Fellows

Sumin Kim
Sumin Kim

Sumin Kim is a Koch Institute Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research focuses on 3D genome organization and gene regulation. In her doctoral research, she pioneered quantitative super-resolution imaging techniques to explore cellular mechanisms underlying DYT1 dystonia, a neurodevelopmental disease. In particular, she discovered a novel context of nuclear pore complex (NPC) biogenesis in developing neurons and elucidated the role of torsinA, whose loss of function causes DYT1 dystoni ...

Jeong Hee “Jenn” Kim
Jeong Hee “Jenn” Kim

Jeong Hee “Jenn” Kim is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research is focused on developing novel techniques for cell and biomolecule monitoring and characterization for many biomedical applications, including diagnostics and treatments. Specifically, Kim is applying deep learning-powered Raman spectroscopy — a light scattering technique that probes a unique molecular fingerprint — to integrate accurate, rapid, and noninvasive molecular-level investigatio ...

Juanita Hidalgo
Juanita Hidalgo

Juanita Hidalgo is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research is focused on materials for photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications for sustainable energy. As a doctoral candidate, Hidalgo studied hybrid halide perovskite thin films, which are of interest for use in solar cells, and developed deep expertise in the structure at the surface and bulk of lead halide perovskites using different in-situ X-ray scattering techniques. This work yielded valuable n ...

Ronald Henry Heisser
Ronald Henry Heisser

Ronald Henry Heisser is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in biohybrid robotics whose work integrates his interests in mechanics and design to study and rationalize machine design principles for systems that bridge micro- and macro-scales. Heisser’s doctoral work centered on using combustion to produce high-power motion in millimeter-scale soft actuators, ultimately enabling him to develop a novel, refreshable Braille display system that is potentially more compact a ...

Michael Hagenow
Michael Hagenow

Michael Hagenow is an MIT-Boeing Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research focuses on creating effective and flexible systems for human-robot teaming across a range of applications, with a particular interest in methods for shared autonomy and robot skill acquisition. In his doctoral research, he investigated new approaches for robot behavior acquisition. As a postdoc, Hagenow will continue to pursue innovative techniques that combine iterative learning and human‐in‐the‐loop inte ...

Farhana Easmin
Farhana Easmin

Farhana Easmin is an MIT-Northpond Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in genomic engineering whose work is focused on genome editing and explorations of genome function and breeding, with the goal of building creative solutions to environmental and human health challenges. In her doctoral research, Easmin developed rapid and versatile genome editing tools for the creation of genome diversity in yeast. As a postdoc, Easmin will apply her experience in yeast genome engineering to environmental b ...

Shaniel Bowen
Shaniel Bowen

Shaniel Bowen is a School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research concerns the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of pelvic floor disorders and, more broadly, improving women’s health and health equity. In her doctoral research, Bowen designed a study on racial disparity in women’s health research, characterizing age and racial diversity in normal pelvic anatomy in adult women and beginning to build an open-access repository of demographic/MRI data of a diverse ...

Elana Ben-Akiva
Elana Ben-Akiva

Elana Ben-Akiva is an MIT-Northpond Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research focuses on leveraging biomaterials engineering approaches to activate or suppress the body’s natural defense mechanisms to treat various diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases. The primary aims of her postdoc research will be to investigate saponin-based nanoparticle adjuvants in combination with toll-like receptor agonists and engineering novel adjuvants for HIV vaccination and to develop lipid ...

Moala Keshei Bannavti
Moala Keshei Bannavti

Moala Keshei Bannavti is a Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow whose research aims to address environmental injustice and inequities through interdisciplinary environmental science. Specifically, Bannavti’s doctoral work focused on air quality in public schools — an understudied part of the built environment — and developing new approaches to remediate airborne, semivolatile organic compounds in low-income, minority-predominant public scho ...

Li-Yu  Yu
Li-Yu Yu

Li-Yu Yu is a PhD candidate whose research seeks to advance the growing field of spectroscopic microscopy, a powerful tool for delivering rich molecular information about an object through the measurement of its spatial and spectral characteristics. Potential applications of spectral microscopy range from medical diagnosis to pharmaceutical research and material identification. Lu-Yu’s current research, supported by a MathWorks Fellowship, addresses the crucial drawback of poor spectral sig ...

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