Principal Investigator
Dr. Anirban Sen Gupta
Dr. Sen Gupta is the Director and Principal Investigator of the Bioinspired Engineering for Advanced Therapies (BEAT) laboratory. Dr. Sen Gupta received his MS (in 2001) and PhD (in 2003) from The University of Akron, Ohio, with focus on polymeric biomaterials engineering. Currently he is a primary faculty of Biomedical Engineering (Associate Professor with tenure) at Case Western Reserve University (http://bme.case.edu/FacultyStaff/PrimaryFaculty/SenGupta/). Dr. Sen Gupta is currently the chair of the Biomaterials Engineering Track in the BME department at CWRU and he also serves as the Program Chair for the Biomaterials Education SIG in the Society for Biomaterials. He teaches several courses involving biomaterials, drug delivery, nanomedicine and quantitative biomolecular engineering. The research emphasis in his laboratory are in the areas of blood compatibility and blood-materials interactions, engineering of synthetic blood cells, targeted drug delivery in cardiovascular and cancer pathologies, and interfacial engineering for enhanced biocompatibility. Please refer to ‘Research’ tab for complete description of ongoing projects.
Senior Research Associate
Dr. Sonali Rohiwal
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Dante Disharoon
Dante earned his PhD in August 2021 from the Colorado School of Mines, where he studied under Dr. Dave Marr and Dr. Keith Neeves. He was awarded the Outstanding Thesis Award for his dissertation, which focused on degrading model blood clots in vitro using drug-laden microparticles targeted with applied magnetic fields. In October 2021, Dante joined the Sen Gupta lab, where he aims to develop a point-of-care microfluidic chip to diagnose trauma-induced coagulation and platelet dysfunction. His work is supported by a T32 fellowship awarded by the Cardiovascular Research Institute.
Dante is passionate about taking a multi-disciplinary approach to translational medicine. He draws from his experience in microfluidics, applied fields (optic, electric, magnetic), computer programming, and thrombosis and hemostasis to innovate new technologies promoting cardiovascular health. If you would like to contact Dante, he would be eager to meet you and discuss past work or potential collaborations!
Dr. Bipin Chakravarthy Paruchuri
Bipin Paruchuri joined Dr. Sen Gupta’s lab as a post-doc in October 2022. He currently leads the SanguiStop project which involves the development of a lipid-based nanoparticle system for controlling hemorrhage in traumatic injuries. He successfully completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Clemson University, SC where he worked on developing a polymer-based nano drug delivery technology to treat a neurodegenerative disorder under the guidance of Dr. Jessica Larsen. Bipin is driven by enthusiasm to utilize his training as a chemical engineer to develop new technologies in the field of medicine and healthcare. In his free time, he likes to cook and enjoys reading books.
Dr. Anthony R. Sloan
Anthony earned his PhD in the Department of Neurosciences and the Department of Neurological surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Anthony studied in the laboratories of Dr. Andrew E. Sloan and Dr. Eckhard Jankowsky. His PhD work explored immune responses and signaling mechanisms activated by the tumor microenvironment, specifically in glioma malignancies. His focus was exploring the bidirectional relationship between glioma stem cells and platelets. Anthony obtained his B.S in Neuroscience from Westminster College, where he worked in a Behavioral Neuroscience laboratory. Anthony then worked in the primate laboratory of Dr. Omar Gharbawie, in the Department of Neurobiology, at the University of Pittsburgh. Anthony is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Justin Lathia at the Cleveland Clinic and is being co-mentored by Dr. Anirban Sen Gupta at Case Western. His work explores the hyper-thrombotic mechanisms that contribute and promote cancer progression in order to identify novel therapeutic paradigms. His work is supported by a T32 fellowship awarded by the Case Comprehensive Cancer
Center and a fellowship from the Midwest Brain Tumor Foundation. Anthony is eager to talk science and establish new collaborations. Please feel free to contact him.
Dr. Rohini Sekar
Rohini earned PhD in September 2022 from Sorbonne University, Paris under Dr Sebastien Lacroix-Desmazes. During her PhD, she worked on technologies to improve half-life of therapeutic Factor VIII to treat Hemophilia A. She joined Sen Gupta lab in May 2023 and leads SanguiStop project that focuses on developing lipid nanoparticle-based technology to treat traumatic hemorrhage. During her free time, she likes to watch dramas, read books and enjoy cooking
Ph.D. Students
Shruti Raghunathan
Shruti Raghunathan is a PhD student who joined the lab in June 2020. Her research focuses on leveraging neutrophil-targeted nanomedicine to treat diseases driven by neutrophil extracellular trap formation.
