Alex Nukovic
Pronouns : She/Her
Email : nukovic.a@northeastern.edu
Lab : Hatfield Lab – 4th year
Hi, I’m Alex and I work with Dr. Stephen Hatfield in the New England Inflammation and Tissue Protection Institute. My dissertation project is on improving cancer vaccination responses through utilizing cryogel depot delivery in combination with local oxygen release. I grew up in Massachusetts and love living in Boston, and I completed my undergraduate degree in Bioengineering at Clemson University.
Alexa von Voorhis
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: vanvoorhis.a@northeastern.edu
Lab: Sherbo Lab, 2nd year
Driven by her passion to find sustainable solutions to combat the unprecedented challenges of climate change, she completed her Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology at UMass Dartmouth, conducting research in developing recombinant bacteria to convert seashell waste into biofuel. In the Sherbo lab, she continues to explore metabolic engineering of microbes for sustainable chemicals, fuels, and food products. Her favorite hobby (besides studying, of course) is running, she competed for her undergrad cross country team and she now runs for Battle Road Track Club. Outside of school and running, she enjoys activities she describes as ‘cozy’ including reading books, checking out local coffee shops, watching movies, and drinking tea.
Andrew Selvadoss
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: selvadoss.a@northeastern.edu
Lab: Bajpayee Lab – 3rd Year
Hi, my name is Andrew and I am a third year PhD student. I study drug delivery for gene therapy in cartilage and osteoarthritis. I am from Maryland went to the University of Maryland for undergrad (Go Terps!), where I studied chemical engineering. I am interested in therapeutic discovery, drug delivery, and biomaterials related research. Outside of science, I love playing piano and guitar, photography and art, and cooking.
Arielle Efotte
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: efotte.a@northeastern.edu
Lab: Willits Lab, 4th year
Hi friends 🙂 My name is Arielle! I am a 4th year PhD student in the Willits’ Lab. My research thesis project focuses on tissue engineering and material solutions for peripheral nerve regeneration.
Brent Buchinger
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: buchinger.b@northeastern.edu
Lab: Dr. Abigail Koppes Lab, 4th year
I’m a 4th year PhD student working underneath Abby. I can give a more detailed, technically worded summary of my project, but it pretty much boils down to creating a 3D culture of the neural network that extends between the intestines and the brain. The motivation behind this work is that we can then use this culture as a model to study Parkinson’s disease. For my background lore: I’m the youngest of 3 sons and grew up just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin. I played quite a bit of pond hockey and soccer growing up. After high school, I studied engineering at UW-Madison (both because the school has a good engineering program and because in-state tuition was cheaper). I graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s in chemical engineering, and then worked in a food science lab in Madison, Wisconsin for 1.5yrs. And now I’m back in grad school trying to get a PhD so that I can do fun biology research for a living instead of boring food science work. Outside of work, I play soccer and volleyball, I’m involved in the college’s grad student council, and I enjoy planning activities for my friend groups.
Emma Meehan
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: meehan.em@northeastern.edu
Lab: Lee-Parsons, incoming third year
Hi! I’m an incoming third year PhD student studying a medicinal plant that produces a chemotherapy drug in its leaves. My work mainly focuses on genetic engineering tools such as CRISPR applied to plants. I am a Massachusetts native and went to Tufts University for my undergraduate. After graduating in 2020, I worked at Pfizer for 2 years and now I’m at Northeastern! I am passionate about gene therapies, promoting women in STEM, and reading! My goal for 2024 is to read 1 book a week (52 books total). I also love exploring new places in Boston and travelling to new countries.
Eric Zimmerer
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: zimmerer.er@northeastern.edu
Lab: Gallaway lab, 4th year
I’m from Pennsylvania and moved to Boston to work in biotech before deciding to get my PhD in battery research. I study rechargeable alkaline batteries with an emphasis on MnO2 cathodes.
Jason Kantorow
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: kantorow.j@northeastern.edu
Lab: SimBioSys lab, 3rd year
Hi everyone, I’m Jason! I’m a third year PhD student researching computational solutions for advanced drug delivery systems. I enjoy mentoring both in the realm of graduate school specifically, and in terms of life in general (or at least as much life advice as a 24-year-old can provide!). My personal interests include playing music, hiking through nature trails, discussing western cartoons, (somewhat) creative writing, and modifying old hand-held video game consoles. I can’t wait to meet you all!
Katherine Nilov
Pronouns: They/Them
Email: nilov.k@northeastern.edu
Lab: Third Year co-advised in Dr. Abigail Koppes’ Lab with Dr. Luke Landherr
Hey everyone, welcome to NEU! I’m a third year co-advised student who built my own PhD to write comics about my studies in radiations impact on the gut, as well as evaluate how science comics impact learning for all. Outside of work, I’m super involved in a queer water polo league (Boston WetSox ;)), as well as volunteering, art, meditating, yoga, and triathlon-ing. This comes off very earthy-crunchy.. and I’m ok with that. Erase the part of you that cringes, Embrace the part of you that may be cringe. Chat soon!
