Systems Bioengineering Team
DR. ALAN STERN
postdoctoral fellow
Alan received his PhD in biomedical sciences from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researching the role of single cell ERK and Akt signaling dynamics in predicting cell division. He is currently studying cytoskeletal dynamics using live cell imaging, and computational image analysis approaches. In his free time, Alan likes to work on photography/photogrammetry projects and spend time in the botanical gardens with his wife.
JONATHAN HAYDAK
PHD Student
With degrees in chemical engineering and math, Jon comes from a background of physical chemistry and molecular simulation. After being on dialysis for 3 years and receiving a kidney transplant, he is intimately familiar with the severe lack of therapeutics in nephrology. He is currently studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of biomechanical signals in podocytes and renal tubules. In tangent with his research, he is involved with policy advocacy for kidney disease. He hopes to disrupt how kidney disease is treated both from a clinical and policy perspective.
JACOB WRIGHT
PHD Student
Jacob graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Nanomedicine Engineering. During his time at UVA, he did research in material science. After graduating, he joined UVA’s Center for Electrochemical Science and Engineering as a Visiting Scholar and also worked at a research and development company as a materials engineer. In industry, he worked on corrosion mitigation and developed non-destructive monitoring systems for corrosion detection on aerospace structures. After 5 years of dialysis and a kidney transplant, Jacob is familiar with kidney replacement therapies and is eager to apply engineering to the development of better therapeutics in nephrology. Jake is currently a PhD candidate in biomedical sciences at ISMMS and the recipient of an NIDDK F31 Fellowship. His projects include effectors of podocyte physiology under mechanical stress, pharmacological effects on podocyte cytoskeleton, and engineering analysis of a novel dialysis vascular access device.
Abigail Daily
Graduate student
Abby graduated from Virginia Tech as part of the inaugural class of biomedical engineers and went on to get her master’s in biomedical engineering from Columbia University. She initially gained research experience in biomechanics at the Granata lab at Virginia Tech but took interest in kidney research and medical device development after participating in a course that connected engineers with medical professionals and patients in local dialysis units. She worked on multiple medical devices for the improvement of dialysis treatment, including an implantable device for the prevention of AV-fistula stenosis and a wearable multi-sensor array system to more accurately measure fluid fluctuations between treatments. At Columbia, she gained experience in microfluidics research and diagnostic device development for low-resource settings. Abby is currently working on a computational approach to decipher calcium oscillatory signals in kidney organoids and a microfluidic chip to model glomerular filtration. She plans on starting a new project that uses microfluidics to make hemodialysis portable. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, painting, refurbishing furniture, and spending time outside with her dog.
Anika Hudson
Research Associate
Anika Hudson is a skilled and experienced life science professional with 2+ years of experience in various lab settings. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Biotechnology and a minor in Public Health. In the past, Anika has worked at WCMC, assisting nephrologists in conducting various research projects such as the APOLLO study which focused on collecting and analyzing APOL1 genotypic data from kidney donor-recipient pairs to improve the assessment of quality in deceased-donor kidneys and GEM study which used gene expression analysis of urinary transcriptomics to surveil acute kidney rejection in transplant patients. She also worked at a public health laboratory, working to surveil biological threats against NYC. Anika is passionate about clinical research and eager to use her skills and experience to positively impact medicine and public health. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and attending concerts. Anika is also pursuing her Master’s in BMDS at Mount Sinai. She hopes to pursue a rewarding career in clinical research to improve the health outcomes of immigrant and minority populations.
Alumni
STEFANIE DEFRONZO
CURRENTLY:
Biomedical Engineering PhD Student
Northeastern University
DR. BEN ADEGBITE
CURRENTLY:
Internal Medicine Resident
Mount Sinai West
DR. XUHUA GE
CURRENTLY:
Assistant Professor
Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University
DR. TAO ZHANG
CURRENTLY:
Associate Professor
First Hospital of Nanjing Medical University
JORDAN REID
CURRENTLY:
MD/PhD Student
Wayne State University
Dr. ALECIA MUWONGE
CURRENTLY:
Clinical Specialist
Memorial Physician Group
NICHOLAS J. WONG
CURRENTLY:
Masters of Computer Science Student
PACE University
DR. SMITI BHATTACHARYA
CURRENTLY:
Nanofab Manager
New York University
Dr. Maria Paola Santini
CURRENTLY:
Assitant Professor
University of Pavia
Tess Fallon
CURRENTLY:
HST Bioengineering PhD Student
MIT
Anthony Mendoza
CURRENTLY:
Research Associate II
Icahn School of Medicine At Mount Sinai
