People

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Our Team

Rebecca Taylor, Ph.D.

Director (curriculum vitae)

Professor in Mechanical Engineering and, by courtesy, Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Aleyamma Alexander, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Research Associate

    Analyzing DNA nanostructures for targeted delivery

      Logan Carpenter, Ph.D.

      Postdoctoral Research Associate

      Investigating the impact on cellular functions from interfacing with DNA nanostructures.

        Grace Rohaley, Ph.D.

        Post-Doctoral Associate in Mechanical Engineering & SAXS specialist at Materials Characterization Facility.

        Characterization and instrumentation for rapid protoyping and manufactured materials.

          Sarah J. Weintraub, Ph.D.

          Postdoctoral researcher in Mechanical Engineering

          Leveraging synthetic biology tools to build scalable DNA nanoparticles for drug-delivery.

            Taryn Imamura, B.S.

            Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025) Co-advised with Sarah Bergbreiter

            Taryn is an NSF and GEM fellowship awardee, who is developing a hybrid top-down, bottom-up manufacturing process for microswimmers using DNA origami.

              Vismaya Walawalkar M.S.

              Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)

              Studying nano-scale DNA shear sensors.

                Isabella Ferranti, B.S.

                Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2026)

                Studying how DNA origami nanostructures and nanobiosensors interface with cells

                  Anuhya Edupuganti, B.S.

                  Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027)

                  Investigating the Self-Assembly of Modular Robots Constructed using DNA

                    Zijuan Liang, B.S.

                    Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027) Co-advised with Burak Ozdoganlar

                    Studying DNA origami and microneedle arrays.

                      A.J. Vetturini, B.S.E

                      Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027) Co-advised with Jonathan Cagan

                      A.J. is exploring the expansion of design methodologies for DNA origami

                        Leah Dickey, M.S.

                        Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering (expected 2026)

                        Leah is a GEM Fellowship recipient, who is investigating relationships between design parameters and therapeutic outcomes of DNA nanostructures.

                          Lainie Beauchemin, B.S.

                          Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2029)

                          Using peptide nucleic acids to design self-assembling nuclease-resistant and protein-compatible nanostructures

                            Abraham E. Polanco Martínez, B.S.

                            Ph.D. Student in Chemical Engineering (expected 2029) Co-advised with Dr. Tagbo Niepa

                            Studying the detection and eradication of Candida auris using DNA origami.

                              Nandita Rai, B.S.

                              M.S. Student in Biomedical Engineering (expected 2026)

                              Studying DNA origami and Extracellular Vesicle Conjugates for Therapeutics

                                Gweneth Ge (Yuejun)

                                M.S. Student in Robotics Institute (expected 2026)

                                Building scalable, automated pipelines for DNA origami and nanoscale fabrication

                                  Eladio R. Andujar Lugo

                                  Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2025)

                                  Designing DNA-PNA Origami Modeling/Visualization Tools

                                    Nicholas Chung

                                    Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2026)

                                    Exploring manufacturing methods to produce and control DNA microswimmers

                                      Shriya Sivakumar

                                      Undergraduate Student in Mechanical Engineering (expected 2027)

                                      Automating generation of CAD models of proteins with OnShape's FeatureScript program

                                        Irene Yap

                                        Undergraduate Summer Research Student in Biochemistry at UCSD (expected 2027)

                                        Automating the generation of DNA models using CAD software

                                          Directions to the lab

                                          Office Location:

                                          5000 Forbes Avenue
                                          Scaife Hall, Room A10
                                          Pittsburgh, PA 15213

                                          Driving directions:

                                          If you are visiting campus, hourly parking is available in the East Campus Garage:
                                          5040 Forbes Avenue
                                          Pittsburgh, PA 15213

                                          Laboratory Location:

                                          Our research laboratory space is located in:
                                          Scaife Hall, Room A11

                                          Ph.D. Alumni

                                          Name

                                          Ph.D. Thesis title

                                          Graduation info

                                          D. Sebastian Arias

                                          Redefining Boundaries in DNA Nanotechnology: Complexity, Control, and Accessibility

                                          MechE Ph.D. Spring '25, now at Emerald Cloud Lab

                                          Weitao Wang

                                          Cell Membrane Engineering with Structural DNA Nanotechnology

                                          MechE Ph.D. Fall '24 and postdoc until Fall '25

                                          Bolutito Babatunde

                                          Investigating a Flexible Framework for Automating Structural Multi-layer DNA Origami Designs

                                          MechE Ph.D. Fall '24, now at Ferhat Ay Lab

                                          Emma Benjaminson

                                          Methods for Designing, Manufacturing and Controlling Micro-Scale Swimming Robotic Systems Built with DNA Nanotechnology

                                          MechE Ph.D. '23, now at Novasenta

                                          Susana Beltrán

                                          Investigating Mechanotransduction Behaviors of Natural and Engineered Molecular Sensors for Patient-tailored Treatment Paradigms and Regenerative Rehabilitation

                                          MechE Ph.D. '23, now at the National Science Foundation as an Engineering/Science Analyst

                                          Ying Liu

                                          Biosensing and imaging with structural DNA nanotechnology

                                          MechE Ph.D. '21, now at Huawei, Inc

                                          Sriram Kumar

                                          Self-assembly of Synthetic Nucleic Acid Nanostructures for the Development of Mechanical Biosensors

                                          MechE Ph.D. '21, now at Pacific Biosciences.

