School of Engineering
Showing 181-200 of 270 Results
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Rebecca Pinals
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
BioThe brain is a fascinatingly complex and delicate system of biomolecules, cells, and dynamic interactions that must be carefully maintained to support human health. When this balance is disrupted, disease can arise. Neurodegenerative dementias including Alzheimer’s disease are highly prevalent and profoundly devastating, yet remain largely untreatable or incurable.
The Pinals Lab engineers neuro-models and nano-tools to uncover mechanisms of neurodegenerative disease and intervene to halt—and even reverse—disease progression. A particular emphasis of our work is on the blood–brain barrier (BBB), the vascular interface that serves as the molecular gateway into the brain. We leverage human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to build 3D cellular systems, providing a platform to recapitulate human brain properties and pathologies. In parallel, we design nanoparticles to report on real-time neurochemical processes, enabling unprecedented access to dynamic and spatially resolved biomolecular phenomena, and to modulate disease states. By integrating advanced human brain tissue models with rationally designed nanotechnologies, we aim to generate fundamental insights and tools that translate into meaningful impacts for human health. -
Jian Qin
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
BioJian Qin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Stanford University. His research focuses on development of microscopic understanding of structural and physical properties of soft matters by using a combination of analytical theory, scaling argument, numerical computation, and molecular simulation. He worked as a postdoctoral scholar with Juan de Pablo in the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and with Scott Milner in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota under the supervision of David Morse and Frank Bates. His research covers self-assembly of multi-component polymeric systems, molecular origin of entanglement and polymer melt rheology, coacervation of polyelectrolytes, Coulomb interactions in dielectrically heterogeneous electrolytes, and surface charge polarizations in particulate aggregates in the absence or presence of flow.
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Ellen Youngsoo Rim
Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
BioPlants are increasingly vulnerable to environmental stressors—such as pathogen infection, drought, and heat—from climate change. These challenges threaten global food security and limit the carbon sequestration potential of plants. Our research goal is to sustainably enhance plant productivity and resilience through protein engineering. We engineer proteins involved in plant immune and hormone signaling pathways using directed evolution in high-throughput single cell systems. Directed evolution is a synthetic biology approach that enables rapid development of proteins with novel or improved functions. We combine this approach with machine learning, which allows us to learn from large datasets generated during the directed evolution process. Engineered proteins are then introduced into plants to enhance crop yields and climate resilience.
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Carlos Jose Rodriguez Santiago
Ph.D. Student in Chemical Engineering, admitted Autumn 2022
BioCarlos Rodriguez Santiago is a Chemical Engineering PhD candidate working in the lab of Dr. Judith Shizuru to develop protein therapeutics that will facilitate hematopoietic stem cell transplantation without the need for chemotherapy or radiation. His PhD thesis work is at the intersection of immunology, oncology, and protein engineering. Carlos is also a Sarafan CheM-H Lipshultz Graduate Fellow participating in the Chemistry/Biology Interface (CBI) Predoctoral training program which aims to cultivate interactions and thinking across disciplinary lines to enable innovations that improve human health.
Prior to his PhD work, Carlos helped found the Protein Engineering Knowledge Center (PEKC) at Stanfords Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA). There he collaborated with researchers to discover and engineer antibodies against therapeutically relevant targets. Several antibodies discovered by Carlos have officially been licensed out for further therapeutic development. -
Milenia Rojas Mendoza
Ph.D. Student in Chemical Engineering, admitted Autumn 2022
OTL Intern, Office of Technology Licensing (OTL)BioMilenia Rojas (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford University. She is advised by Thomas Jaramillo. Milenia's research focuses on integrating cost-effective, earth-abundant metal catalysts into membrane electrode assembly water electrolyzers for hydrogen production. Her goal is to reduce production costs, extend lifespan, and enhance scalability to support the energy transition. She is part of the Emerson Consequential Scholars Program and works part time at the office of technology transfer. She graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester.
