People
Principal Investigator
Abhinav Acharya
Abhinav Acharya
Assistant professor, School for the Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy
Research Interests
Immunoengineering, biomaterials, innovating point-of-care diagnostics, drug delivery
abhi.acharya@asu.edu
SEMTE
Tempe Campus
Mailcode 6106
Kelly Lintecum, Research Technologist
Email: klintecu@asu.edu
Kelly is an Arizona native. She received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Arizona State University in 2012 and graduated from Barrett Honors College. She is an All USA Academic Team and All Arizona Academic Team member. Kelly brings a unique skill set to the Acharya lab. Her research experience is diverse and includes developing droplet digital PCR platforms to studying the physics of cancer. She’s a former business owner, lab manager, and mother of two.
Kelly joined the Acharya lab looking to master new skill sets. Her research interests include immunoengineering, targeted drug delivery systems, and microbiomics.
She loves backpacking, snowboarding, traveling, yoga, rock climbing, and playing games with her family.
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Shivani Mantri M.Sc. Student
Email: svmantri@asu.edu
Shivani is pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering and currently working in Dr. Acharya’s lab. Mainly she works with mouse breeding and genotyping. Before joining Arizona State University, she completed my undergraduate in Biotechnology Engineering, and did internships in different sectors such as Food industry, Biopharmaceuticals, Tissue engineering, and Biomedical instruments.
Her research interests include Biomaterials, immunoengineering, and autoimmune diseases. Her hobbies include listening to music, reading books, and spending time with my loved ones.
Abhirami P S, M.S., PhD Student
Email: apsuresh@asu.edu
Abhirami is a PhD student in the Biological Design Program. She is interested in immunoengineering, developing therapeutics for disease as well as in-vitro disease modeling. She completed her integrated BS-MS course in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science in 2020. Following that, she has worked as a Project Associate in the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India, for a year.
Her hobbies include reading books, listening to music, exploring new places, and trekking.
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Dr. Madhan Mohan Chandra Sekhar Jaggarapu (Sekhar), Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: mjaggara@asu.edu
Dr. Madhan Mohan Chandra Sekhar Jaggarapu received his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Chemistry from Andhra University. He received Ph.D. in the area of Chemical Sciences from AcSIR (Academy of Science and Innovative Research)-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, India. Following that he worked as a Research associate for one year in IICT. Then he worked as a post-Doctoral research fellow in Mayo Clinic, Florida for one year in Cancer Biology department and is currently a post-Doctoral research fellow at ASU.
His research work focuses on the development of Biomaterials, nano composites and formulations against cancer and inflammatory tissues.
He loves playing games, road trip and meditation.
CV madhan sekhar
Michelle Halim, Masters Student with thesis, Research Scientist
Email: mhalim1@asu.edu
Michelle is a Moeur Award recipient and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University in 2022. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering through ASU’s accelerated 4+1 program.
Her research interests include immunoengineering/
Michelle Halim Resume
Taravat Khodaei, M.Sc., PhD Student
Email: tkhodaei@asu.edu
Taravat is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Engineering Program. She has completed her
Master’s degree in Tissue Engineering from the University of Tehran. Her research interests
include immunoengineering and drug delivery. Specifically, she is interested in developing
strategies to target cancer and autoimmune diseases.
She enjoys traveling, cardio exercises, hiking and exploring new cuisines.
Abhirami Thumsi, M.Sc., PhD Student
Email: athumsi@asu.edu
Abhirami is a graduate student under the Biological Design PhD program. She pursued Integrated Masters (B.Sc.-M.Sc.) in Biological Sciences from Bangalore University and graduated with a gold medal in 2017. From 2018-2021, she worked as a Project assistant at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
She wishes to venture into the metabolic realm of auto-immune disorders and develop therapeutics for the same.
In her free time, she likes to read books, play badminton and dance.
Arezoo Esrafili, M.S. PhD Student
Email: aesrafil@asu.edu
Arezoo has completed her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Guilan and her Master’s in Process Control and Simulation at the Sherif University of Technology.
She is currently a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Acharya.
Her research interests include nano-bio materials, drug delivery, and immune engineering. Her hobbies include hiking and yoga.
