People
Brendan Harley (he/him)
Photograph 
Email bharley@nospam64786231a18a4.illinois.edu
Title Robert W. Schaefer Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Office Program Leader, Cancer Center at Illinois
Theme Leader, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
S.B., Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2000
Sc.D., Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2006
Postdoc, Childrens Hospital Boston, 2008
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2014
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2018
Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), 2021
Young Investigator Award (2014), Clemson Award for Basic Research (2021), Society for Biomaterials
NSF CAREER award, 2013
Download CV
Theme Leader, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
S.B., Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2000
Sc.D., Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2006
Postdoc, Childrens Hospital Boston, 2008
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2014
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2018
Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), 2021
Young Investigator Award (2014), Clemson Award for Basic Research (2021), Society for Biomaterials
NSF CAREER award, 2013
Download CV
Phone (217) 244-7112
Faculty
Sara Pedron Haba (she/her)
Photograph 
Email spedron@nospam64786231a48df.illinois.edu
Title Research Professor (CHBE, IGB, CI MED)
Department Ph.D., Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (Spain), 2009
graduate trainees
Ashwin Bale, (he/him)
Photograph 
Email abale2@nospam64786231a6cc2.illinois.edu
Department B.E. Chemical Engineering with a Minor in Materials Science, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, 2021
Office Project: Understanding the interplay between Glioblastoma's cell metabolism and hyaluronic acid using multi-dimensional hydrogel models and imaging
Gunnar Thompson (he/him)
Photograph 
Email gunnart2@nospam64786231a7927.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2016
Office Project: Granular Hydrogels for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Culture
Sheridan Fok, (he/him)
Photograph 
Email kfok2@nospam64786231a8581.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Life Science, National Taiwan University, 2015,
M.S., Life Science, National Taiwan University, 2018
M.S., Life Science, National Taiwan University, 2018
Brittany Payan, (she/her)
Photograph 
Email bpayan2@nospam64786231a9257.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston, 2020
Office Project: Gelatin Maleimide Granular Hydrogels as a Model to Study Glioblastoma
Génesis Ríos-Adorno, (she/her)
Photograph 
Email genesis5@nospam64786231aa158.illinois.edu
Department B.S. Chemical Engineering with a minor in Pharmaceutical Engineering at University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, 2021
Office Project: Incorporation of Gel-SH hydrogels into a stratified scaffold for tendon-to-bone interface regeneration
Grace Rubino, (she/her)
Photograph 
Email grubino3@nospam64786231aad6c.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, 2022
Vasiliki (Aliki) Kolliopoulos (she/her)
Photograph 
Email vk7@nospam64786231ab906.illinois.edu
Title B.S., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio State University, 2018
Victoria Kriuchkovskaia (she/her)
Photograph 
Email vk10@nospam64786231ac4e0.illinois.edu
Title B.S., Chemical Engineering and Mathematics, Iowa State University, 2019
Office Project: Understanding Acquired Chemotherapeutic Resistance in Glioblastoma Using Biomaterial-Based Models
Yoanna Ivanova (she/her)
Photograph 
Email yoannai2@nospam64786231acdcb.illinois.edu
Department B.E., Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, 2021
Hannah Theriault (she/her)
Photograph 
Email hst4@nospam64786231ad9b9.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021
Office Project: Developing hydrogel-based models of endometriosis lesion etiology and progression
Kyle Timmer
Photograph 
Email ktimmer2@nospam64786231ae5a3.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Chemical Engineering & Biochemistry, Calvin University, 2020
Office Project: Tailoring triphasic biomaterials to promote regeneration of osteotendinous transitionary tissue
undergraduate assistants
Rachael Bell (BioE)
Department Mentor: Tori Barnhouse
Edward Neves (CHBE)
Joy Hensold (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Mai Ngo
Angela Andrada (Chemistry)
Department Mentor: Marley Dewey
Alison Nunes (MatSE)
Department Mentor: Aidan Gilchrist
Amber Boyce (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Rebecca Hortensius
Christine Hunter (BioE)
Department Mentor: Mai Ngo
Yunseon Park (CHBE)
Department Mentor: Aliki Kolliopoulos
Noah Chiou (Engineering Physics)
Department Mentor: Samantha Zambuto
Maxwell Polanek (CHBE)
Department Mentor: Aliki Kolliopoulos
alumni
Raul Sun Han (he/him)
Photograph 
Email sunhanc2@nospam64786231b2f52.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Chemistry, Pomona College, 2016
Aleczandria Tiffany (she/her)
Photograph 
Email ast2@nospam64786231b3b67.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Chemical Engineering, U. of Southern California, 2016
Samantha Zambuto (she/her)
Photograph 
Email zambuto2@nospam64786231b474f.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Biological Engineering, Cornell University / Sc.M., Biomedical Engineering, Brown University
Tori Barnhouse (she/her)
Photograph 
Email vb7@nospam64786231b5342.illinois.edu
Department B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Ohio State University, 2017
Steven Caliari
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE, 2014
Department Project: influence of scaffold biophysical properties on tenocyte and mesenchymal stem cell bioactivity for musculoskeletal tissue engineering
Emily (Jee-Wei) Chen
Photograph 
Email jechen3@nospam64786231b674a.illinois.edu
Department Ph.D., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2019)
Office Current: Postdoc (Cecilia Leal), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ji-Sun Choi
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE 2014
Department Project: label-free tracking of hematopoietic stem cell fate decisions
Office Current: Samsung Biologics, S. Korea
Marley Dewey
Photograph 
Email mjdewey2@nospam64786231b7b9e.illinois.edu
Title B.S., Chemical Engineering, UMaine Orono, 2016
Seema Ehsan
Photograph 
Title Postdoc (IGB), 2014 - 2015.
