. Currently, Katz implements syn-bio modules to create feedforward, feedback, and cell-type specific gene expression control for gene therapy, in a neuro-regeneration and brain-repair context. She regulates gene expression for dosage-sensitive brain-development genetic disorders. Additionally, she designs novel RNA sensors to create sense-and-respond “smart” circuits for cell type- and cell-state-specific manipulation of neurons and glia cells. Katz is also the recipient of the Weizmann Institute of Science-Israel National Postdoctoral Award for Advancing Women in Science.} 

High-Density, Soft, Bioelectronic Fibers for Minimally Invasive Sensing and Stimulation

^{Dr. Muhammad Khatib currently serves as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. He earned his BSc in Biochemical Engineering and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Technion, where his research spanned areas including bio-inspired materials and devices, sensors, electronic skins, and wearable electronics. His efforts have been recognized with multiple honors and awards, including the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship and a spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2021. At Stanford, Muhammad developed a strategy to create high-density, soft bioelectronic fibers as thin as a human hair for biomedical applications. This breakthrough could enable healthcare professionals to read signals and stimulate target regions within the human body in a minimally invasive manner. Muhammad is passionate about the intersection of materials engineering and bioelectronics. His goal is to invent, develop, and translate new technologies that will have a meaningful impact on human health and healthcare.}

Immunotherapy monitoring of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using MR molecular imaging

^{Dr. Victoria Laney is a recent PhD graduate from Case Western Reserve University focused on MR-based molecular imaging and cancer immunotherapy research. With a background in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and experience working in the labs of Drs. Justin Hanes, Laura Ensign, and Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, Victoria has extensive experience in cancer, therapeutic design, and non-invasive monitoring. Victoria has presented her work on therapeutic monitoring methods using molecular MRI for pancreatic cancer at conferences worldwide, including WMIC Prague, ISMRM Singapore & Toronto, and ABRCMS365 Virtual. Her work has also been submitted to prestigious journals such as Nucleic Acid Therapy and Nature BME, which underscores her commitment to advancing cancer research. Victoria’s work has been supported by several award mechanisms, including two T32 traineeships, a Case Coulter Translational Research Partnership grant, an OhioJobs grant and an NIH CURE award.} 

bioSense – Translationally developing devices, sensors and engineering practices to clinically monitor the brain and body

^{Dr. De-Shaine Murray is a Wu Tsai Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University and incoming President of Black In Neuro. In his current work he develops neural implants to clinically monitor the injured brain in cases of traumatic brain injury, stroke, epilepsy and brain cancers. He aims to not only create such devices but translate them for the benefit of patients and is currently doing this with his Ph.D. research. De-Shaine has received a variety of honors during his time in academia including a NanoDTC Associate at Cambridge, a Bioengineering Thank You award and Outstanding Student award at Imperial College London, and most recently a Public Voices Fellowship with the OpEd project. He has used the latter to expand his work’s impact, writing opinion editorial pieces on his research, wider perspectives of the field and his equity work with Black In Neuro. He earned his MSci from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2017 and both an MRes in Neurotechnology in 2018 and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering in 2022 from Imperial. His goal is to lead a translational lab that addresses a range of neurological disorders by creating and developing innovative medical devices for clinical use.}   

Functional Cancer Models: Integrating Aptasensors and Microfluidic Preservation of Tumor Microvasculature

^{Dr. Tran Ngoc Huyen Nguyen received her B.S. in Chemical Biology from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University. Her doctoral research examined glutamate excitotoxicity after spinal cord injury using implantable microsensors. Tran is a postdoctoral fellow in Bioengineering at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on fabricating real-time aptamer-based electrochemical sensors integrated into multi-well microfluidic platforms for functional assays of microdissected tumor tissues and developing protocols to preserve native tumor microvasculature, investigating nitric oxide pathway-related drugs’ effects on endothelial cells. Tran received the Brotman Baty Institute’s Catalytic Collaboration Training Award and the Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Research. Her future research aims to integrate point-of-care biosensors with microfluidic devices for early cancer detection, hormone monitoring, and studying vascular biology in organ-on-chip systems. Tran’s future research agenda seeks to advance biosensor integration into healthcare, focusing on precision monitoring and clinical translation to improve access and outcomes.}

