People

Principal Investigator

Phillip B. Messersmith, Ph.D.
Class of 1941 WWII Memorial Professor
Departments of Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering
Ph.D. Materials Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana
M.S. Bioengineering, Clemson University
B.S. Life Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana
philm(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

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Postdoctoral and Senior Researchers

Subhajit Pal, PhD
Postdoc, Department of Bioengineering, UC Berkeley (2022-Present)
Postdoc (2020-2021), Adolphe Merkle Institute, Switzerland
Ph.D. (2016-2020), University of Fribourg, Switzerland
BS & MS (2010-2015), Visva-Bharati University, India
subhajit.pal(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

Ruhani Sagar, PhD
Ruhani completed her Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from Panjab University, India. Went on for Ph.D. at the University of Tennessee, where she developed metal-ion responsive liposomes for selective drug delivery applications. Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, she focuses on developing new chemical approaches to design biomaterials for tissue regeneration and bio-imaging. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and dancing.
rsagar(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Michael Conboy, PhD
Scientist, Department of Bioengineering and QB3 Institute, UC Berkeley, 2007-present, studying aging in mice and humans.
Postdoc, Deptartment of Neurology, Stanford Medical School, 2002-2006, studying molecular aging in mice.
Postdoc, Genencor International, Palo Alto, 2000-2002, studying fungal genetics.
Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 2000, studying molecular and cellular biology in mammalian cells and yeast.
B.A. Biochemistry, Harvard College, 1987, studying gene regulation in flies.
conboymj(at)berkeley(dot)edu

 

Yanina Bogliotti, PhD
Yanina earned her Licentiate in Biotechnology (B.S./M.S. equivalent) at the National University of General San Martin, Argentina, where she studied the immunomodulatory role of trans-sialidases in Chagas disease. She received her Ph.D. from UC Davis as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, where she pioneered the derivation of bovine embryonic stem cells. Before joining UC Berkeley, she led the production and preclinical testing of stem cell therapies for liver disease in the biotech industry. Currently, as a Project Scientist in the Messersmith Lab, she investigates the role of aged serum in driving an aging phenotype in multiple solid organs. Additionally, she is exploring HIF-1α modulation as a potential strategy for regeneration in the aging context. 
ybogliotti(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn  

Alexandra Sviercovich, PhD
Postdoc, University of California, Berkeley (2023–Present)
Ph.D., Morphogenesis & Tissue Engineering — Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy (2018-2021)
Ph.D. Physiology, physiopathology, and Therapeutics — Joint program, Sorbonne University, Paris, France (2019-2021)
M.Sc., Health and Biological Sciences — Sorbonne University, Paris, France (2014-2017)
B.Sc., Health and Biological Sciences — Paris Saclay University, Orsay, France (2013-2014) alex_sv(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn 

Zachery Ryen Robinson, PhD
Postdoc (Present), UC Berkeley, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Recipient.
Ph.D. (2024), Bioengineering, UC Berkeley. Chancellor’s Fellowship Recipient.
B.S. (2017), Biomedical Engineering, UC Irvine. MARC Scholar.
zachery_robinson(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

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PhD Students

Hannaneh Kabir
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering & Bioengineering, UC Berkeley, 2022-Present
M.S. Bioengineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2018-2021
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran, 2014-2018
hannaneh_kabir(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn 

 

Serafina Mei
Ph.D. (Present), Bioengineering, UCSF and UC Berkeley Joint Program, 2023-Present
B.S., Molecular and Cellular Biology, UC Berkeley, 2019-2023
mei.serafina(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn 

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Masters Students

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Undergraduate Students

Emma Berman
4th Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2026
emma.berman(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn  

Esther Chu
4th Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2026
estherchu04(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn 

Anderson Tran
3rd Year Undergraduate, Molecular and Cell Biology – Molecular Therapeutics
andersont(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

Sonali Patankar
2nd Year | Bioengineering + EECS, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2028
sonaliiip(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

 

Ariana Chen
1st Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2029
ariana_chen_(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn 
 

Diya Kadadi
2nd Year | Mechanical Engineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2028
kadadi(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn 

Jasmine Cao
3rd Year | Bioengineering, B.S. (expected graduation 2026)
ja.smine_cao(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn

Neftaly Meza Cardenas
4th Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2026
nefmez(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn   

Ashley Yang
B.A. Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, 2022-2025
ashley.ycyang(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Deeya Nagi
4th Year | Molecular and Cell Biology – Immunology and Molecular Medicine, B.A. University of California, Berkeley  | Expected Graduation May 2026.
deeyanagi(at)berkeley(dot)edu 
LinkedIn     

