People

Principal Investigator
003-tight-cropPhillip B. Messersmith, Ph.D.
Class of 1941 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 Urbanaphilm(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Biosketch

Postdoctoral Researchers
DSC_0500

Subhajit Pal

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

 

PhD Students
IMG-2684
Cynthia Perez
PhD Student, UC Berkeley-UCSF Bioengineering Program
GEM Fellow, 2019
BS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2019
Co-Advised by Dr. Tejal Desai at UCSF
cynthia.perez(at)berkeley(dot)edu
 Erika Salzman
PhD Student, UC Berkeley Materials Science and Engineering
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2020
BS, Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, 2020
esalzman(at)berkeley(dot)edu
LinkedIn
Nivedina Sarma
PhD Candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Materials Science, 2020
SB Chemistry, with honors, The University of Chicago, 2020
nivedina(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Undergraduate Students
 1718253733.9861689 - Katelyn Dale
Katelyn Dale
4th Year | B.S. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2025
katelyndale(at)berkeley(dot)edu
IMG_0410
Clarissa Jacobo Hernandez
4th Year | B.S. Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2025
clhernandez03(at)berkeley(dot)edu
6E268C23-CF92-4DB0-93A5-9E64E1ECD89C - Isabelle Pummill
Isabelle Pummill
4th Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2025
isabellepummill(at)berkeley(dot)edu
EmmaBerman - Emma Lauren Berman

Emma Berman
3rd Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2026
emma.berman(at)berkeley(dot)edu
1716870830.500987_Original - Esther Chu
Esther Chu
3rd Year | Bioengineering, B.S. University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2026
estherchu04(at)berkeley(dot)edu
2024 Fall Headshots at UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering in Berkeley, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Photo by Adam Lau/Berkeley Engineering)

 

Dominic Ramirez
4th Year | B.S. Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2025

Doramirez25(at)berkeley(dot)edu
Hannah Chen
4th Year | B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley
Expected Graduation May 2025
chenhannah(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Visiting Scholars
enriqueo - Enrique Oreja Remartínez

Enrique Oreja Remartinez

Completed a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and a Master’s in Biomaterials, both in Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Continued doing a PhD in the University of Oslo. The Research focuses on enhancing the performance of titanium implants through surface modifications, aiming to improve biocompatibility and long-term functionality.

enriqueo(at)uio(dot)no

Alumni

PhD Student Alumni

UC Berkeley (2014-present)

Arianna M. Avellan

PhD Student, UC Berkeley Materials Science and Engineering
GEM Fellow
BS, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland- College Park, 2018
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianna-avellan-094b94a6/
aavellan(at)berkeley(dot)edu

Kelsey DeFrates PhD, UC Berkeley-UCSF Bioengineering ProgramNational Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2018

BS, Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, 2018
Katerina MalollariPhD, Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley 2021The Graduate Division Block Grant Awardee, Spring 2018
MS, Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2019
MS, Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 2015
BS, Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 2015Katerina’s research is focused on understanding the relationship between biochemical structure and mechanical behavior of biological and bioinspired composite materials and thin films.gmalolla@berkeley.edu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katerina-malollari
A. Peyman Delparastan
PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley 2021
MS, Materials Science and Engineering, UC Berkeley 2017
BS, Materials Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology 2015
http://www.linkedin.com/in/peyman-delparastan
Sally M. Winkler, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Bioengineering, UC Berkeley, 2020
BS, Bioengineering, Stanford University, 2014
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2014

Northwestern University (1997-2014)

Devang Amin
MD/PhD, Northwestern University 2018
BSE, Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering (certificate), Materials Science and Engineering (certificate), Princeton University, 2008

Daria Zelasko-Leon
PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2016
BS, Bioengineering, Chemistry (minor), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow
Currently: Employed at Pfizer, Inc.

Tadas Sileika
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2014
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Ryan Fellow
Senior Scientist, Wound Care Division, Hollister Inc.

