Postdocs and Medical Fellows
Taimoor Qazi, PhD, Spring 2019-August 2022
Project: Engineered Granular Hydrogels for Endogeneous Tissue Repair
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Claire Witherel, PhD, Fall 2019-Fall 2021
Project: Drug Delivery in Osteoarthritis
Current: Medical Science Liason, Integra LifeSciences
Claudia Loebel, MD, PhD, Summer 2016-Summer 2021
Project: Visualizing and Engineering Cell-Hydrogel Interactions
Current: Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Michigan
Andy Daly, PhD, Spring 2018-Spring 2021
Project: Biofabrication in Cardiac Tissue Models
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, NUI Galway
Katrina Wisdom, PhD, Fall 2018-Spring 2020
Project: Injectable Hydrogels in Cartilage Repair
Current: Associate Director, Genomic Sciences, GSK
Mikyung Shin, PhD, Spring 2018-Summer 2019
Project: Gallol-based HA Hydrogels for Injection and 3D Printing
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University
Kwang Hoon Song, PhD, Summer 2015-Summer 2019
Project: 3D Printing and Electrospinning of Structured Hydrogels
Current: Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, Incheon National University
Sebastian Vega, PhD, Spring 2015-Summer 2018
Project: Screening Hydrogel Microenvironments for Cartilage Repair
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University
Christopher Highley, PhD, Fall 2012-Fall 2017
Project: 3D-printing of Hydrogels
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia
Yi-Cheun Yeh, PhD, Fall 2014-Summer 2017
Project: Biodegradable and Dynamic Elastomers
Current: Associate Professor, Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University
Adrianne Rosales, PhD, Fall 2014-Summer 2017 (visiting postdoc)
Project: Dynamic Photoresponsive Hydrogels
Current: Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Texas Austin
Kalil Abdullah, MD, Summer 2016-Summer 2017
Project: Injectable Hydrogels to treat Glioblastoma
Current: Neuro-Oncology/Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Su-Chin Heo, PhD, Summer 2015-Fall 2016
Project: Cell Migration through Fibrous Matrices
Current: Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania
Dawn Pedrotty, MD, PhD, Summer 2015-Summer 2016
Project: Injectable Hydrogels in Cardiac Repair
Current: Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University
Steven Caliari, PhD, Fall 2013-Summer 2016
Project: Dynamic Hydrogels to Probe Mechanotransduction in Disease
Current: Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia
Julianne Holloway, PhD, Summer 2012-Fall 2015
Project: Engineered Hydrogels for Musculoskeletal Applications
Current: Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Arizona State University
Brendan Purcell, PhD, Summer 2013-Summer 2014
Project: MMP-Degradable Hydrogels for Cardiac Repair
Current: CEO, Prohibix
Will Gramlich, PhD, Spring 2012-Summer 2013
Project: Spatiotemporal Patterning in Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels
Current: Associate Professor, Chemistry, University of Maine
Murat Guvendiren, PhD, Summer 2008-Summer 2013
Project: Cellular Interactions with Dynamic and Patterned Materials
Current: Associate Professor, Chemical & Materials Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Danielle Soranno, MD, Summer 2011-Summer 2013
Project: Injectable Hydrogels to treat Obstructive Nephropathy
Current: Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine
Liming Bian, PhD, Fall 2009-Summer 2012
Project: MSC Chondrogenesis and Hypertrophy in Engineered Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels
Current: Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, South China University of Technology
Harini Sundararaghavan, PhD, Fall 2008-Summer 2011
Project: Engineering Fibrous Hydrogel Scaffolds to Modulate Cellular Interactions
Current: Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University
Manoj Charati, PhD, Fall 2008-Fall 2010
Project: Engineered Polypeptide-based Hydrogels