Kevin Yang
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: yang.kevi@northeastern.edu
Lab: Sanjeev Mukerjee
I am currently a upcoming 4th-year PhD student working on single atom catalysts for oxygen reduction and CO2 reduction reactions for HCl and CO2 recycling. My main goals are to help the environment in some way. Outside of research, I like to try new restaurants!
Lawrence Ajayi
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: ajayi.l@northeastern.edu
Lab: Daramola’s Lab, 2nd year
Lawrence is passionate about science, career growth, and professional development. His research interests include electrochemical resource recovery, waste valorization and machine learning. He is also dedicated to inspiring and encouraging young people to take proactive steps in their self-development.
Mahek Siwatch
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: Siwatch.m@northeastern.edu
Lab: Hannah Sayre – 2nd year
I currently work in photochemistry tuning red light reactions to create organic products. I’ve lived in Mumbai, Kuwait, and Michigan before moving to Boston for the PhD program. I’ve really enjoyed Fall in Boston and am looking forward to seeing all the colors again this year!
Mallory Moffett
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: moffett.m@northeastern.edu
Lab: Dennis Lab incoming 3rd year
Hi everyone! I am originally from the Chicagoland area and graduated with a bachelor’s in BME from Ole Miss. My project is focused on making targeted contrast agents to be used in cancer labeling and imaging. In my spare time I work as a COE ambassador and go to yoga classes most evenings!
Mansour Toorani
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: m.toorani@northeastern.edu
Lab: Daramola lab
Electrochemical process, Electrochemistry, Analysis
Marena Trauger
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: trauger.m@northeastern.edu
Lab: Second year in the Weng Lab
I am a second-year student studying specialized metabolism in plants. I am interested in applications of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology geared towards medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Max Moran
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: moran.max@northeastern.edu
Lab: Barecka Lab
I’m Max, from Mansfield, Mass! I am currently in the Barecka Lab working on reactors for CO2 electroreduction projects turning CO2 into other valuable products. Outside of research, I enjoy exploring Boston, going to trivia nights, baking and brewing, and watching and playing sports.
Michela Benazzi
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: benazzi.m@northeastern.edu
Lab: Lustig Lab, Incoming second year
Michela joined NEU CHME in Fall 2023 and is now working with Dr. Steve Lustig on CO2 conversion by computational methods. She is really excited to welcome the incoming class and make sure that everybody finds friends and has a smooth transition into grad school. Outside of academia, she loves hiking with friends, skiing, reading and cooking!
Natalie Soens
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: soens.n@northeastern.edu
Lab: Lee-Parsons Lab, about to be 3rd year (started in 2022)
I am a third year student in the Lee-Parsons lab where we study a medicinal plant (Madagascar Periwinkle) through various genetic/metabolic engineering applications. My current work focuses on the use of CRISPR to create transgenic plant lines.
Natesan Mani
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: mani.na@northeastern.edu
Lab: Dr Chakraborty’s lab, 4th year
I joined the SimBioSys lab in Spring 2022. I did my Masters at the University of Houston where my research interest was in developing kinetic models to describe heterogenous catalytic reactions. My current interests lie in protein-protein docking and in modeling of the dynamics of biological macromolecules such as glycoproteins and antibodies. I am also interested in Project management and Engineering Leadership.
Nolan Burson
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: burson.n@northeastern.edu
Lab: Ryan Koppes, 3rd year
Nolan is a Ph.D. candiate in Ryan Koppes’s lab where he investigates the relationship between the heart muscle cells, neurons, and different pharmaceuticals. When not taking care of his many cell cultures, Nolan is running 5Ks and cooking for dinner parties.
Qudus Rafiu
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: rafiu.q@northeastern.edu
Lab: REPRODUCE (Daramola) lab
My research focuses on Techno-economic and Life Cycle Analyses of Electrochemically-enabled CO2 Mineralization of Brine to Produce Calcium Carbonate. My hobbies are: table tennis, travelling and listening to music.
Rachel Shovmer
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: shovmer.r@northeastern.edu
Lab: Willits Lab, 3rd year
Hi my name is Rachel and I’m a 3rd year PhD student in Dr. Willits’ lab! My current project looks at using electrical stimulation to slow the progression of glaucoma and my thesis project studies neural stem cell behavior in the aged brain environment. I’m originally from Massachusetts but I did my undergrad at University of Maryland 🙂
Selina Banerjee
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: banerjee.se@northeastern.edu
Lab: Koppes Lab, 4th year
Selina’s thesis project focuses on developing neurovascular organ chips to better understand and treat cardiovascular diseases.
Stephen Adepoju
Pronouns: He/Him
Email: adepoju.st@northeastern.edu
Lab: Francisco Hung’s Lab, 3rd Year
Stephen Adepoju is a first-generation student and a Ph.D. researcher in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University, specializing in Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Lipid Bilayers, focusing on advanced drug discovery and delivery methods. Currently serving as the President of the African Graduate Student Association at Northeastern University.
Warisha Tahir
Pronouns: She/Her
Email: tahir.w@northeastern.edu
Lab: Dennis Lab (Third-year)
Hi everyone! I’m Warisha, a third-year PhD student in the Dennis Lab, where I work on developing in-vitro small molecule sensing platforms for applications in health and environmental monitoring. I’m very excited to work with our incoming first-years and to help each other navigate graduate school together!