Joaquin Cabrera Caballero

Gwendolyn Riley

Natalie Tang

Anna Tran

Sophia Flagg

Anish Ayyavoo

Negar Morshedian

Frances Melendres

Steve Hemm

Eva Khorsandi

Karan Malhotra

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Visiting Scholars

Mayuka Ninomiya Kanda
Researcher in Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Japan (2018-present)
BS&MS (Pharmaceutical Science), University of Tokyo, Japan (2012-2018)
m.k.ninomiya(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn

 

 

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Alumni

PhD Alumni
Erika Salzman (PhD MSE, UC Berkeley, 2025)
Cynthia Perez (PhD BIOE, UC Berkeley, 2025)
Nivedina Sarma (PhD MSE, UC Berkeley, 2025)
Kelsey DeFrates (PhD BIOE, UC Berkeley, 2023)
Arianna Avellan (PhD MSE, UC Berkeley, 2023)
Katerina Malollari (PhD ME, UC Berkeley, 2022)
Peyman Delparastan (PhD MSE, UC Berkeley, 2021)
Sally Winkler (PhD BIOE, UC Berkeley, 2020)
Devang Amin (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2018, MD 2020)
Dominic Fullenkamp (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2012, MD 2014)
John Kuang (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2014)
Tadas Sileika (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2014)
Hyun-Ok Ham (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2012)
Kvar Black (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2012)
Carrie Brubaker (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2011)
Lesley Hamming (PhD MSE, Northwestern University, 2010)
Andrea Statz: (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008)
Marsha Ritter Jones (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008, MD 2010)
Haeshin Lee (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008)
Bruce Lee (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2005)
Tor Jensen (PhD ChemE, Northwestern University, 2004, joint w/ W. Miller)
Jeffrey Dalsin (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2004)
Joel Collier (PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2003)
Ranee Stile (PhD BME 2002, secondary advisor; primary advisor K. Healy)
Tracy Belvin (PhD ChemE, Northwestern University, 2002, joint w/ A. Barron)

Postdoc Alumni
Jisoo Shin (2019-2024)
Joakim Engstrom (2019-2022)
Kyueui Lee (2017-2021)
Yiran Li (2017-2019)
Cody Higginson (2016-2019)
Patrick Rühs (2018-2019)
Brylee Tiu (2017-2019)
Jing Cheng (2013-2019)
Dirk Balkenende (2016-2019)
Caroline Sugnaux (2015-2017)
Severin Sigg (2016-2018)
H. Zha (2016-2017)
Rafael Libanori (2016)
Yang Wei (2014-2015)
Patrick Burch (2014-2016)
Suresh Manohar (2010-2014)
Devin Barrett (2010-2014)
Iossif Strehin (2011-2014)
Paula Lopez-Perez (2010-11)
Dong-Keun Lee (2010-2013)
Lihong He (2009-12)
Aaron Lau (2008-2013)
Basak Kayitmazer (2007-2009)
Jing Su (2006-2011)
Zhongqiang Liu (2005-2011)
Jose Rivera (2008-2011)
Hyung-Do Kim (2009-2010)
Harsha Kulkarni (2008-2010)
Kanika Chawla (2006-2009)
Bi-Huang Hu (1999-2009)
Trung Nguyen (2007-2008)
Hermona Pandya (2005-2007)
Bruce Lee (2005)
Simonida Grubjesic (2004-2007)
Yuri Zimenkov (2004-2005)
Jeff Dalsin (2004-2005)
Xiaowu Fan (2003-2006)
Lijun Lin (2002-2004)
Kui Huang (2000-2)
Ranee Stile (2002)
Xiaoping Zhang (1999)
Sonke Svenson (1997-8)
Satya Vallabhaneni (1995-7)