Norman Luc
Norman joined the Sen Gupta Lab in February 2017 and started as a PhD student in January 2020. His research focuses on synthetically mimicking platelets with nanoparticles in hemostasis and wound healing. In his free time, Norman enjoys cooking, baking, and photography.
Cian Desai
Cian is a PhD candidate who joined the lab in January 2021. His research focuses on leveraging the platelet-cancer biointeraction for targeted therapy to treat metastatic triple negative breast cancer. In his spare time, Cian enjoys traveling, hiking, playing tennis, and trying new foods.
Elizabeth Wakelin
Liz is a third year PhD candidate who joined the lab in August 2021. During her undergraduate studies, Liz worked in the Tumor MicroEnvironment & Therapeutics (TMET) Lab at Purdue University, where she graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2021. In the Sen Gupta lab, she is focusing on the development of a bio-inspired enzyme-responsive wound dressing for hemostasis and wound healing.
Selvin Hernandez
Selvin is a second year PhD student who joined the lab in August 2022. During his undergraduate studies, Selvin worked in the Biomedical Microdevices lab at Duquesne University. In the Sen Gupta lab, he is focusing on a bio-inspired modular therapeutic for hemostatic dysfunctions guided by diagnostic tools. He is also a part of the sub-group developing a whole blood analog.
MS. Students
Researchers
Jenny Lian
Undergraduate Students
Danielle Sun
Danielle is a second-year BME Biomaterials undergraduate student who joined the lab in October 2022. She is currently working on the SanguiStop project for platelet-inspired nanoparticles to augment hemostasis. Outside of the lab, she enjoys baking/cooking, reading, and playing music.
Keren Hu
Keren is a second-year Biomedical Engineering and Business Management student. She’s currently working on neutrophil-targeted nanomedicine to treat diseases driven by neutrophil extracellular trap formation.
Emily Song
Kailee Kee
Kailee is a first-year Biomedical Engineering student. She is currently working on the development of a whole blood surrogate. In her free time, Kailee enjoys playing badminton, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.
Abigail Roeckmann
Abby is a second year BME undergraduate student on the biomaterials track. Currently she is working on developing a platelet-inspired nanoparticles to enhance hemostasis.
Maanyav Gangaraj
Maanyav is a second-year BME biomaterials undergraduate student who joined the lab in March 2023. He is working on the development of a bio-inspired enzyme-responsive wound dressing for hemostasis and wound healing. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, listening to music, and playing with cats.
Vinesh Pendurthi
Vinesh is a second-year BME student. He’s currently working on a project to inhibit cancer-platelet interactions and metastasis with targeted nanoparticles, focusing on the payload and therapeutic aspect.
High School Researchers
Alumni and Former Lab Members
Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates
- Nathan Rohner, PhD
- Joyann Marks, PhD
- Christa Pawlowski, PhD
Graduate Students
- Bhummanat Sittingpittaya, MS (2023, Biomedical Engineering)
- Michael Sun, PhD (2022, Biomedical Engineering)
- Ketan Jolly, MS
- Aditya Girish, PhD (2021, Biomedical Engineering)
- Ujjal Didar Singh Sekhon, PhD (2020, Biomedical Engineering)
- Michelle Cruz
- Kara Hageman, MS
- DaShawn Hickman, MD, PhD (2018, Pathology)
- Christa Pawlowski, PhD
Undergraduate Students
- Hanyang Wang “Theo” (2021-2024)
- Arielle Recchione (2021-2023)
- Stephanie Yang (2017-2021)
- Anushka Khanna
- Sharmila Iyer
- Kelsey Swingle (2017-2020)
- Kara Hageman
- Yvonne Ma
- Kenji Miyazawa
- Ankush Banerjee
- Stephanie Huang
- Michaela Cooley
- Katie Hart
- Liam Matthews
High School Students
- Neha Sangani (2021-2023)
- Kaisal Shah
- Tejal Pendekanti
- Maya Razmi
- Kavya Ravichandran