Current: Principal Scientist, Merck
Sujata Sahoo, PhD, Fall 2006-Fall 2007
Project: Synthesis of Hydrolytically Degradable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels
Current: Data Scientist
PhD Students
Karen Xu, PhD, NIH F30 Predoctoral Fellow, Fall 2020 to Spring 2024
Dissertation: Engineering Hydrogel Microstructure to Promote Meniscus Repair
Current: Finishing MD, UPenn
Victoria Muir, PhD, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Summer 2018 to Summer 2022
Dissertation: Designing Hyaluronic Acid Granular Hydrogels for Biomaterials Applications
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University
Margaret Prendergast, PhD, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Fall 2018 to Summer 2022 (currently: J&J/Janssen)
Dissertation: Fundamentals and Application of 3D Suspension Bath Bioprinting for the Engineering of Meniscal Tissue
Current: Scientist, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson
Selen Uman, PhD, AHA Predoctoral Fellow, Fall 2018 to Summer 2022 (currently: finishing MD, UPenn)
Dissertation: Injectable Hydrogels to Deliver Extracellular Vesicles for Treatment after Myocardial Infarction
Current: Finishing MD, UPenn
Jonathan Galarraga, PhD, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Fall 2016 to Fall 2021 (currently: Vivodyne)
Dissertation: Biofabrication Approaches with Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Cartilage Repair
Current: Senior Scientist, Vivodyne
Minna Chen, PhD, AHA Fellow, Fall 2013-Summer 2019
Dissertation: Injectable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for the Delivery of Cell-based Therapeutics to the Heart
Current: Associate Consultant, ZS
Mi Kwon, PhD, NSF Fellow, Spring 2014-Summer 2019
Dissertation: Engineering the Interface: Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels that Mediate MSC Chondrogenesis for Cartilage Tissue Engineering
Current: Director of Clinical Science, egnite Health
Josh Mealy, PhD, NSF Fellow, Spring 2014-Summer 2018
Dissertation: Guest-host Interactions to Engineer Injectable Hydrogels for Controlled Degradation and Release for Cardiac Repair
Current: Principal Scientist, GSK
Leo Wang, PhD, NIH F30 Fellow, Fall 2014-Spring 2018
Dissertation: Injectable Hydrogels to Deliver RNA Interference Therapeutics for Myocardial Infarction
Current: Dermatology Resident, University of Pennsylvania
Christopher Rodell, PhD, AHA Fellow, Spring 2012-Summer 2016
Dissertation: Development of Shear-thinning and Self-healing Hydrogels through Guest-Host Interactions for Biomedical Applications
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University
Ryan Wade, PhD, NSF Fellow, Fall 2010-Summer 2015
Dissertation: Engineering Extracellular Matrix Signals into Fibrous Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels
Current: Manager, Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Exponent
Shauna Dorsey, PhD, Spring 2011-Fall 2014
Dissertation: MRI Evaluation of Injectable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Therapy to Attenuate Myocardial Infarct Remodeling
Current: Project Manager, United States Army
Iris Kim Marklein, PhD, NSF Fellow, Spring 2010-Summer 2014
Dissertation: Engineered Fibrous Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Cartilage Repair
Current: Associate Director for Policy, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, FDA
Brendan Purcell, PhD, Spring 2009-Summer 2013
Dissertation: Injectable Hydrogels for Local Protein Delivery to Engineer Myocardial Remodeling
Current: CEO, Prohibix
Ross A. Marklein, PhD, NSF Fellow, Fall 2007-Summer 2012
Dissertation: Spatially and Temporally Controlled Mechanical Signals to Direct Human Stem Cell Behavior
Current: Assistant Professor, Chemical, Materials, & Biomedical Engineering, University of Georgia
Elena Kichula (Tous), PhD, Spring 2009-Summer 2012
Dissertation: Tunable Acellular Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Systems to Attenuate Left Ventricular Remodeling
