Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of
Biomedical Engineering
fallahi@virginia.edu
@MFallahiSichani
Bluesky
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
(Curriculum Vitae)
Current Members
Kim Nguyen
MD/PhD Student, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
(Winter 2023 - Present)
zqn7td@virginia.edu
Emma Bakall Loewgren
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2024 - Present)
rub7nj@virginia.edu
Ryan Smith
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2025 - Present)
hpn8vv@virginia.edu
Tahseen Azad
Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Spring 2026 - Present)
ygm4ny@virginia.edu
Yonatan Degefu
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2021 - Present)
njr7jk@virginia.edu
Abigail Brooks
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2025 - Present)
zdw3us@virginia.edu
Radhika Pande
Research Specialist and Lab Manager
(Winter 2025 - Present)
rsp7dr@virginia.edu
Katelinn Ohrtman
REU Undergraduate Student, Biophysics (University of Maryland, College Park)
(Summer 2026)
Audrey Kidd
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2023 - Present)
aku8fb@virginia.edu
Caelli Bagalkotkar
PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Fall 2025 - Present)
ysh9yz@virginia.edu
Alice Zhang
Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
(Spring 2025 - Present)
usm3em@virginia.edu
Loan Quynh Tran
SRIP Undergraduate Student, Biology (Virginia Commonwealth University)
(Summer 2024 & 2026)
Alumni
Natacha Comandante-Lou, PhD
PhD Graduate, Biomedical Engineering (2017 - 2022),
Next position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University
Mehwish Khaliq, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2017 - 2022)
Next position: Senior Scientist at Dewpoint Therapeutics
Shahab Azarfar, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2022 - 2023)
Next position: Postdoc at UVA School of Data Science
Ivan Valov
Undergraduate Student,
Biomedical Engineering (University of Virginia)
(2025)
Gina Chea
REU Undergraduate Student, Bioengineering (George Mason University)
(Summer 2023)
Mohan Manikkam, PhD
Research Lab Specialist Intermediate,
Lab Manager
(2017 - 2024)
Cara Abecunas, PhD
PhD Graduate, Biomedical Engineering (2018 - 2023)
Next position: Data Scientist at Novartis
Doug Baumann, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2018 - 2021)
Next position: Senior Scientist at Dewpoint Therapeutics
You (Henry) Gao
Undergraduate Student,
Computer Science & Biomedical Engineering
(2023 - 2024)
Ariana Caraballo Soler
SRIP Undergraduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Biology (University of Puerto Rico)
(Summer 2022)
Divya Venkat
Undergraduate Student, Biochemistry (2018 - 2019)
Next position: MD Student at Wayne State University
Katharine Faieq
Research Lab Specialist Intermediate,
Lab Manager
(2024 - 2025)
Luisa Quesada, PhD
PhD Graduate, Biomedical Engineering
(2020 - 2026)
Next position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Zeinab Chitforoush, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
(2023 - 2025)
Next position: Research Associate at UVA School of Engineering
Heaven Moore
SRIP Undergraduate Student, Biology (Fayetteville State University)
(Summer 2025)
Anna Tang
REU Undergraduate Student, Applied Mathematics (University of Utah)
(Summer 2022)
Haolong Huang
MSc Graduate, Biomedical Engineering (2019)
Next position: PhD Student at University of Michigan