Undergraduate Student Alumni
Connor William Nims, (2023-25)
Isabelle Pummill (2023-24)
Dominic Orion Ramirez (2023-24)
Clarissa Jacobo Hernandez (2023-24)
Aditya Udgaonkar (2022)
Hannah Chen (2022-25)
Esther Chu (2022-25)
Katelyn Dale (2022-24)
Elaine Tong (2022-24)
Griffin Lawrence (2021-22)
Vanessa Lim (2021-23)
Eva Sabine (2020-22)
Athiyya Umar (2019-22)
Kristene Mai (2019-20)
Daniela Franco (2019-20)
Brittany Zhang (2019-21)
Valentin Martchenko (2019-20)
Sasha Demeulenaere (2018-20)
Caroline Sobek (2018-20)
Mason Kellogg (2018-19)
Sarah Spivack (2017-19)
Luis F. Caldera Guzman (2016-17)
Aimee Nguyen (2016-18)
Stephanie Liu (2016-18)
Sunny Xu (2016-19)
Max Ney (2016-19)
Alyse Gonthier (2015-19)
Andrew Kelleghan (2015-16)
Ivander Fnu (2014-15)
Sarah Bhattacharjee (2014-17)
Zhuojun Huang  (2014-17)
Chelsea Fries (2012-13)
Charlie Reis (2011-13)
Jason Guo (2011-13)
Yufei Tian (2011-13)
Rahul Varshney (2010-11)
Sarah Uttal (2010-12)
Christina Fuentes (2010-13)
Michael Kanter (2010-11)
Jin Tao (2010-12)
Grace Bushnell (2010-13)
Antonio Feliciano (2009-10)
Kevin Pukala (2009-10)
David Bieranoski (2009-10)
Erica Pollack (2009-10)
Vijay Raghunathan (2009-10)
David Wu (2009-10)
Steven Lu (2009-10)
Calvin Kwan (2009-10)
Anika Williams (2009-10)
Piotr Maniak (2009-11)
Michael Kharouta (2009-11)
Kelly Luckasevic (2008-9)
Junsung Rho (2007-8)
Mary Richert (2007-8)
Winifred Lo (2007-9)
Kyle Vining (Holmberg) (2007-9)
Mary Beth Holden (2006-7)
Mohd Azman (2006-7)
Dorothea Koh (2005-6) 
June Cha (2005-6)
Sonali Rajan (2004)
Saranya Srinivasan (2004)
Stephanie Sabourin (2004)
Christopher Walsh (2004)
Justin Rohde (2003)
Iossif Strehin (2003-4)
Emre Motan (2003-4)
Mohit Manocha (2003-4)
Matt Keller (2003)
Jonathan Friedstat (2002)
Priti Madhav (2002)
Neha Goel (2002)
Ravi Kacker (2002)
Caren Nguyen (2002)
Nader Varjavand (2002)
Lauren Anderson (2002)
Nicole Eberle (2000)
Steven Jedlinski (2000)
Toni Kwan (2000)
Ryan Williams (2000)
Sweta Modi (1999)
William Murphy (1998)
Sara Lindberg (1998)
Brian Korreck (1998)
Frank Znidarsich (1998)
Steven Starke (1997)
Scott Millard (1997)
Van Nguyen, (1997)
Christian Block (1997)

Visiting Scholar Alumni
Wing-Lok Cheng (2025) KAIST
Enrique Orejas (2024) University of Oslo
Jun Tae Kim (2023) KAIST
Professor Mustafa Arslan (2022-24) Kirklareli University
Tomoko Ogiyama (2021-23) Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.
Alexandra Ramos (2021) University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Guon Lee (2020) Pohang University of Science and Technology
Gijung Kwak (2019) Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
Miriam Zintl (2019) Technische Universität Wien
Sun Kim (2018-19) Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
Jorge G. Padilla Zayas (2018) University of Puerto Rico
Jaime Augusto Santillan Mercado (2018) University of Puerto Rico
Farid Behboodi Sadabad (2017-18) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Pedro O. Méndez (2017) University of Puerto Rico
Livius Muff (2017) ETH-Zurich
Kyueui Lee (2016-17) KAIST
Professor Suhair Sunoqrot (2016-17) Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan
Jiafu Shi (2016-17) Tianjin University
Professor Haeshin Lee (2016-17) KAIST
Professor Wenjian Wu (2016) National Defense University
Iho Kamimura (2015-16) Mitsubishi Chemical
Professor Xi Xie (2015-16) Hainan University
Chao Liang (2015-17) National Defense University
Professor Yi Cao (2015) Nanjing University
Professor Siwei Liu (2014-15) Sun Yat-sen University
Professor George Mogami (2014) Tohoku University
Sebastian Giessler (2014) University of Oslo
Haowei Yang (2013) Tsinghua University
Gali Fichman (2013) Tel-Aviv University
Reza Nejadnik (2012) Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre
Pamela Walsh (2012-13), Lecturer, Queens University Belfast
Professor Yusuke Arima (2012-13), Kyoto University
Diana Alves (2012), Universidade do Minho
Professor Hyuk Sang Yoo (2010-11), Kangwon National University
Jisuk Choi (2010-11), Kangwon National University
Haesuk Kim (2011), Kangwon National University
Kan Fu (2010) National University of Singapore
Timothy Douglas (2010), Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre
Professor Yuhong Ren (2009-10), National Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology
Professor Isao Hirata (2009-10), Hiroshima University, Japan.
Professor Yongkuan Gong (2008-9), Northwest University, Xi’an China.
Yuhan Lee (2006) KAIST