Current Members

Samira Kiani, M.D. (PI)
EMAIL: Samira.Kiani@asu.edu

Samira Kiani received her medical doctorate degree (M.D.) from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Prior to joining ASU, she completed her postdoctoral training in the center for Synthetic Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she worked on developing synthetic gene circuits to reprogram the function and behavior of mammalian cells based on the Clustered Regularly Interspaced short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology. Cas9 protein is a DNA cleaving enzyme that can be targeted to any DNA sequence by means of a small guide RNA (gRNA) and can be adapted both for gene editing and gene regulation.

Farzaneh Moghadam
EMAIL:fmoghad1@asu.edu


​Farzaneh is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. in Biological Design. She graduated from the University of Tehran with a B.S. degree in biology. After moving to the United States in 2013, Farzaneh began her studies at Oklahoma State University where she focused on protein structure-function relationships using molecular science to explain biological functions. Here at ASU, she works on the applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology in genome engineering. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, camping and hanging out with friends. 

Jeremy Velazquez
EMAIL: Jeremy.Velazquez@asu.edu

Jeremy is a graduate student, pursuing his Ph.D. studies in our lab. He graduated from MIT in 2012 with a B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering.  He worked as a technical assistant for two and a half years in Professor Linda Griffith’s lab, where he worked on multiple projects including  human physiome-on-a-chip, biomaterial development for improvement of liver cell culture, and NSF- funded project for the study of emergent behavior of integrated cellular systems. Here at ASU he works on designing and integrating synthetic genetic circuits into stem cells to control their fate and function.  Specifically, he is interested in investigating ways to use modular, extrinsically and intrinsically responsive genetic switches to develop self-vascularizing organoids. He enjoys playing volleyball, video editing, hiking, gaming and singing alone in the TC room (poorly).

  Swechchha Pradhan
   EMAIL: spradha7@asu.edu
​Swechchha is a graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. degree in our lab. She graduated with a MS degree in Microbiology, Cell and Molecular Biology from Oklahoma State University in 2016 and B.Tech degree in Biotechnology from Kathmandu University, Nepal in 2012. Her Master thesis focused on utilizing bacterial and fungal co-culture combinations to study lignin degradation in plant biomass. She then decided to change her path and cultivate her passion to work in the field of synthetic biology. She is now interested in investigating how CRISPR/Cas9 technology can be used in order to develop safer and controllable gene therapy techniques for clinical applications.  Currently, she is working with mice models to test Cas9 regulated engineered genetic circuits aimed at improving noise induced hearing loss. She has strong inclination towards public speaking and yoga. She enjoys music, dancing and hanging out with friends and dogs.

Alumni:

David J Menn
EMAIL: dmenn@asu.edu

David is a Ph.D. student joint mentored by our lab and that of Xiao Wang, also at ASU.  He received a B.A. degree in Psychology and Philosophy in 2006 from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI.  He escaped the bitter cold of Michigan in 2009 and entered the graduate program at ASU in 2012.  During the course of his studies, David has worked on bacterial image processing, gene circuit construction, mathematical modeling, and wooing his wife.  Currently, he is studying the temporal properties of gene networks and the ways in which component dynamics affect circuit behaviors.  He likes dark beer, playing and designing board games, cute animals, and date night with his lady.

Jennifer Chapman, J.D.
EMAIL: jenniferchapman101@gmail.com

​Jennifer is an attorney with a certification in Genomics & Biotechnology Law from ASU's Center for Law, Science & Innovation.  She seeks to use her legal background to promote laws and policies favorable to the life sciences.  She is interested in the application of gene therapy to aging, the diseases of aging, and cancer.  Her current research focus includes applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to genome engineering.  She also has a strong interest in stem cell technology, as well as tissue engineering for the development of replacement organs and tissues.

Michael Pineda
EMAIL:mpineda4@asu.edu

Michael is an undergraduate student at ASU and Barrett, The Honors College, studying Biology and Material Science and Engineering. Before joining our lab he performed research at the Broad Institute, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College and MIT. Michael is interested in clinical applications of CRISPR technology to treat genetic, viral, and bacterial diseases. In our lab, he contributes in the development of novel CRISPR-based genetic circuits and its application in vitro and in vivo.
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