Current: CMC Program Management Lead, Spark Therapeutics
Sudhir Khetan, PhD, NSF Fellow, Spring 2008-Summer 2012
Dissertation: Engineering Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Degradation to Control Cellular Interactions and Adult Stem Cell Fate in 3D
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Union College
Joshua S. Katz, PhD, NSF Fellow, Spring 2007-Spring 2011
Dissertation: Chemical Modifications to Vesicle Forming Diblock Copolymers: Development of Smart Functional Polymersome Membranes
Current: Senior Principal Scientist, IFF
Jamie L. Ifkovits, PhD, AHA Predoctoral Fellow, Spring 2006-Summer 2010
Dissertation: Acellular and Radically Polymerized Biodegradable Materials to Control Tissue Interactions after Myocardial Infarction
Current: Scientific Director, GSK
Darren M. Brey, PhD, Fall 2005-Summer 2010
Dissertation: Combinatorial Polymer Synthesis and High-throughput Screening Technology to Identify Optimal Approaches for Mineralized Tissue Engineering
Current: Lecturer, University of Louisville
Cindy Chung, PhD, NSF Fellow, Summer 2004-Summer 2009
Dissertation: Development and Characterization of Photocrosslinkable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Cartilage Regeneration
Current: Senior Scientist, Seran Bioscience
Visiting PhD Students
Stefan Pendlmayr, Fall 2023, (PhD, Aarhus University)
Manuela Garay Sarmiento, Fall 2022, (PhD, DWI Leibniz)
Bárbara Mendes, Spring 2019-Summer 2019 (PhD, University of Minho)
Sara Trujillo-Munoz, Fall 2016 (PhD, University of Glasgow - Scotland)
Liliang Ouyang, Summer 2015-Fall 2016 (PhD, Tsinghua University - China)
Renata Sala, Summer 2015-Summer 2016 (PhD, Federal University of Sao Carlos - Brazil)
Cheng-Hung Chou, Spring 2007-Spring 2008 (PhD, National Taiwan University)
Masters Students
Bradley Taha, Spring 2022-Spring 2023 (MS, CU Chemical Engineering)
Liah Dukaye, Fall 2021 (MS, Penn Materials Science & Engineering)
Gabe Mickel, Fall 2018-Summer 2019 (MS, Penn Nanotechnology)
Tibby Duan, Spring 2018-Spring 2019 (MS, Penn BE)
Andrew Rouff, Summer 2016-Spring 2017 (MS, Penn BE)
Mu-Huan Lee, Fall 2016-Summer 2017 (MS, Penn BE/MSE)
James Howard, Summer 2016-Spring 2017 (MS, Penn MSE)
Janna Sloand, Summer 2015-Spring 2016 (MS, Penn BE)
Neville Dusaj, Summer 2015-Spring 2016 (MS, Penn Biochemistry)
Henry Ma, Spring 2013-Spring 2014 (MS, Penn BE)
Stephen Leong, Spring 2013-Spring 2014 (MS, Penn CBE)
Vanessa Chou, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 (MS, Penn BE)
Hoang "Jack" Lu, Fall 2010-Summer 2012 (MS, Penn BE)
Heather Weber, Fall 2010-Summer 2011 (MS, Penn BE)
Kolin C. Hribar, Summer 2009-Spring 2011 (MS, Penn BE)
Vyas Ramanan, Fall 2009-Spring 2011 (MS, Penn BE)
Ian Lee, Spring 2009-Fall 2009 (MS, Penn BE)
Derrick Hsu, Spring 2009-Fall 2009 (BS/MS, Penn MSE)
David Lau, Summer 2008-Fall 2008 (MS, Penn BE)
Jeffrey Devlin, Spring 2008-Summer 2008 (MS, Penn BE)
Yousef Mazhar, Summer 2007 (MS/MBA Candidate, Penn)
Anthony Fargnoli, Spring 2007 (MS, Systems Engineering, Penn)
Undergraduate Students
Shoshana Weintraub, Spring 2020-Spring 2022 (Littlejohn Program)
Bruce Enzmann, Summer 2020-Summer 2021 (NSF REU Program)
Julio Rivera De Jesus, Summer 2021 (NSF REU Program)
Kayla Brown, Summer 2021 (NSF REU Program)
Christina Hummel, Summer 2019 (NSF REU Program)
Patricia Mensah, Summer 2019 (SUIP Program)
Zhengkun Chen, Fall 2018 (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Anna Schoonen, Summer 2018 (NSF REU Program)
Nikolas Di Caprio, Summer 2018 (NSF REU Program)
Claude King, Summer 2017 (NSF REU Program)
Jon Durel, Summer 2017 (NSF REU Program)
Matthew Morrow, Summer 2016 (NSF REU Program)
Elizabeth Soulas, Summer 2015 (NSF REU Program)
