Members

Mike Hanna, PhD

• BS: University of Florida (Biochemistry)
• PhD: University of Florida (Chemical Biology | Prof. Michael Harris | Biochemistry of ribonucleotide reductase)
• Dr. Hanna is developing new CRISPR-based tools and devices for cancer detection.

Boyu Huang, PhD

• BS: Wuhan University (Biology)
• PhD: Chinese Academy of Sciences (Genetics | Prof. Jian-Kang Zhu | class 1 CRISPR systems)
• Dr. Huang is interested in expanding the toolbox for precise genome editing.

Santosh Rananaware

• BS | MSc (Honors): Birla Institute of Technology- Goa, India (Chemical Engineering | Physics)
• Prior research: CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory
• Santosh Rananaware recently successfully defended his PhD. Before transitioning into the PhD program, Santosh performed research in Jain Lab as an MS student. During his time in the lab, he worked on numerous projects including the development of various RNA detection methods such as SAHARA and SPLENDID. To learn more click here

• BS (Summa Cum Laude): Occidental College (Biochemistry)
• Prior research: Inscripta: Digital Genome Engineering Company
• Noah is a 2nd-year Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. student working on protein discovery and engineering for gene editing applications. He hopes that the lab’s work on fundamental genetic engineering technologies will eventually translate to use in clinical settings.

Carlos Orosco

• BS: Georgia Institute of Technology (Chemical Engineering)
• Carlos Orosco is a 2nd-year Ph.D. student in the Chemical Engineering Department who joined the Jain Lab in Spring 2023. His main research interests are in biotechnology and biomolecular engineering. He was born and raised in Bolivia and moved to the United States to pursue undergraduate and graduate studies. In his free time, he enjoys listening to music and playing video games.

• BS: University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign (Chemical Engineering)
• MS: Carnegie Mellon University (Chemical Engineering)
• Minji is a 2nd-year PhD student from Seoul, South Korea and her research interests are nanobiotechnology, drug delivery, and gene editing. When not in the lab, Minji enjoys golf, other outdoor activities, traveling, and playing musical instruments.

Reza Ahamadimashhadi

• BS: Imam Reza International University, Iran (Biomedical Engineering)
• MS: Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice, Italy (Nanomaterials)
• MS: Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan (Material Science)
• Reza is a 1st-year PhD student from Iran and his research interests are developing novel amplification-free detection methods.

Briana Pizzano

• BS: University of Florida (Biological Engineering)
• Briana Pizzano is from Boston, MA, US, and grew up partly there and partly in Georgia, US. She did her undergraduate work and 12 credits of graduate work in Biological Engineering (with a minor in biomolecular engineering) before applying to the Chemical Engineering ME to continue doing research in Dr. Jain’s lab. She enjoys cooking vegan Italian food for friends, taking care of her plants and animal companion, reading, aerial/acroyoga (when pandemic & health factors permit), and observing wildlife/spending time outdoors. She is enthusiastic about transitioning to the PhD program.

Ayushma Joshi

• BTech: Vellore Institute of Technology, India (Biological Engineering)
• Ayushma is pursuing a MS in Computer science at University of Florida. Her research interests involve comparative genomics and machine learning.

Victor Vargas

• BS: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering)
• Victor is interested in building inexpensive diagnostic devices for in-field use.

Katelyn Meister

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Katelyn works on multiple projects including the development of various RNA detection methods. Katelyn will soon be joining MIT to pursue PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Jordan Lewis

• Honors and University Research Scholar
• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Jordan works on multiple projects including the development of various RNA detection methods

Ian Lange

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Ian is helping with the development of various nucleic acid detection methods

Vedant Karalkar

• Major: Computer Science & Engineering
• Vedant is working on the development of rapid CRISPR-based assays

August Bodin

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• August is developing various nucleic acid detection methods

Coleen Peggs

• University Research Scholar
• Major: Public Health
• Coleen is leading an effort on a synthetic biology project.

Kate Beerensson

• Major: Biomedical Engineering
• Kate is driven on the development of novel genome editors

Katerina Anamisis

• University Research Scholar
• Major: Biochemistry
• Katerina is motivated to treat Usher’s syndrome with genome editors

Sarah Flannery

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Sarah is interested in developing novel nucleic acid detection platforms

Sydney Antel

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Sydney is developing novel multiplexed detection platforms

Anne Fang

• Major: Biochemistry
• Ann is developing novel multiplexed CRISPR-based detection platforms

Michael Baugh

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Michael is interested in developing methods to target RNA

Yasmin Elhabashy

• Major: Chemical Engineering
• Yasmin is interested in developing various bioinformatics pipelines

Long Nguyen | PhD

• BS | MS: Georgia Institute of Technology (Chemical Engineering)
• PhD: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering | Jain Lab)
• Current: PBI2 Distinguished Postdoc Scholar at Princeton University (Cameron Myrhvold and Jared Toettcher labs)
• Long is the first PhD student who graduated from Jain Lab. During his time in the lab, Long led the development of CRISPR-based ENHANCE, SPADE, SPLENDID, cCRISPR, and many other gene editing and diagnostic projects and published 6 first/co-first author papers.

Zoe Fang | BS

• BS: University of Florida (Microbiology)
• Zoe worked on multiple projects on CRISPR-based tools.

Grace Shoemaker | BS

• BS: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellow
• Current: PhD student at Johns Hopkins University (Chemical Engineering)
• Grace worked on the development of SAHARA and SPLENDID and many other CRISPR engineering projects

Dylan Carman | BS

• BS: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering)
• NSF Graduate Research Fellow
• Current: PhD student at Johns Hopkins University (Chemical Engineering)
• Dylan worked on the development of cCRISPR project

Nicolas Macaluso | MS Thesis

• BS | MS: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering)
• Teaching & Outstanding Gator Awards
• Current: PhD student at Johns Hopkins University (Chemical Engineering)
• Nico worked on several projects including the development of cCRISPR, SPADE, and SPLENDID.

Emma Vesco | BS

• BS: University of Florida (Chemical Engineering)
• Departmental Awards
• Current: PhD student at Baylor College of Medicine (Chemical Engineering)
• Emma worked on several projects including the development of SAHARA.

Lilia Yang

• BS: Prairie View A&M University (Chemical Engineering)
• Lilia Yang was born and raised in Southern California for 18 years before attending Prairie View A&M University in Texas. She decided to continue her journey eastward, ultimately choosing the University of Florida for her Ph.D. in chemical engineering to work on CRISPR-Cas systems for diagnostics and gene editing purposes. Her hobbies involve making inedible foods, learning about perennial edible plants, and getting lost when exploring parts of Gainesville. Currently, Lilia is working in industry.

Kendall Long

• BS: University of Florida (Virology)
• Kendall Long is a first-year Biomedical Science Ph.D. student and rotated in Jain lab. Her interests include genome engineering, CRISPR-Cas systems, and viral vectors. She loves to run and hike.