Inhye Kim, Ph.D.

Inhye obtained a B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. under Prof. Eunji Lee in the Graduate School of Analytical Science and Technology from Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea. As a graduate student, Inhye studied the structure-dependent functionality of peptide nanomaterials for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Inhye then went on to serve as a post-doc in the School of Materials Science and Engineering in the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, and then moved to Syracuse University, where she studied peptide-based supramolecular nanocatalysts. In the Medina lab, Inhye is studying the supramolecular assembly of fluorinated peptides to create novel nanoemulsion drug delivery and diagnostic technologies. 

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Harminder Singh, Ph.D.

Harminder received his Ph.D. from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, where he synthesized and characterized a novel class of chromo-fluorescent receptors for applications in molecular recognition of metal cations, anions and ion-pairs, as well as bio-imaging in cancer cell lines. After completion of his Ph.D., he was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) to work with Prof. Sandeep Verma. At IITK, he was involved in the development of bio-sensors incorporating fluorescent, non-canonical amino acids and formulation of thermostable insulin analogues that are resistant to insulin-derived amyloidosis. In the Medina lab, Harminder is developing fluorine-based chemical coatings that enable thermo-stable and intrinsically sterile protein formulations. In his free time, Harminder likes to play cricket, listen to Punjabi music, and spending quality time with family.

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Hugh Glossop, Ph.D.

Hugh received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2022 from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. During his graduate studies Hugh studied antimicrobial peptides and developed new methodologies to improve or modify their activity. As part of this work he designed unnatural fluorinated amino acids and developed strategies to prepare cyclized peptides through pyridinium salt formation. In the Medina lab, Hugh is optimizing the composition of de novo designed antimicrobial sequences active against drug-resistant Tuberculosis and other human respiratory pathogens.

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Yinuo Liu (Visiting Scholar)

Yinuo is a senior undergraduate student from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining the Medina lab as a visiting scholar, Yinuo work with Dr. Zhuoran Zhang to develop sperm-based microrobots. While at Penn State, Yinuo is developing methods to 3D print mucus-like materials to create gut- and nasal-mimetic multilayered cell culture structures.

Michael Miller

Michael received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with honors from West Virginia University, where he conducted research on ultrasound diagnostics for pediatric lung diseases and investigated physiological relationships between stroke recovery and mental health. In the summer of 2018, Michael was funded by the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program to conduct research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with Prof. Angela Pannier. While in the Pannier lab, Michael explored the effects of chemical priming on non-viral gene delivery to human mesenchymal stem cells. In the Medina lab, Michael’s graduate work has focused on the development and application of stimuli-responsive fluorinated biomaterials for microbiome engineering and precision gene modification.

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Lily Foley

Lily earned a B.S. degree in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of Nebraska in 2021, during which time she participated in multiple research opportunities. This included working with Prof. Shilpa Buch to study neurodegenerative effects of HIV, a summer research opportunity with Prof. Kenneth Bayles exploring the role of the IgrAB operon in S. aureus bacteria, and studies with Prof. Angela Pannier on the development of DNA-loaded microbial outer membrane vesicles for gene delivery. In the Medina lab, Lily leads a project to develop, characterize and apply commensal-loaded biocapsules that are designed to enable in situ re-engineering of microbial communities in the gastrointestinal tract.

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Mariangely González Vargas

Mariangely received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in 2022. Mariangely has had several research experiences in academia and industry, including a research experience in the Medina Lab in the summer of 2021. Now in the Medina group as a Ph.D. student, Mariangely is exploring two research areas. The first is computational analysis of the binding of fluorine-rich compounds to the surfaces of proteins, and utilizing thermodynamic tools to understanding binding mechanisms. The second focuses on developing fluorous nanoparticles for the site-specific dissolution of blood clots.

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Luis Rivas Baguer

Luis received a B.S. of Applied Science from the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao in 2020, and later earned an M.S. of Engineering at Penn State University in 2022. During this time Luis had several research experiences related to the design of bioresponsive materials. As a Ph.D. student in the Medina Lab, Luis is exploring the development of stimuli-responsive hydrogels prepared from self-assembling amino acids. 

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Diptomit ‘Dip’ Biswas

Deep studied Biological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Kolkata, where he received a dual B.S. and M.S. degree in 2022. As a graduate student in the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Biosciences (MCIBS) program at Penn State, Deep is applying his interest in immunology and infectious disease to study the design of new antimicrobial peptides and inhalable particles in the Medina Lab. In conjunction, Deep is exploring the development of machine learning algorithms and neural networks to predict more potent, selective and safe antimicrobial sequences.

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Utkarsh

Utkarsh received a dual B.Tech and M.Tech from the Indian Institute Of Technology Kharagpur in 2020. During this training Utkarsh had several research experiences in oncology and molecular biology. After graduation Utkarsh went on to work as a scientist in the lab of Dr. Virander Singh Chauhan developing antibiotic-loaded nano-formulations. As a graduate student in the Medina Lab, Utkarsh is broadly studying the assembly of fluorinated small molecules and amino acids to create bioresponsive materials. For these studies he is interfacing approaches in in silico design, chemical biology and biophysics to better understand the unique assembly phenomena of fluorinated building blocks and exploiting the mechanistic insights gained to construct new biomedical tools.

Hanna Gebremichael

Hanna is a freshman in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Penn State, and a member of the Millennium Scholar Program. Hanna is interested in researching new technologies to combat bacterial infections. Her current focus in the lab is studying the sequence-dependent activity of a class of anti-tubercular peptides developed in our group, and optimizing their design through paired high-throughput screening assays and in silico machine prediction algorithms.

Braeden Rettammel

Braeden is a junior majoring in Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Penn State, and a member of the Schreyer honors college. Braeden’s research focuses on developing multicellular ex vivo models of Tuberculosis granulomas. These granuloma ‘organoids’ exploit a unique assembly modality of tubercular pathogens, recently discovered in our lab, to design three-dimensional granules that interact with human immune cells. Braeden’s hope is to utilize these lab-grown granuloma tissues to rapidly screen and identify new therapies for Tuberculosis.

Jonathan Mwangi

Jonathan is a sophomore Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student at Penn State, and a member of the Millennium scholars programs. Jonathan’s work focuses on improving the intracellular stability and persistence of phase-changing nanoemulsion contrast agents within macrophage immune cells. The goal of these efforts is to improve long-term imaging of these immune cells via non-invasive ultrasound diagnostic techniques.

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Gabriel Bulacan

Gabriel is a senior Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student at Penn State, and a member of the Shreyer Honors College. Gabriel’s research interests lie in the development of carbohydrate-based materials that can modulate microbiome ecology in the gut. His long-term goal is to use these materials to alter gut commensals in order to treat gastrointestinal disease.

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Madison Rios

Madison is a sophomore Biomedical Engineering undergraduate student at Penn State, and a member of the Shreyer Honors College. Madison’s research project focuses on the application of carbohydrate biocapsules for the delivery of soil microbes for agricultural applications.

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