Research and Impact
Career Acceleration
Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact
Bioengineering program attracts top talent, transdisciplinary researchers
The bioengineering PhD program continues to expand, adding 13 new graduate students to the innovative Knight Campus.
This year’s class includes students with many transdisciplinary research interests, from applying machine learning to the development of therapeutics, to using mechanical engineering skills to regenerate bone tissue.
Our new students recognize our mission to deliver societal impacts, and they are eager to start making a difference.
David Frey
Justin Svendsen
Andrew Powers
Madeline Martin
DeShea Chasko
Rubiya Yasmin
Karly Fear
Iman von Briesen
Malley Gautreaux
Jarod Forer
Nicholas Pancheri
Lia Strait
Frank Pittman
Hometown: Guayaquil, Ecuador
Undergraduate Studies: Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (2021)
"Training at the Knight Campus takes a very different approach than other institutions. Starting with Impact Week, trainees find themselves in a safe and fun environment where they can develop cohort cohesion while mastering the art of storytelling. Through the Research Immersion system, students can also take time to explore research in other labs, helping them diversify their skill set while establishing connections for future collaborations. "
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
Undergraduate Major: Biomedical Engineering, Mississippi State University (2022)
"A few of my favorite courses during my undergrad were my mechanical engineering classes. For an unexplainable reason, they just made perfect sense to me. Bone is where our bodies get their structure and operate similarly to the scaffolds in the buildings around us. I am interested in learning how to apply my mechanical and biological engineering backgrounds to regenerate bone tissue and explore how various external forces affect its integrity."
Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
Undergraduate Studies: Mechanical Engineering, Duke University (2022)
"I am interested in applying 3D printing to medical technologies. At an early age I had strong interests in both mechanical engineering and medicine, and I looked forward to the day where I could do meaningful work that combined these areas. Upon discovering 3D printing, I knew I had found the perfect area for me. It was only fitting, seeing as I recall explaining to my fellow 5th graders what a RepRap printer was. I found that the Knight Campus is the home of several labs that work with 3D printing in bioengineering applications. I also had the opportunity to visit before committing and I discovered that there is a strong sense of community and collaboration here, which are important to me as I pursue my PhD and career in academia."
Hometown: Moscow, Idaho
Undergraduate Major: Biological Engineering, University of Idaho (2022)
"One of the biggest takeaways from my first visit to the Knight Campus was a genuine feeling from faculty and staff that I mattered. Faculty didn’t just care about my potential to conduct good research, but they also engaged in my own personal and future interests. My overarching passion is to provide better treatments and strategies for helping people suffering from osteoarthritis (a degenerative joint disease), through the application of immunomodulatory cells, regenerative rehabilitation, and innovative biomaterials."
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Undergraduate Major: Biochemistry, Western Washington University (2021)
"I am fascinated by the potential to manipulate cell signaling cascades on the protein structure level. By rationally designing protein structures using protein design software, we can tune and manipulate pre-existing proteins in the body to function better, or to even have entirely new functions. My goal is to engage in therapeutic research to develop new methods for manipulating cell signaling cascades."
Hometown: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Undergraduate Studies: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, East-West University (2016)
"The Knight Campus has the best diversified programs, advanced learning systems, excellent research opportunities in different labs and exceptionally beautiful learning environments and that is why I chose Knight Campus for my coming four years. Oregon is such a beautiful place to live. I love the combination of hills and sea coming together, and the waterfalls like Silver Falls State Park and Multnomah Falls. I have interests in microfabrication, material characterization, and electrochemistry. I've had previous experience on nanofabrication and microscopies, but that was simulation-based and not much advanced. Therefore, I want to learn about and do experiment-based research."
Undergraduate Studies: Electrical and Electronic Engineering, West University (2016)
Hometown: Opelousas, Louisiana
"While the beautiful campus and state-of-the-art facilities played a role, I chose the Knight Campus because of the people. In my conversations with both faculty and students, it was clear that the Knight Campus is filled with driven scientists who focus on translational research for societal impact. I am interested in tissue-engineered disease models to better understand the factors that affect disease progression and treatment across wider populations."
