People / AlumniMBP Class of 2021-2022/23
Ashleigh Acker
Undergraduate: BS Biology, Emory University
Research: "Characterizing Self-Assembling Properties of Novel Bacterial Microcompartment Shell Proteins Using Cell-Free Protein Synthesis "
Internship: Graduate Researcher at DTE Lab
Andrew Benintende
Undergraduate: BS Movement Science, University of Michigan
PhD: Doctor of Medicine, Michigan State University
Research: "Prevention of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Induced Apoptosis via Nanoparticle Delivery of C/EBP Homologous Protein (CHOP) small interfering RNA (siRNA) "
Yvette Calvillo
Undergraduate: BLAS, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Research: "Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) and Proteomics Quanitifcation of Expression"
Stanley Chen
Undergraduate: BS Molecular Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Research: "Identification of Blood Based Biomarkers to Predict Circadian Time using Machine Learning"
Yang Cheng
Undergraduate: BS Biological Sciences, Xiamen University
Research: "Deciphering the role of H3K9me3 in regulating the progression and
epigenetic landscape of AML"
Internship: Research Technician at Northwestern University
Qi Chu
Megan Cunningham
Undergraduate: BS Biochemistry, University of Dayton
Research: "Project Biological Removal of Nitrogen and Phosphorus from wastewater via PdNA"
Internship: R&D Intern at Circ
Natalia Deszcz
Undergraduate: BS Health Sciences, DePaul University
Research: "Characterization of Small Molecule Binding to MYC Protein: Investigating the Role of the NME2-MYC Axis in Conferring Drug Resistance in CRPC"
Internship: Quality Control Intern at Exicure
Mbolle Ekane
Undergraduate: BS Biology, University of Texas at Austin
Research: "An Organoid Model For Amyloid Beta Oligomers: Effectiveness of NU9 Against Neurotoxic Protein Accumulation in Alzheimer’s Disease"
Internship: Drug Discovery Intern at Eli Lilly and Company
Sean Flannery
Undergraduate: BS Biology, Ramapo College of New Jersey
Research: "Delineating the Immediate and Direct Effects of HSF1 Activity in
Cancer"
Internship: Research Associate at Northwestern University
Emily Gamero
Undergraduate: BS Biological Sciences, Florida International University
Research: "Encapsulation of a Branched Pathway Within a Bacterial Organelle to
Divert"
Internship: Reserach Assistant at Northwestern University
Anjali Gondalia
Undergraduate: BA Neuroscience, Boston University
Research: "Determining antimicrobial properties of Pfizer’s test samples against Clostridioides species: A feasibility study"
Internship: Immunology Intern at AbbVie
Songlin Guo
Undergraduate: BS Biology, University of Washington
Research: "Circadian Regulator CLOCK Regulates Macrophage
Immunosuppressive Polarization in Glioblastoma"
Internship: Research Intern at Northwestern University
Irene Jacob
Undergraduate: B.Tech. Biotechnology, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University
Research: "Deciphering the role of creatine on glioblastoma fitness under hypoxic
stress"
Internship: Biology Co-Op at Mereck
Anusha Kamath
Undergraduate: BS Pharmacy, University of Mumbai
Research: "Pharmaceutical Value-based Pricing: Complexities and a Promise"
Internship: Analytical Methods Development Intern at Genentech
Nilofar Khanbhai
Undergraduate: BS Biotechnology, Ferris State University
Research: "Mapping Distribution of Biomineralization Proteins in Sea Urchin Spicules Using Recombinant Antibodies"
Internship: Business Development & Strategy Intern at Evozyne
Kevin Lerner
Undergraduate: BS Molecular Biology, Gettysburg College
Research: "Metabolic Engineering of Clostridium autoethanogenum to Produce Monoethylene Glycol"
Internship: Research Intern at LanzaTech
Ziyan Liang
Undergraduate: BS Pharmacy, Peking University
Research: "Validation of KSHV miRNA targets and Identification of Drug Targets in
Primary Effusion Lymphoma"
Internship: Lab Intern at Northwestern University
Minghui Lu
Undergraduate: BS Biology, Sewanee: University of the South
Research: "Utilizing Decoy RNA As A Potential Glioblastoma Therapy"
Internship: Research Assistant at Northwestern University
Aakaanksha Maddineni
Undergraduate: BS Technology and Genetic Engineering, SRM. Institute of Science and Technology