John Kuang
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2014
ASTAR Graduate Fellowship (Singapore Government)
Scientist, Institute for Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), ASTAR, Singapore

Dominic Fullenkamp
PhD BME Northwestern University, 2012, MD 2014
NRSA Predoctoral Fellow, NIH
Cardiology Fellow, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University

Hyun-Ok Ham
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2012
Samsung Graduate Fellowship (Samsung Corp., Korea)
Instructor, Harvard Medical School

Kvar Black
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2012
Research Instructor, Washington University-St. Louis School of Medicine

Carrie Brubaker
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2011
Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellow, National Academies, Fall 2009
“50 for the Future” Award, Illinois Technology Foundation, April 2009
Jennifer Cushman Award, Women’s Center, Northwestern University, April 2008
Whitaker International Fellow and Scholars
Award in Biomedical Engineering for Overseas Study/Research
Scientific Engagement and Medical Communications Independent Consultant

Lesley Hamming
PhD MSE, Northwestern University, 2010
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
Presidential Fellowship (Northwestern University)
Associate, Latham and Watkins LLC (IP Law)

Andrea Statz
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008
Associate, WL Gore & Associates

Haeshin Lee
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008
Professor, Chemistry Department, KAIST, Korea

Marsha Ritter Jones
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2008, MD 2010
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh

Bruce Lee
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2005
Professor, Michigan Technological University

Jeffrey Dalsin
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2004
Vice President of Product Development, Imbed Biosciences

Joel Collier
PhD BME, Northwestern University, 2003
Professor, BME, Duke University

 

Postdoctoral Alumni

UC Berkeley (2014-present)

Jisoo Shin, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Biotechnology, Yonsei University, South Korea, 2018
BS, Biotechnology, Yonsei University, South Korea, 2012

jisoos@berkeley.edu
Joakim Engstrom, Ph.D.
Born in Sweden and did both my Bach. and M.Sc. degree, to become a Chemical Engineer, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Then continued with doing a PhD at KTH and defended my Doctoral Thesis on tailored latexes made by polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) in February 2019. Working with projects relating to bio-inspired polymeric materials targeting for example drug-delivery in biomedical applications. Trying to make synthetic protocols greener and implementing renewable resources where it is possible.joakimengstrom@berkeley.edu
Personal webpage: www.woodenbucket.org

Kyueui Lee, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Chemistry, KAIST, South Korea, 2017
B.S., Chemistry, KAIST, South Korea, 2012

Assistant Professor, Kyungpook National University
kyueui(at)knu.ac.kr

Yiran Li, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 2017
B. Sc., Condensed Matter Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 2012

Jing Cheng, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Polymer Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing, 2013
B.S., Chemistry, Peking University, Beijing, 2008

Cody Higginson, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 2015
B.S., Pharmacological Chemistry, UC San Diego, 2010
LinkedIn

Diederik W. R. Balkenende, PhD

Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow, 2016
PhD, Polymer Chemistry and Material Science, AMI (Fribourg, Switzerland), 2016
B. Sc., M.Sc, Chemical Engineering & Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), 2012

Brylee Tiu, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, 2016
B.S., University of the Philippines – Diliman, 2010
personal website
Researchgate
LinkedIn

Patrick Rühs, Ph.D.
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Food Process Engineering, ETH- Zurich
MS, Food Science, ETH-Zurich
Head of Science, Planted, Zurich, Switzerland
Google Scholar Link

R. Helen Zha, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Northwestern University, 2013
B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
Currently: Assistant Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY

Severin J. Sigg, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Basel (Switzerland), 2016
M.Sc., Chemistry, University of Basel (Switzerland), 2011
LinkedIn

Caroline Sugnaux, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Polymer Chemistry, EPFL (Switzerland), 2014
Master in Molecular and Biological Chemistry, EPFL (Switzerland), 2008
Linkedin

Patrick Burch, Ph.D.
Currently: Researcher at EPFL, Switzerland
LinkedIn

Rafael Libanori, Ph.D.
PhD in Materials Science, ETH Zurich (Switzerland), 2013.
Research Gate