                                          M.S. Research Alumni

                                          Name

                                          Masters Thesis Title

                                          Graduation info

                                          Karthik Subramaniam

                                          Dynamic simulation of DNA microswimmer locomotion in an oscillating magnetic field.

                                          MechE MS Spring '25

                                          Bhavya Chopra

                                          Membrane binding strategies for enhanced cellular uptake of DNs

                                          BME MS '23, incoming CMU Ph.D. Student for Fall 2025

                                          Paula Arambel

                                          Wrinkling of Silicone Sheets Subject to Partial Clamping and Rationally-designed Perforations

                                          MechE MS Research '18, now at Insulet Corporation

                                          Alexander Kwakye

                                          Microfluidic Platform for Multimodal Microscopy Studies of Structural DNA Nanotechnology

                                          MechE MS Research '18, now at Intel

                                          B.S./M.S. Alumni

                                          Name

                                          Research description

                                          Graduation info

                                          Jaren Hubal

                                          Automating the preparation of DNA origami using an OT-2 pipetting robot.

                                          MechE MS Fall '24

                                          Elsa Schleicher

                                          Honors Research on Cloud Lab Automation of DNA Origami Pre-Stock Solutions. Junior year project: Automating CAD models for DNA molecules with OnShape’s FeatureScript Program.

                                          MechE BS Spring '24, now at CSBio

                                          Sruti Bapatla

                                          Course Development for Mechanics 1: 2D Design

                                          MechE/BME BS expected Spring '25

                                          Lawrence Onyango

                                          Mapping the analytical design space for DNA for 3D lever nanosensors

                                          MechE BS Spring '24

                                          Caleigh Goodwin-Schoen

                                          Creating 3D printed models of biological structures

                                          MechE BS '22/MS '23, now at HRL Laboratories, LLC

                                          Ethan Husted

                                          Designing PNA nanostructures with 2-domain inputs

                                          MechE BS '22/MS '23, now at Key Tech

                                          Aparna Nair

                                          Controlling the length of DNA fabricated nanotubes using a hybridized origami/SST method

                                          MechE BS '23

                                          Peter Sauer

                                          Creating a Dataset to Predict DNA Origami Formation

                                          Biological Sciences and Statistics/Machine Learning BS '23, now at the NIH Postbac IRTA program

                                          Anika Banga

                                          Remotely operable microscope-based microswimmer test arena

                                          SCS BS '22

                                          Charlotte Andreasen

                                          Nanoscale DNA wall shear stress sensor

                                          MechE BS '21, now Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan in the Arruda Lab

                                          Kayleigh Boyle

                                          Designing and modelling 3D PNA and DNA nanostructures

                                          MechE BS '21, now at Key Tech

                                          Mitchell Harmatz

                                          Magnetically actuated microswimmers made from microbeads and DNA

                                          Research assistant through May 2020, now at Perelman School of Medicine (UPenn)

                                          Fatima Basit

                                          Design and fabrication of nanostructures and nano-devices using two photon polymerization

                                          MechE BS '21

                                          Yishun (Daphne) Zhou

                                          Design and simulation of nanoscale DNA origami shear sensor

                                          MechE BS '20

                                          Rishabh Jain

                                          Tracking magnetic microswimmers and stretching nanosprings.

                                          MechE BS '22

                                          Taylor Clayton

                                          Nanoscribe-fabrication templates for bead pocketing self-assembly, now at General Motors in the NextGen Controls Group

                                          MechE MS '19

                                          Benjamin Pavlat

                                          Micropost tracking analysis

                                          ChemE BS '21

                                          Mitchell Riek

                                          Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                          MechE BS '19, now at Caterpillar Inc.

                                          Rachel Sneeringer

                                          Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                          MechE BS '20

                                          Alexandra Eggleston

                                          Cell culture for MFI project

                                          ChemE/BME BS '17

                                          Berk Sahin

                                          BME Carnegie Heart Fellowship, Summer 2017

                                          MechE BS '19

                                          Will Anstett

                                          SURG Project Spring 2018

                                          MechE BS '18

                                          Isabel Roscoe

                                          Rapid prototyping of molecular models

                                          MechE BS '18 / Tepper MBA '19

                                          Jade Crockem

                                          Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                          MechE BS '18

                                          Sarah Karp

                                          Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                          MechE BS '18

                                          Shivang Chordia

                                          Spring 2017 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                          MechE BS '18

                                          Kelly Underwood

                                          Spring 2018 Course development for "Modern Manufacturing in Steeltown"

                                          MechE BS '18

                                          Postdoc Alumni

                                          Name

                                          Research description

                                          Graduation info

                                          Manoj Gupta

                                          Water-soluble gammaPNA nanostructures

                                          Postdoctoral Researcher 2020-2023

                                          Dilhara Jayarathna

                                          Voice assisted protocol training, PNA, and origami validation

                                          Postdoctoral Researcher 2018