Research: "Establishment of a CRISPRa system for KSHV-Transformed Primary Effusion Lymphoma Cell Lines"
Internship: Product Development Intern at Acorn Genetics
Yashasvi Matam
Undergraduate: BS Neuroscience, Indiana University
Research: "Identifying Novel Metabolic Targets That Prevent the Activation of Hepatic Stellate Cells in NASH"
Internship: Co-Op Student at Octagon Therapeutics
Micaela Naibryf
Undergraduate: BS Chemical Engineering, Columbia University
Research: "IXA4 effects on unfolded protein response (UPR) in livers"
Internship: Microbial Process Development Itern at Eli Lilly
Esther Nehmad Karasik
Undergraduate: M.B.B.S.: Medicine and Surgery, Universidad Anáhuac México
Research: "Bioenergy recovery from waste nitrogen"
Ruxuan Qiu
Undergraduate: BS Biology, University of Wisconsin
Research: "Alzheimer’s-Related Amyloid Beta Oligomers in Developing CNS: A
Link between Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration"
Internship: Graduate Research Student at Northwestern University
Anuragini Rastogi
Undergraduate: BS Science, Banasthali Vidyapith
Masters: MS Biotechnology, Banasthali Vidyapith
Research: "Metabolic engineering of Clostridium autoethanogenum to produce value-added chemicals"
Internship: Co-Op at Janssen Pharmaceuticals
Robert Reichert
Undergraduate: BA Biology, Illinois Wesleyan University
Research: "Fabrication and Characterization of Synthetic Nanocarriers"
Isaiah Richardson
Undergraduate: BS Biomedical Sciences, Concordia University Wisconsin
Research: The Synthesis of 1,2,4-Butanetriol from D-xylose through Metabolic
Engineering in a Cell-free System
Kelechi Shere
Undergraduate: BS Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Covenant University
Research: "The Role Of Leukocyte Transmigration Mechanisms In Tumor Cell Metastases"
Internship: Analytical Methods Development Intern at Novartis
Mahima Shilotri
Undergraduate: BS Biotechnology, D.Y. Patil University
Research: "Metabolic engineering of gas-fermenting microbes for the production of fuels and chemicals"
Internship: Intern at Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp
Caylee Silvers
Undergraduate: BS Biology, University of Wisconsin
Research: "Genetic modulation of myeloid cells for enhancing anti-glioma
immunity"
Internship: Student Researcher at Northwestern University
Ruihao Song
Undergraduate: B.Eng. Food Safety and Quality, China Agricultural University
Research: "Wearable Battery-free Colorimetric Timer on Sweat Patch for
time-dynamic nanoplasmonic Lactate sensing"
Isaac Svebakken
Undergraduate: BS Biotechnology, North Dakota State University
Research: "Cultivated Meat Production Process Scale-up and Characterization"
Internship: Research Associate at Clever Carnivore
Calliope Vaselopulos
Undergraduate: BS Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University
Research: "Utilizing Advanced Cell Culture Platforms to Develop In Vitro Intestinal Models"
Internship: Process Biochemistry Intern at Biogen
Yeshasvi Vempati
Undergraduate: BA Biological Sciences, Northwestern University
Deepali Venkatesh Prasanna
Undergraduate: BE Biotechnology Engineering with first class Distinction, RV College of Engineering, Bangalore India
Research: "Development of Cell Free Prototyping Pathways for Anti-Biotic
Discovery"
Internship: Research Intern at Northwestern University
Hanxiang Wang
Undergraduate: BS Biotechnology, Sunyat-Sen University
Research: "Development and characterization of a therapy resistant murine glioma
model"
Internship: Graduate Researcher at Northwestern University
Yushi Wang
Undergraduate: BS Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
Research: "Developing in vitro Human Intestinal Epithelial Cell Culture Models"
Zhiyuan Wang
production"
Yaning Xi
Undergraduate: BS Food and Safety, Troy University
Masters: MS Biomedical Science, Troy University
Research: "How does Loss of Par3 Affect Ciliogenesis in Pancreatic Ductal
Adenocarcinoma?"
Yeojin (Daisy) Yang
Undergraduate: BA Biological Sciences (Cell Biology & Physiology) and Economics, Northwestern University
Research: "Optimization of Polymeric Nanoparticle System for mRNA Gene
Delivery"
Internship: Drug Product Design Intern at Pfizer
Rongzhen Yu
Undergraduate: BS Biotechnology, Jilin University