Principal Investigator
Anita Shukla
anita_shukla@brown.edu
Elaine I. Savage Professor of Engineering
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
Anita Shukla is the Elaine I. Savage Professor of Engineering at Brown University. Her research involves the development of nano- to macroscale biomaterials for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections. Professor Shukla’s honors include selection as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and a National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholar. She is the recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, an Office of Naval Research Director of Research Early Career Grant, and a Brown University Early Career Research Achievement Award and Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Prior to joining Brown in 2013, Professor Shukla was a National Institutes of Health Ruth Kirschstein postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011 as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Professor Shukla also received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT. She received her B.S. at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 with majors in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering.
Senior Research Scientist
Akram Abbasi
akram_abbasi@brown.edu
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, Kingston. 2014-2019
M.Sc. Chemical Engineering-Thermo-kinetics and Catalyst, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran
B.Sc. Chemical Engineering-Process Design, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran
Research interests: Developing biomaterials and nanoparticles for treatment and detection of bacterial infection.
Graduate Students
Zhaowei Jiang
zhaowei_jiang@brown.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
M.S., Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University
B.S., Biochemistry, Syracuse University
Research Interests: Developing nanomaterials for the treatment of bacterial infections
Alec McCall
alec_mccall@brown.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Arizona State University
Research Interests: Developing bacterial enzyme responsive antimicrobial biomaterials for treatment of chronic wound infections
Camila Carvalho
camila_carvalho@brown.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Research Interests: Developing drug delivery systems using responsive biomaterials for the treatment of systemic and localized fungal infections
Carolina Gomez Casas
carolina_gomez_casas@brown.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware
Research Interests: Developing immunomodulatory drug delivery systems for the treatment of microbial biofilms
Charlotte Chen
charlotte_chen@brown.edu
Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., Materials Science and Engineering & Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Research Interests:
Visiting Scholars
meenakshi_verma@brown.edu
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Research interests: Development of micropatterned polymeric surfaces for antifouling and diagnostics applications
Postbaccalaureate Student
nina_hernandez@brown.edu
B.S., Biochemistry, Smith College
Undergraduate Students
Kailee Tanaka
kailee_tanaka@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Optimization of bone implants as drug delivery scaffolds to treat osteoporosis
Jamiley Avila
jamiley_avila@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research Interests: Investigating immunomodulatory lipid nanoparticles to combat biofilm infections
Julia Patterson
julia_patterson@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Optimizing liposomal formulations for antimicrobial, enzyme-responsive hydrogel applications
Jared Sonkin
jared_sonkin@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Developing enzyme-responsive wound treatments for specific release of antimicrobial agents
Rachael Yuan
rachael_yuan@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests:
Serly Chohmalian
serly_chohmalian@brown.edu
Sc.B. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: Investigating enzyme-responsive hydrogel formulations for the treatment of localized fungal infections.