Spine regeneration using biomaterials inspired by developmental mechanobiology

^{Dr. Christopher Panebianco is interested in engineering regenerative spine therapies. His research harnesses principles of developmental mechanobiology and tissue crosstalk to engineer biomaterials for spine regeneration. Dr. Panebianco became interested in spine regeneration during his Ph.D. at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Under the advisement of Dr. James Iatridis, he received an NIH F31 Fellowship to design composite cell-delivery biomaterials for intervertebral disc repair. To complement his engineering training, Dr. Panebianco is currently studying developmental mechanobiology at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Joel Boerckel. His current research studies how in utero mechanical loading affects embryonic skeletal development.}  

^{Dr. Panebianco synergizes his research with innovative teaching activities. Earning an NIH Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) Postdoctoral Fellowship, he develops inquiry-based learning modules, implements them at underrepresented minority-serving institutions, and inspires diverse students to study biomedical engineering. Dr. Panebianco has published many of these modules to broaden their impact.} 

Investigating the physicochemical basis of biomineralization in the context of human health

^{Dr. Mohsin Qazi is a postdoctoral associate at the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, working with Dr. Nate Cira. His current research focuses on developing biomimetic fluidic devices to investigate the physicochemical mechanisms of biofilm mineralization, with a particular emphasis on dental calculus formation. Previously, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Mohsin worked on the development of Surface Patterned Omniphobic Tiles (SPOTs), a microdroplet-based high-throughput liquid handling platform. He earned his Ph.D. in applied physics from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where he studied the influence of physical confinements and chemical additives on the crystallization dynamics of salt systems. Dr. Qazi aims to establish an independent research program that explores crystallization processes related to human health from an engineering perspective. His goal is to design model systems to replicate mineral deposition in vitro and to develop preventative strategies for both insufficient and pathological mineralization. In addition to his research, Dr. Qazi is actively involved in science communication and outreach activities, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in scientific research.} 

Unveiling senescent cell heterogeneity in tissue healing and fibrosis

^{Dr. Lexi Rindone is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Professor Jennifer Elisseeff’s lab at Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on identifying the role of senescent cells in wound healing and fibrosis across lifespan. Senescent cells are non-proliferative cells that accumulate with age and contribute to a variety of age-related conditions. However, these cells are also essential for beneficial processes such as wound healing and embryonic development. Lexi’s work integrates new transgenic mouse models with single-cell transcriptomics and imaging to identify senescent cells and discern their functions. Her long-term goal is to engineer treatments that target these cells to enhance regenerative therapies for orthopaedic conditions.} 

^{Lexi received her BS in Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned her PhD in Professor Warren Grayson’s lab at Johns Hopkins University. In her doctoral research, Lexi developed a 3D imaging platform to study the interactions of blood vessels and stem cells during bone growth, healing, and remodeling. She has co-authored 14 manuscripts and received several awards, including the WFIRM Young Investigator Award, Siebel Scholarship, NIH F31 Fellowship, and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. She also chairs the Student and Young Investigator Section of TERMIS Americas, and the Junior Investigators Group in the NIH SenNet program.} 