Hometown: Salt Point, New York
Undergraduate Major: Biomedical Engineering, Stony Brook University (2022)
"I chose the Knight Campus for its emphasis on collaboration and scientific advancement. I am interested in regenerative rehabilitation and immunomodulation. As someone who has led an active lifestyle, I have always been intrigued by the concept of movement as medicine and am excited by a field that harnesses rehabilitative movement to improve the outcome of bone and muscle injuries. When I’m not in the lab, I can be found on my road bike exploring the hills southwest of Eugene."
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Undergraduate Major: Psychology, University of Minnesota (2016)
"While doing my Master's in Bioinformatics and Genomics at the University of Oregon. I worked on a computational protein-protein interaction prediction project with Dr. Parisa Hosseinzadeh. I enjoyed working with her and wanted to stay at the Knight Campus for my doctorate. My research interests are in using machine learning and computational tools to speed up the production of therapeutics. Particularly in-silico de-novo cyclic peptide design. I want to take these newly developed computational tools we are creating in the lab and apply them to neurodegenerative diseases."
Hometown: Spokane, Washington
Undergraduate Studies: Biology, University of Oregon (2022)
"Graduate training programs at other universities have academically established approaches to teaching research integrity and inquiry. The Knight Campus, on the other hand, has been eager to break tradition, instilling students with an entrepreneurial ambition and an impact-driven mentality that typically characterizes much more established scientists. As an undergraduate, my involvement in research at the Knight Campus trained me to be analytical, curious, and hungry for new opportunities, whether that be in the form of collaboration, outreach, or science communication. I am looking forward to continuing that journey and transitioning into a more independent role as a graduate student."
Hometown: Glen Rock, New Jersey
Undergraduate Major: Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester (2022)
"I’m interested in any research relating to the human body’s locomotion from the micro scale to the macro scale. This usually manifests itself in biomechanics, tissue engineering, and musculoskeletal research. Athletics has been a massive part of my life and I want to help make being active safer for the general population through the use of medical devices and technologies developed in the lab. After graduation, I’d like to work in the crossroads between sports engineering and bioengineering, trying to advance the safety and accessibility of sport through the reduction and regeneration of long-term injuries."
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Undergraduate Major: Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech (2022)
"The innovative and collaborative spirit of the Knight Campus is unavoidable. It’s the perfect place for aspiring scientists to hone our skillsets, accelerate our careers, and maximize our potential for real-world impact. A lot of my time running Cross Country and Track in college was spent dealing with injuries, which made me realize how important physical well-being is for every other facet of human health. This experience led to my passion for Regenerative Rehabilitation, where we combine physical rehabilitation regimens with bioactive molecules, stem cells, and biomaterials to enhance functional recovery from chronic musculoskeletal diseases and injuries."
Hometown: Mission Viejo, California
Undergraduate Studies: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University (2021)
"I was drawn to the one-of-a-kind training in entrepreneurship and translational research training at the Knight Campus. Then, when I visited, everyone was in a happy mood and the environment was very welcoming. I’m most interested in protein engineering and design, and drug discovery. Therapy discovery has been a slow process. It can take as long as 10 years to get a new therapy to market! The computational methods that both Dr. Hosseinzadeh and Dr. Hettiaratchi are implementing can be a game changer in speeding up the therapy discovery process. After graduation, I want to work at a biotech start-up, because that’s where I feel like I can have the most influence and impact on the company’s direction and growth."
Become A Bioengineer
Join an interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, and innovation-driven bioengineering program that will not only help advance your career, but produce societal impact.
BIOE QUICK LINKS
Knight Campus Bioengineering PhD Program
Office: Knight Campus Building
bioengineering@uoregon.edu
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