Justin Morena, Spring 2015 to Summer 2015 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Gi Yun Lee, Spring 2014 to Spring 2015 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Ethan Bassin, Summer 2013 to Spring 2015 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Jeffrey Chudakoff, Fall 2014 to Spring 2015 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Leron Arama, Spring 2012 to Spring 2014 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Bria Macklin, Summer 2014 (North Carolina A&T State University, SUIP Program)
Zoe Steier, Summer 2014 (MIT, REU Program)
James Howard, Summer 2014 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Emily Zhang, Summer 2011-Summer 2013 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Adam Kaminski, Summer 2013 (Dickinson College)
Cassi Henderson, Spring 2013(BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Mollie Sussman, Fall 2010-Spring 2013 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Steve Leung, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Logan Troppito, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Julie Xu, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Teddy Guenin, Summer 2012 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Nailah Seale, Summer 2012 (Howard University, REU Program)
Greg Winter, Summer 2012 (High School Student)
Emily Zhang, Summer 2011 (High School Student)
Yuk Mun Li, Summer 2011 (Syracuse University, REU Program)
David Zhai, Spring 2010-Summer 2011 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Cyrus Huang, Fall 2010-Spring 2011 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Fabio Raman, Fall 2010-Spring 2011 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Sophia Chen, Fall 2010-Spring 2011 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Cari Meisel, Spring 2010-Summer 2010 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Ormarie Vazquez, Summer 2010 (University of Puerto Rico, REU Program)
Matthew Canver, Fall 2009-Spring 2010 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Zen Liu, Summer 2008-Spring 2010 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Michael Beecham, Spring 2008-Spring 2010 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Katherine Wu, Spring 2007-Spring 2010 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Vyas Ramanan, Summer 2008-Summer 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Kolin Hribar, Summer 2008-Spring 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Robert Mozia, Summer 2007-Summer 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Eric Cohen, Summer 2009-Fall 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Anthony Peters, Fall 2008-Spring 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Ben Hsu, Fall 2008-Spring 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Ludovic Vincent, Fall 2008-Spring 2009 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Louis Wang, Fall 2008-Spring 2009 (MSE Undergraduate, Penn)
Rachel Howitt, Spring 2008-Fall 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Felix Messerschmitt, Spring 2008 (ETH Visiting Student)
Robert Metter, Summer 2006-Spring 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Chia Wu, Fall 2007-Spring 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Jason Phan, Fall 2007-Spring 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Daniela Michelis, Fall 2007-Spring 2008 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Elizabeth Hirst, Summer 2007 (George Washington University, REU Program)
Andrea Tan, Summer 2006-Summer 2007 (BE/MSE Undergraduate, Penn)
Clarence Quah, Spring 2007 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Radhika Gupta, Fall 2006-Spring 2007 (MSE Undergraduate, Penn)
Alex Kent, Fall 2006-Spring 2007 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Will Lee, Fall 2006-Spring 2007 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Sounok Sen, Fall 2006-Spring 2007 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
An Nguyen, Fall 2006-Spring 2007 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)
Surbhi Puri, Fall 2005-Spring 2006 (BE Undergraduate, Penn)