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Dr. Nicole Appel, Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: nappel@asu.edu
Appel_CV_2022
CURRENT UNDERGRADUATE AND MASTERS STUDENTS
|
Name & Affiliation |
Tenure |
Current Project |
|
Elizabeth Schmitzer, Awarded Amgen Scholar at UC Berkeley, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, ASU |
2021-Present |
Gene Therapy |
|
Paige Arriaga, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, SOLS, ASU |
2020-Present |
Biomaterials development |
| Michelle Halim, Master’s Student with thesis, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU
|
2022-Present |
Rheumatoid Arthritis |
|
Alison Sundem, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU – Awarded FURI 2020, FURI 2021, Internship at West Pharmaceutical Services |
2020-Present |
Cancer Vaccines |
|
Nathan Ng, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, SOLS, ASU |
2020-Present |
Cancer Vaccines |
| Rishab Kottooru, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU
|
2022-Present |
Drug Delivery |
|
Desirée Bogen, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, SOLS, ASU |
2022 – present | Cancer Vaccines |
| Tyler Johnston, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, SOLS, ASU – Awarded – IRES US-Japan Fellowship | 2022-Present | Cancer Vaccines |
| Srivatsan Swaminathan, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Sciences, SOLS, ASU | 2022 – present | Rheumatoid Arthritis |
| Calvin Ngyuen, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU | 2021 – present | CAR therapies |
| Yasmine Sleiman, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, ASU | 2022-Present | Rheumatoid Arthritis |
RESEARCHERS NEEDED!
ALUMNI
Joslyn Mangal, B.Sc, PhD
Email: jmangal@asu.edu
Joslyn was born and raised in central California. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Cognitive and Neuroscience with an emphasis in Learning and Memory from The University of Arizona in 2015.
From 2015 – 2018, she began working in clinical research at Synexus. Currently, she is a PhD Candidate in the Biological Design program with research interests in immunoengineering, biomaterials, the gut microbiota, and treating immune-related diseases (e.g. autoimmunity, cancer and food allergies).
She enjoys DIY crafts, yoga and spending time with her dogs.
Current Position: PI, Immunometabolix, LLC
Sahil Inamdar, M.S., PhD
Email: sahil.inamdar@asu.edu
Sahil has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Mumbai University. Next, he decided to pursue M.S. from Arizona State University in the same field because of its high-quality interdisciplinary research. He graduated with Masters’ degree in Fall 2017 and is currently a PhD student at ASU.
His research interest includes radiotherapy, targeted drug delivery for cancer treatment, immunoengineering, sensors and biomaterials.
He loves playing tennis, music and road trips.
Current Position: Scientist, Khloris Biosciences
| Name & Affiliation | Tenure | Current Position |
Sidnee McMillian, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU, Awarded – WAESO fellowship Spring 2020 |
2020-2021 |
University of Southern California, Masters |
Arezoo, Esrafili, Volunteer, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU |
2019-2021 |
PhD student, Acharya Lab |
Trevor Wagner, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU, Internship at Intel Corp. 2019. |
2019 – 2020 |
Intel Corp. |
Tien Le, Undergraduate Student, Master Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU |
2019 – 2021 |
Self-employed |
Brentley, Madison, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU, Internship at Intel Corp. 2019-, |
2019 – 2020 |
Intel Corp. |
Mio Ozawa, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU – Awarded FURI Fall 2019, Internship at Intel Corp. 2019-, |
2019 – 2020 |
Intel Corp. |
Jamie Handlos, Master Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU – Awarded – The Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering (MORE), Spring 2020, Internship at Intel Corp. 2019-, Outstanding Researcher – 2020 ASU Chemical Engineering Student Awards for Excellence in Research and Teaching |
2019 – 2020 |
Intel Corp. |
| Jayashree Iyer, Barrett Honors with Thesis, Undergraduate Student, SBHSE, ASU | 2021-2022 | Bioengineer, Draper Laboratories |
Avery Wagner, Undergraduate Student, Masters Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU, Awarded FURI Summer 2020 |
2019-2022 |
Process Engineer II at Medtronic |
Chloe Larson, Undergraduate Student, Chemistry, SMS, ASU |
2021-2021 |
Undergraduate student, ASU |
| Brian Aguilar, Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU – Awarded – FURI Spring 2020, FURI Summer 2021. | 2019 – 2022 | Graduated |
| Kurtis Orrman, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering, SEMTE, ASU | 2020-2021 | MD/PhD Program UT Southwestern |