Yang Wei, Ph.D.
PhD Clemson University
Assistant Professor, Asia University, Taiwan

Northwestern University (1997-2014)

Sonke Svenson (1997-8)

  • Founder, Drug Delivery Solutions, LLC

Xiaoping Zhang (1999)

Ranee Stile (2002)

  • Quality Manager, Baxter Healthcare

Kui Huang (2000-2)

Lijun Lin (2002-2004)

  • Lead, Fracturing Fluids & Water Treatment, CNPC USA

Yuri Zimenkov (2004-2005)

  • Regulatory Affairs Consultant

Jeff Dalsin (2004-2005)

  • Vice President of Operations, Imbed Biosciences

Bruce Lee (2005)

  • Professor, Michigan Technological University

Xiaowu Fan (2003-2006)

  • Senior Materials Quality Engineer, Apple

Simonida Grubjesic (2004-2007)

  • Project Manager, CTLGroup

Hermona Pandya (2005-2007)

Trung Nguyen (2007-2008)

  • Manager, Chemistry at Thermo Fisher Scientific

Bi-Huang Hu (1999-2009)

  • Professor, University of Hainan, China

Kanika Chawla (2006-2009)

  • Director, Process Development and Technical Operations at ArsenalBio

Basak Kayitmazer (2007-2009)

  • Associate Professor, Bogazici University, Turkey

Harsha Kulkarni (2008-2010)

Hyung-Do Kim (2009-2010)

  • Director, Head of Field Medical Strategy and Business Operations, US Medical Affairs, Genentech

Jose Rivera (2008-2011)

  • Global Supply Analytical Sciences Lead, Merck

Zhongqiang Liu (2005-2011)

  • Assistant Professor, Hainan University, China

Jing Su (2006-2011)

  • Associate Professor, Northeastern Illinois University

Lihong He (2009-2012)

  • Biostatistician/Epidemiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Aaron Lau (2008-2013)

  • Associate Professor, University of Strathclyde, Scotland

Dong-Keun Lee (2010-2013)

Paula Lopez-Perez (2012-13)

  • Marie Curie International Fellow
  • Career Development Coordinator, i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde

Iossif Strehin (2011-2014)

  • Senior Scientist, Abvie

Suresh Manohar (2010-2014)

Devin Barrett (2010-2014)

  • Advanced Chemist, Eastman Chemical Company

 

Undergraduate Student Alumni

UC Berkeley (2014-present)

Eva Sabine

Griffin Lawrence

Vanessa Lim

Athiyya Umar
B.S. Bioengineering and Materials Science Engineering Joint Major

Brittany Zhang
Molecular and Cell Biology (B.A.) and Bioengineering (Minor),  2021

Sasha Demeulenaere
B.S. Bioengineering, 2019

Valentin Martchenko

Chemical Biology (B.S.) and Bioengineering (minor), 2020

Kristene Mai

Chemical Biology (major) and Bioengineering (minor), 2020
Goun Lee (Amy)
B.S., Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH),  2020
Caroline Sobek
Chemical Biology (B.S.) and Statistics (B.A.),  2020
Sunny Xu
B.S. Chemical Biology, 2019
Sarah Spivack
B.S. Bioengineering, 2019
Max Ney

BS, Bioengineering, 2019
PhD Student, Duke University
Alyse Gonthier
B.S. Bioengineering/Materials Science & Engineering Joint,  2019
PhD Student, UC-Irvine
Andrew Kelleghan
BS, UC Berkeley, 2018
Currently: PhD Student at UCLA
Stephanie Liu

BS, Materials Science & Engineering, 2018
Luis F Caldera Guzman
B.S. Bioengineering, Materials Science & Engineering, 2018
PhD Student, Caltech
Zhuojun (Rachel) Huang
BS, UC Berkeley, 2018
Currently: PhD Student, Stanford Materials Science and Engineering
Sarah Bhattacharjee
BS, UC Berkeley, 2018
Currently: MD Student at University of Chicago