Department Project: tissue engineering platforms for cancer
Office Current: Regulatory Affairs, Genentech, San Francisco, CA.
Nathaniel Gabrielson
Photograph 
Title Post-doc (IGB), 2011 - 2012
Department Project: cell-laden hydrogels in integrated microfluidic devices for long-term cell culture
Office Current: Lecturer, Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering, U. Illinois
Aidan Gilchrist
Photograph 
Email agilchr2@nospam64786231b97c1.illinois.edu
Title Ph.D. ChBE 2020
Office Project: biomaterial platforms for directed hematopoietic stem cell response
Current: Postdoc with Dr. Sarah Heilshorn at Stanford University
Current: Postdoc with Dr. Sarah Heilshorn at Stanford University
Emily Gonnerman
Photograph 
Title M.S., ChBE, 2011
Department Project: collagen-glycosaminoglycan scaffold systems to assess HL-1 cardiomyocyte beating and alignment
Office Current: Manufacturing Engineer, TSI, Inc., MN.
William Grier
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE 2017
Department Project: mechanotransduction in osteotendinous insertion repair
Office Current: Process Engineer, Manufacturing Science and Technology Group, Genzyme, Cambridge, MA
Rebecca Hortensius
Photograph 
Title Ph.D. BioE 2016
Department Project: amniotic-membrane functionalized collagen biomaterials for orthopedic repair
Office Current: Postdoc in the Ogle Lab at U. Minnesota
Bhushan Mahadik
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., U. Illinois, 2014
Department Project: microfluidic tools for studying hematopoietic stem cell/niche interactions
Office Current: Assistant Director, NIH Center for Engineering Complex Tissues, U. Maryland
Laura Mozdzen
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE 2016
Department Project: mechanically reinforced scaffolds for osteotendinous insertion repair
Office Current: Senior Scientist, AbbVie, Chicago, IL
Mai Ngo
Photograph 
Email maingo2@nospam64786231bce2a.illinois.edu
Title Ph.D. ChBE 2020
Office Project: developing vascularized glioblastoma models
Current: Postdoc with Dr. Chris Chen in the Biological Design Center at Boston University
Current: Postdoc with Dr. Chris Chen in the Biological Design Center at Boston University
Jacquelyn Pence
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE 2016
Department Project: endometrial-inspired biomaterials
Office Current: Research Assistant Professor, U. Memphis
Julio Serrano
Photograph 
Email jfserra2@nospam64786231be32f.illinois.edu
Title Postdoc
Department Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Daniel Weisgerber
Photograph 
Title Ph.D., ChBE 2016
Department Project: mineralized collagen scaffolds for bone and craniofacial defect repair
Office Current: Post-Doc in Abate Lab at UCSF
Tamaki Yokohama-Tamaki
Photograph 
Title Visiting scientist, 2011 - 2012
Department Project: CXCR4/CXCL12 signaling in the dental epithelial stem cell niche
Office Current: Asst. Prof., Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan
alumni (undergrads)
Christine Hunter (BioE)
Department Mentor: Mai Ngo
Diana Slater (BioE)
Department Mentor: Marley Dewey
Vincent Cornelius (BioE)
Department Mentor: Aidan Gilchrist
Allison Kojima (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Samantha Zambuto
Michael Ding (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Aidan Gilchrist
Nathan Petrikas (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Tori Barnhouse
Sanha Kim (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Mai Ngo
Sarah Leary (Chemistry)
Department Mentor: Emily Chen
Andrey Nosatov (MatSE)
Department Mentor: Marley Dewey
Ioana Pintescu (MCB)
Department Mentor: Samantha Zambuto
Matthew Au (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Bhushan Madadik
Audrey Blazek (BioE)
Department Mentor: Emily Chen
Lily Buescher (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Sara Pedron Haba
Hannah Chait (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Alec Tiffany
Jill Ebens (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Rebecca Hortensius
Kevin Erning (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Dan Weisgerber
Michael Foley (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Bill Grier
Eileen Johnson (BioE)
Department Mentor: Marley Dewey
Elijah Karvels (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Mai Ngo
Allison LaHood (BioE)
Title Mentor: Emily Chen
Sarah Laken (BioE)
Title Mentor: Sara Pedron Haba
Patricia Li (CHBE)
Department Mentor: Sara Pedron
Jordan Meyer (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Bill Grier
Ashley Moy (BioE)
Title Mentor: Bill Grier
Harshita Polishetty (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Sara Pedron Haba
Amanda Pritchard (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Sara Pedron Haba
Matt Ramsey (BioE)
Title Mentor: Bill Grier
Ryan Rodgers (ABE)
Title Mentor: Laura Mozdzen
Shayta Roy (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Laura Mozdzen
Kirsten Schroeder (BioE)
Department Mentor: Aidan Gilchrist
Simona Slater (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Marley Dewey
Erik Steinbrenner (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Bhushan Mahadik
Jessica Vargas (Int. Biology)
Title Mentor: Rebecca Hortensius
Alan Vucetic (ChBE)
Title Mentor: Laura Mozdzen
Evan Willey (ChBE)
Department Mentor: Bhushan Mahadik
Gabrielle Wolter (BioE)
Department Mentor: Sara Pedron
Huiru Zhang (MatSE)
Department Mentor: Sara Pedron