People

Ratnesh Lal/ Professor, Bioengineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (joint)

Nirav Patel Ph.D. / Post-Doc

Education 

Ph.D. Bioengineering, UCSD

B.S. Bioengineering, UCSD

Project

Atomic Force Microscopy, Oceanic Microbiology

The biological activity of marine microbes constitutes a significant fraction in the cycling of essential nutrients throughout the global oceans.

Spatio-temporal variations in nutrient distribution in the surface waters influence the adaptive strategies that microbes employ for their energy requirements. My research focuses on the application of high-resolution atomic force microscopy to marine microbial ecology for elucidating microbial interactions with colloidal dissolved organic matter and their ecological context.

Abhijith Karkisaval Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D. Engineering Physics, MAE Dept. UCSD

M.S. Engineering Physics, MAE Dept. UCSD 

B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore

Projects

Atomic force microscopy based imaging and structural studies

Combined atomic force microscopy and  total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (AFM-TIRF)

Simultaneous/combined atomic force microscopy and electrophysiology

Investigating membrane-protein interaction phenomena in Alzheimer's disease through multi-modal microscopy techniques.

Grace Jang / Ph.D. Student, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Education

Ph.D. candidate Mechanical Engineering, UCSD (current)

M.S. Mechanical Engineering, UCSD

B.S. Aerospace Engineering, UCSD

Project

Design of the array-AFM holder to actuate each probes independently to study mechanical and electrical properties of the sample

Torus Washington II / Ph.D. Student, Nanoengineering

Education

Ph.D. candidate Nanoengineering, UCSD (current)

M.S. Nanotechnology, University of Central Florida

B.S. Materials, Science, & Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Project

Drug delivery, Nanodelivery

I am working to develop nanoparticle-mediated cancer immunotherapies. With my background in in situ vaccination cancer treatment, I aim to bring a targeted approach to achieving anti-tumor immunity.

Tyler Bodily / Ph.D. Student, Bioengineering

Education 

Ph.D. Bioengineering, UCSD (current)

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Utah

Project

Biosensors, Drug delivery

I am working on GFET sensors for detection of coronavirus and other viruses as well as GFET detection of Amyloid-ß for Alzheimer's disease.

Anirudh Ramanathan /  Ph.D. Student, Material Science & Engineering

Education

Ph.D. Material Science & Engineering, UCSD (current)

M.S. Bioengineering, UCSD

B.Tech Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli

Project

AFM

Currently working on characterizing membrane layers, as well as studying the addition of peptides onto these layers

Armando Ramil / Master Student, Bioengineering

Education

M.S. Bioengineering, UCSD (current)

B.S. Bioengineering: Bioengineering, UCSD

Project 

GFET Biosensor

My project involves multiple aspects of Graphene Field Effect Transistors. I mainly work with their application for protein detection and apply that to working with human biofluids. Other work includes manufacturing techniques for the biosensors and characterization techniques involving Raman Spectroscopy.

Prachi Heda / Bachelor's Student, Mathematics - Computer Science

I am working with the Biosensor Team to improve analysis methods on Python utilizing machine learning techniques.

Mahi Saheba / Bachelor's Student, Chemistry

I am working with the GFET sensors and their application for protein detection in human plasma

Nikaash Bahl / Bachelor's Student, Biochemistry

I am working with the GFET sensors and their application for protein detection in human plasma

Aengieline Sevilla / Bachelor’s Student, Bioengineering

I am working with the drug delivery team to design a nano-depot device that will use sensors to determine when to release nanobowls into the body for more targeted drug delivery.