Northwestern University (1997-2014)

 

William Murphy (AY1998)

  •  Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sara Lindberg (AY1998)

Brian Korreck (AY1998)

Sweta Modi (AY1999)

Nicole Eberle (AY2000)

Steven Jedlinski (AY2000)

Toni Kwan (AY2000)

Ryan Williams (AY2000)

Jonathan Friedstat (AY2002)

Priti Madhav (AY2002)

Neha Goel (AY2002)

Ravi Kacker (AY2002)

Matt Keller (summer 2003)

Caren Nguyen (AY2002)

Nader Varjavand (AY2002)

Lauren Anderson (AY2002)

Justin Rohde (AY2003)

  • Chief Transformation Officer at Xplor

Sonali Rajan (summer 2004)

Iossif Strehin (AY2003-4),

  • PhD 2011, Johns Hopkins University

Saranya Srinivasan (AY2004)

Stephanie Sabourin (AY2004)

Emre Motan (AY2003-4)

Christopher Walsh (AY2004)

Mohit Manocha (AY2003-4)

Dorothea Koh (AY2005-6)

  • Best Poster Award, NU Undergraduate Research Day
  • MS, Stanford University
  • Founder & CEO of Bot MD

June Cha (AY2005-6)

Mary Beth Holden (AY2006-7)

Mohd Azman (AY2006-7)

Junsung Rho (AY2007-8)

Mary Richert (AY2007-8)

Winifred Lo (AY2007-8, AY2008-9)

Kelly Luckasevic (AY2008-9)

  • MSE Department Hilliard Award for Leadership, Scholarship, and Service
  • McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Alumni Award
  • Executive Director of Advisory Services at Lumere

Kyle Vining (Holmberg) (AY2007-8, AY2008-9)

  • BME Department Award for Research, 2009
  • PhD, Harvard University
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
  • K99/R00 Award
  • Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Antonio Feliciano (AY2009-10)

Kevin Pukala (AY2009-10)

David Bieranoski (AY2009-10)

Erica Pollack (AY2009-10)

Vijay Raghunathan (AY2009-10)

David Wu (AY2009-10)

Steven Lu (AY2009-10)

Calvin Kwan (AY2009-10)

Anika Williams (AY2009-10)

Piotr Maniak (AY2009-10, AY2010-11, Summer 2011)

Michael Kharouta (AY2009-10, AY2010-11)

Grace Bushnell (AY2010-11, Summer 2011, AY2011-12, AY2012-13)

  • McCormick Summer Undergraduate Research Scholar, 2012
  • PhD, University of Michigan
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan

Rahul Varshney (AY2010-11, Summer 2011)

Sarah Uttal (AY2010-11, Summer 2011, AY2011-12)

Christina Fuentes (AY2010-11, Summer 2011, AY2011-12, AY2012-13)

  • PhD, University of California, Berkeley
  • Associate Consultant, Dark Horse Consulting Group

Michael Kanter (AY2010-11)

Yufei Tian (Summer 2011, AY2011-12, AY2012-13)

Jin Tao (AY2010-11, Summer 2011, AY2011-12)

Charlie Reis (AY2011-12, AY2012-13)

Jason Guo (AY2011-12, AY2012-13)

  • PhD, Rice University
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University

Chelsea Fries

PhD, Duke University, 2022
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington
 

University of Illinois-Chicago (1994-1997)

Steven Starke (AY1997)

Frank Znidarsich (AY1998)

Scott Millard (AY1997)

Van Nguyen (AY1997)

Christian Block (AY1997)

 

Masters Student Alumni

UC Berkeley (2014-present)

Angie Korpusik
MS, UC Berkeley Materials Science, 2018
BS, Case Western Reserve University, 2015
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2015

Northwestern University (1997-2014)

