BioE cohort 2023

A group of college students

2023 Bioengineering Cohort Adds Top Talent

The Knight Campus welcomed 12 PhD students in the fall of 2023. The majority are new graduate students in the Department of Bioengineering along with others working in Knight Campus labs from a variety of science disciplines at the UO. Their collective research interests span from regenerative medicine to constructing microdevices for neuroengineering to drug delivery. Students in this cohort come from Oregon, across the country, and around the world, including Germany, India, and China.  

Ifra Ilyas Ansari
Cora Ferguson
Cora Ferguson
Phillip Hernandez
Rose Hulsey-Vincent
Emma Jacobs
Emma Jacobs
Maya Kasteleiner
Kelly Leguineche
Cameron Moore
Emily Murphy
Emily Murphy
Malvika Singhal
Ander Switalla
Xun Yu
Xun Yu
 

Xun Yu

Hometown: Daqing, China
Undergraduate Studies: University of Utah, Arizona State University

"I chose Knight Campus because it has a different spark than other schools. People here are so nice and genuinely caring for each other and that's very important as a student because we're students first before we become capable researchers. Initially, I was looking at a medical track, but as a doctor you can only help one person at a time, which is a phenomenal thing to do. However, with bioengineering there's more of an opportunity to optimize treatments for a variety of patients."

 

 

 

 

 

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Xun Yu

Hometown: Daqing, China      
Undergraduate Studies: University of Utah, Arizona State University

"I chose Knight Campus because it has a different spark than other schools. People here are so nice and genuinely caring for each other and that's very important as a student because we're students first before we become capable researchers. Initially, I was looking at a medical track, but as a doctor you can only help one person at a time, which is a phenomenal thing to do. However, with bioengineering there's more of an opportunity to optimize treatments for a variety of patients."

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Ander Switalla

Hometown: Portland, OR
Undergraduate Studies: Oregon State University

"I'm very interested the brain, specifically in micro-fabrication and neuroscience. I grew up in Oregon and I love it here. Knight Campus has a start-up energy to it. There's a young energy here with a lot of ambition. Because the program is so new, it feels like everyone is invested in our success more."

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Malvika Singhal

Hometown: Bay Area, CA
Undergraduate Studies: University of California, Berkeley

"I did my undergrad in Bioengineering and I'm pursuing a PhD in Biochemistry and being at Knight Campus I have the best of both worlds, where I can be in a bioengineering lab but still have ties and connections to people in Chemistry and Biology. That encouragement for an interdisciplinary approach is a great opportunity."

 

Emily Murphy

Hometown: Philadelphia
Undergraduate Studies: University of Colorado, Boulder

"I've always been vested in the mechanisms of disease, learning about how cells become aberrant, how they become dysfunctional and how they change. Cancer is a very widely studied, well-funded disease system. There other systems that offer opportunities where I could work in a direction that might directly affect someone. I've realized that I really wanted to work more in a more direct, innovative, therapeutic way, which drew me to the Benoit Lab in the Knight Campus."

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Emily Murphy

Hometown: Philadelphia   
Undergraduate Studies: University of Colorado, Boulder

"I've always been vested in the mechanisms of disease, learning about how cells become aberrant, how they become dysfunctional and how they change. Cancer is a very widely studied, well-funded disease system. There other systems that offer opportunities where I could work in a direction that might directly affect someone. I've realized that I really wanted to work more in a more direct, innovative, therapeutic way, which drew me to the Benoit Lab in the Knight Campus."

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Cameron Moore

Hometown: Seffner, FL
Undergraduate Studies: The Evergreen State College

"In my senior year at Evergreen State College, I discovered an interest in the green synthesis of nanoparticles and carbon dots. I long to be an expert in the field of bionanotechnology and contribute to research focused on developing nanomaterials for therapeutic applications, which steered me towards a future in bioengineering."

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Kelly Leguineche

Hometown: Pittsburgh
Undergraduate Studies: Northwestern University, Georgia Institute of Technology

"As a high school student, my AP bio teacher introduced us to tissue engineering and provided the opportunity to learn tissue culture skills in a lab at Carnegie Mellon. Sounded like science fiction and I was totally hooked. I've been working in this space ever since."