Advancing Tissue Regeneration with Micro/nanotechnology-based Reprogramming

^{Dr. Ana Salazar-Puerta earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University under the supervision of Dr. Natalia Higuita-Castro. Her doctoral research focused on the development of nanotechnology-based systems for gene and cell therapies, aimed at engineering cells and tissues. She leverage these systems to generate therapeutic extracellular vesicles (EVs) for treating various medical conditions (e.g., pulmonary inflammation, low back pain, diabetes, and cancer). In recognition of her graduate work, she was awarded the Presidential Fellowship in 2022. Currently, Dr. Salazar-Puerta is a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Ohio State University, working with Dr. Daniel Gallego-Perez. She is developing micro/nanotechnology platforms for gene-based delivery to induce controlled lineage conversions in vivo to enhance the rate of peripheral nerve regeneration while preserving the function of denervated end organs. Dr. Salazar-Puerta aims to become a principal investigator at a multidisciplinary research institution. Her research program will focus on designing strategies for cell reprogramming and gene/cell therapy to enable personalized therapeutic approaches, evaluating the impact of sex differences, investigating the role of EVs in cell/tissue reprogramming processes, and developing biomaterials for the controlled release of EVs.} 

Patient-specific immunomodulatory scaffolds to improve regeneration in osteoporotic bone

^{Dr. Naboneeta Sarkar is a postdoctoral fellow in the Neurosurgery Department at Johns Hopkins aiming to advance bone healing outcome in aging patients with compromised bone quality using patient-specific immunomodulatory biomaterials. Originally from India, Dr. Sarkar completed her undergraduate degree in Pharmacy before moving to South Korea to earn a Master’s in Materials Science and Engineering. She received her PhD in 2020 from Washington State University, where she developed 3D-printed tissue engineering scaffolds with controlled release of plant-derived biomolecules for osteogenesis. Utilizing her diverse skillset in medicine, drug delivery, biomaterials and 3D printing, as a postdoc fellow at Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Department she developed custom bone grafts capable of controlled, sustained oxygen release upon implantation. She has since transitioned to the Department of Neurosurgery, where she is engineering immunomodulatory spinal fusion grafts and monitoring immune-bone cell crosstalk. Dr. Sarkar’s research career has led to over 30 peer-reviewed publications, and she has received 2024 postdoc research accelerator award from Johns Hopkins Medicine.}

Neural Engineering for Restoring Vision: Stem Cell Therapies and Microphysiological Systems in Vision Research

^{Dr. Jonathan Soucy is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Ophthalmology Department at Harvard Medical School and the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Koppes. At Northeastern, Jon developed biomaterials for nerve regeneration and engineered microphysiological systems to investigate the neurocardiac axis with support from an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. Jon’s current research in Dr. Petr Baranov’s lab, funded by the Molecular Basis of Eye Disease (T32) and Kirschstein-NRSA (F32) Postdoctoral Fellowships, focuses on retinal neuron transplantation to restore vision lost to glaucoma and other optic neuropathies. Leveraging his PhD training in neural tissue engineering and postdoctoral training in regenerative ophthalmology, Jon aims to establish the Neural Engineering for Restoring Vision (NERV) Lab to study retinal neuron plasticity and develop new stem cell-based therapies for vision restoration.}

Materials to prevent and model joint disease

^{Dr. Hannah Zlotnick is a Schmidt Science Fellow at the BioFrontiers Institute, where she works with Prof. Jason Burdick. Her research focuses on developing in vitro models of joint disease to better understand the cell-based mechanisms of chronic joint inflammation. Joint diseases, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis, impact over 600 million people worldwide, causing serious pain, and limiting the ability of people to carry out daily tasks. The goal of Hannah’s research is to discover new targets and develop injectable therapeutics to preserve joint function.} 

^{Hannah completed her PhD at the Univ. of Pennsylvania in the Dept. of Bioengineering in Prof. Robert Mauck’s Laboratory. She was funded by NIH T32 and F31 fellowships. Her PhD research explored the use of magnetic fields and gravity to pattern cells and biologic cues to better regenerate musculoskeletal tissues after injury. This work was recognized with the Solomon Pollack Award for Excellence in Graduate Bioengineering Research. Hannah’s interest in orthopaedic research first began on the soccer field, and developed as an undergraduate at MIT in Prof. Alan Grodzinsky’s Laboratory.}