Eric Westhaus (MS 1999)
Matthew Strege (MS 1999)
Nilam Shah (MS 2000)
Aaron Pederson (MS 2001)
Ashik Mohan (MS 2002)
Sarah Rosenstein (MS 2006)
Nathaniel Catron (MS 2006)
Katherine Radwanski (MS 2007)
Michael Chau (MS 2008) PhD, Karolinska Institute, 2014
Lori Johnson-Brand (2012)
Ran Zhang (2011-2013)

University of Illinois-Chicago (1994-1997)

Helen Cui (MS 1998)

 

Visiting Scholar Alumni

UC Berkeley (2014-present)

Tomoko Ogiyama
Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd
PhD, Graduate School of Pharma-Science, Teikyo University, 2018

Alexandra Ramos
BS Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, 2022
Amgen Scholar
1st Place, Food, Pharmaceutical, and Bioengineering Poster Competition, 2021 AIChE Annual Conference

Miriam Zintl

Marshall Plan Scholarship Recipient, 2019
MSc. Chemistry and Technology of Materials, TU Vienna, Austria, 2019
BSc. Technical Chemistry, TU Vienna, Austria 2016
Haoqi Wang

B.S. Physics, Nanjing University, 2019
Currently PhD student, UT-Austin

Zhaojie Zhang
B.S. Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University,  2019

Suhair Sunoqrot, PhD
Fulbright Visiting Scholar
Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics at  Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan
PhD, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 2013
BS, Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, 2007
Web, LinkedIn, Google Scholar

Jaime Augusto Santillan Mercado

Ph.D.University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program – NIH, 2018
Bridge to the Doctorate Program – NSF, 2013
BS, Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus 2013

Farid Behboodi Sadabad
Ph.D., Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, 2018.
M.Sc., Polymer Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2011.
B.Sc., Polymer Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, 2008.

Livius F. Muff
Masters in Material Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland 2017
Bachelor in Material Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland 2015
PhD student, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Iho Kamimura
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Japan
MS, Chemistry

Jiafu Shi, Ph.D.
Lecturer (Teaching and research), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, China
PhD in Chemical Technology, Tianjin University, China, 2013
MS in Chemical Technology, Tianjin University, China, 2010
BS in Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, China, 2008
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jiafu_Shi

Dr. Sun Kim
Senior Scientist, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea

Gijung Kwak
PhD Student, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Korea

Professor Yi Cao
Professor, School of Physics, Nanjing University, China

Chao Liang
PhD student, National Defense University, China

Professor Siwei Liu
Assistant Professor, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Sun Yat-sen University, China

Pedro O. Méndez
undergraduate student, University of Puerto Rico
Amgen Scholar

Jorge G. Padilla Zayas
undergraduate student, University of Puerto Rico
Amgen Scholar

Xi Xie
Assistant Professor, Hainan University, China

Northwestern University (1997-2014)

Yuhan Lee (2006) PhD Student, KAIST, Korea.
Professor Yongkuan Gong (2008-9), Northwest University, Xi’an China.
Professor Isao Hirata (2009-10), Hiroshima University, Japan.
Professor Yuhong Ren (2009-10), National Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology
Kan Fu (2010), Undergraduate Student, National University of Singapore
Timothy Douglas (2010), PhD Student, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Professor Hyuk Sang Yoo (2010-11), Kangwon National University, Korea
Jisuk Choi (2010-11), PhD Student, Kangwon National University, Korea
Haesuk Kim (2011), PhD Student, Kangwon National University, Korea
Reza Nejadnik (2012), Postdoctoral Fellow, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Pamela Walsh (2012-13), Lecturer, Chemical Engineering, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland, (Marie Curie International Fellow)
Professor Yusuke Arima (2012-13), Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University
Diana Alves (2012), PhD Student, Universidade do Minho, Portugal.
Haowei Yang (2013), Ph. D. student, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, China.
Gali Fichman (2013), PhD student, The Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Professor George Mogami (2014), Assistant Professor, Tohoku University, Japan.
Sebastian Giessler (2014), PhD student, University of Oslo, Norway.

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /services/http/users/m/messrsch/wordpress/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 405