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Maya Kasteleiner

Hometown: Idstein, Germany
Undergraduate Studies: Julius-Maximilians-Universitaet Wuerzburg

"During an internship at the Knight Campus earlier this year, I was fortunate to spend time in both the Lindberg and Dalton labs and to see the well-connected work that is being done all over Knight Campus. Through the strong networks that have been built between the labs, I am excited to contribute to multiple projects and to collaborate with incredible people with different research perspectives. Seeing the amazing work that is done here, there was no other option than to come back for a PhD."

 

Emma Jacobs

Hometown: Sherwood, OR
Undergraduate Studies: California Polytechnic State University

"After completing an undergraduate research project in a neuroscience-focused lab, I've been on the lookout for opportunities to integrate device development with neuroscience. At Knight Campus, I have the chance to immerse myself in both of these worlds with the Gardner and Deku labs. I'm excited about the prospect of contributing to projects that have the potential to make a real impact in improving people's lives, all while getting to explore some fascinating science."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Emma Jacobs

Hometown: Sherwood, OR  
Undergraduate Studies: California Polytechnic State University

"After completing an undergraduate research project in a neuroscience-focused lab, I've been on the lookout for opportunities to integrate device development with neuroscience. At Knight Campus, I have the chance to immerse myself in both of these worlds with the Gardner and Deku labs. I'm excited about the prospect of contributing to projects that have the potential to make a real impact in improving people's lives, all while getting to explore some fascinating science."

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Rose Hulsey-Vincent

Hometown: Woodinville, Washington
Undergraduate Studies: Vassar College

“I use electrophysiology and optogenetics to study the neuroscience of complex motor behaviors by studying birdsong in Tim Gardner’s Lab at the Knight Campus. I have learned a lot by working alongside the bioengineers who develop the tools I use to measure neural activity! This is made possible by the Knight Campus’s collaborative research community.”

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Phillip Hernandez

Hometown: Coos Bay, OR
Undergraduate Studies: Oregon State University

"I'm working on drug delivery for osteoarthritis. I'm really interested in looking at muskuloskeletal diseases and have spent the past year working in Guldberg Lab as a research assistant. I became interested in medicine at an early age and have enjoyed approaching biomedical research from an engineering perspective. I majored in bioengineering at OSU and never looked back."

 

Cora Ferguson

Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO
Undergraduate Studies: St. Lawrence University

"Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the human body and the intricate systems that allow us to function. When I had the opportunity to try bioengineering research for the first time as an undergrad, I got to see how physical properties, used in a different way, can guide the development of biological systems towards a desired outcome. I love figuring out ways to apply theory to real-world applications and bioengineering is a field that allows me to combine my love for human physiology with my interest in developing new therapeutics. Ultimately, my goal is to use bioengineering to help individuals recover from injury and/or disease faster and break down accessibility barriers in our society."

 

 

 

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Cora Ferguson

Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO  
Undergraduate Studies: St. Lawrence University

"Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the human body and the intricate systems that allow us to function. When I had the opportunity to try bioengineering research for the first time as an undergrad, I got to see how physical properties, used in a different way, can guide the development of biological systems towards a desired outcome. I love figuring out ways to apply theory to real-world applications and bioengineering is a field that allows me to combine my love for human physiology with my interest in developing new therapeutics. Ultimately, my goal is to use bioengineering to help individuals recover from injury and/or disease faster and break down accessibility barriers in our society."

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Ifra Ilyas Ansari

Hometown: Uttar Pradesh, India
Undergraduate Studies: Aligarh Muslim University, India

"When I was young, I aspired to go into medicine. Instead, I chose to delve into the realm of science. Ultimately, I earned an Honors Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Biology and had the honor to graduate as the class valedictorian. Later, I pursued a Master of Science in Nanotechnology Engineering in India, where I discovered my passion for materials research. When I decided to embark on a PhD journey, my goal was to get in to the biomaterials industry. In my first year at UO, I enrolled in a micro-fabrication class taught by Professor Felix Deku. I also had the privilege of rotating in his lab. It was in this setting that I was introduced to the captivating field of translational research, particularly focusing on microdevices and biomaterials for brain implants. Given that this perfectly aligned with my academic background, research interests, and professional goals I made a decision to join the Deku lab for my PhD. At long last, I had finally found a way to pursue both my enduring passion for medicine and science at the Knight Campus."