2023 Incoming Graduate Students

Please join the Fischell Department of Bioengineering in welcoming our newest graduate students!

Incoming Ph.D. Students

Anne Barnes grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, and graduated from the University of Maryland in May 2023 with a degree in bioengineering. Previously, she worked in cardiovascular engineering research, but hopes to focus on device design in graduate school. She is looking forward to continuing her education at UMD!
William Chen graduated with a B.S. in engineering science and ocean engineering from National Taiwan University, currently working on a M.S. in electrical and computer engineering at UMD. Research interests include aquaculture automation and marine vehicle control systems, hobbies include cooking and being a couch potato.
Muhaymin Chowdhury graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in bioengineering in May 2023. His research interests are primarily in medical devices and imaging. In his free time, Muhaymin is an avid reader and coffee enthusiast who one day hopes to own his own coffee shop!
Alexandra “Lexi” Christensen graduated from Utah State University in biological engineering with honors and a minor in chemistry. Her research interests are primarily biomaterials, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. In her free time she enjoys reading, crocheting, spending time outdoors, and exploring the DMV area.
Ananya Elati graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in biomedical engineering this May. Her research interests include biomaterials, drug delivery, and nanomedicine. Her hobbies include reading, baking, and playing badminton.
Ashleigh Jankowski graduated from Rowan University in the spring of 2023 with a B.S. in biomedical engineering. Her undergraduate research focused on controlled therapeutic release and targeted drug delivery, and she aims to continue working in the area of therapeutic development for her PhD. Outside of the lab, Ashleigh loves kayaking and hiking, and is an avid reader—she would love to talk with you about your favorite books!
Mitsuo Kumagai graduated with a B.S. in bioengineering from the University of Maryland in 2023. He is interested in pursuing research in regenerative medicine, particularly in the field of stem cell tissue engineering. His extracurricular interests include swimming, painting, and reading books.
Lara Larson obtained her B.S. in biosystems engineering from the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include immunology, with a heightened interest in autoimmunity, as well as biomaterials. Lara is very excited to explore the DMV area. In her spare time, Lara enjoys going to museums and partaking in tone-deaf karaoke.
Gabrielle McBroom obtained her BSE from Case Western Reserve University in biomedical engineering with a minor in polymer sciences and engineering. Outside of school, she enjoys playing the oboe, powerlifting, reading, and partaking in arts and crafts. She has a very vocal cat named Bucky who is both her pride and joy as well as the bane of her existence.
Madelynn McElroy grew up in WA, graduating from Washington State University in 2023 with a B. S. in bioengineering and a B. S. in genetics and cell biology. She has two publications from her undergraduate mathematical modeling research and has also spent two years in a plant biology lab. Her research interests include tissue engineering, drug delivery, immunology, and regenerative medicine. She spends a lot of time outside of school on her exotic pets and extensive plant collection.
Kaitlyn Moore graduated from the University of Maryland in May 2023 with a B.S. in bioengineering. She completed her undergraduate research in Dr. Katharina Maisel’s lab on immunotherapy for a rare lung disease, lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Her research interests include immunoengineering, cancer, autoimmunity, and drug delivery. Outside of the lab, Kaitlyn enjoys listening to music, crocheting, and baking.
Allison Moses recently graduated from the University of Maryland in 2023 with a B.S. in bioengineering. As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Stroka’s Lab, investigating the functional role of aquaporins in breast cancer metastasis and angiogenesis. She loves plants, coffee, reading, lettering/calligraphy, and listening to music.
Miso Na is from South Korea and recently graduated from Johns Hopkins with a master's degree in biomedical engineering. Her research interests include biomolecular engineering, and she hope my research can change the world someday! Miso enjoys working out and playing with her dog.
Eva Orozco graduated from the University of Arizona with a dual degree in biology and math. She is interested in research involving multimodal imaging techniques and therapies. In her free time, she enjoys weight lifting, making jewelry, and trying new restaurants.
Alex Pueschel is a recent graduate of WVU with a B.S. in biomedical engineering and a Baltimore resident, happy to return home. While engaging in undergrad research he focused on development of breast cancer diagnostic agents for MRI and microfluidic tumor modelling. His research interests are many but recently his interest has settled on synthetic biology, biomaterials, and tissue engineering. In his free time he has started to learn some botany and mycology, and exploring, reading, and tinkering on things.
Faranguisse Sadrieh  graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in May 2023 with a B.S. in bioengineering. During this time, she participated in research projects in Dr. Yang Tao’s lab, mainly focusing on using computer vision and deep learning approaches to address biomedical challenges. She likes to go on walks and go swimming in her free time.
Claire Sissons graduated with a B.S. in biomedical engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). She interned in the Nanomedicine delivery lab at UTA working on cardiovascular diseases, specifically Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) for two years and then worked on a project at a biophysics lab dedicated to developing a method for the early-detection of Alzheimer's Disease this year. Her research interests include tissue engineering, cell biology and nanobiotechnology. In her free time, she loves to read, bake, and go hiking. She hopes to adopt a cat from a local animal shelter here in Maryland.
Alexa Stern graduated from Purdue University in biological engineering with a minor in biotechnology. She is excited to start working in the Duncan Lab to pursue her research interests in nanotechnology and drug delivery. Outside of the lab, she enjoys running, baking, and hiking.
Alison M. Veintimilla graduated with a B.S. in immunobiology and M.S. in biotechnology from Brown University. Their past research interests centered on intervention work with communicable diseases. They spent a year of training in the MSE department at the University of Florida before transferring into the UMD BIOE department. Their current research interests look towards leveraging biomaterials and understanding health inequities to interrogate autoimmune disorders. In their spare time, they enjoy board games and consider themselves to be a plant connoisseur.
Ivy Vien completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Colorado Boulder in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. She then explored immunology at the National Cancer Institute in the context of autoimmune neuroinflammation. Her research interests include disease mechanisms, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, painting, and hiking!

Incoming M.S. Student

Kassa Tizale grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2021 with a B.S in biomedical engineering, instrumentation track. Post graduation, he worked in R&D and process development at Boston Scientific, and recently supported FFRDC efforts in VA. His research interests are tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cell/tissue interfacing device design. In his spare time, he enjoys soccer, the outdoors, and traveling.