Current Members

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

Samira Kiani received her medical doctorate degree (M.D.) from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Prior to joining University of Pittsburgh, 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.

Wioletta Musekamp (Assistant to PI) 
EMAIL: wmusekamp@pitt.edu

Wioletta Musekamp received her diploma in business administration (M.A. equivalent) from European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. She also holds a master’s degree in European Studies. Prior to moving to the United States, she worked as Department Coordinator at the Center for Key Competences and Research-oriented Learning at European University Viadrina. Wioletta has lived and worked in Poland, Germany, Missouri, and Texas. She enjoys traveling, reading, and good movies.

Tahere Mokhtari
​EMAIL: tam190@pitt.edu

Tahere is Health Sciences Research Fellow in Pittsburgh Liver Research Center at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She graduated from Sharif University of Technology in 2015 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. After entering the graduate program at UIUC, she worked on several projects including CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome engineering in Streptomyces and developing a platform for phosphonate overproduction and graduated  in 2019 with an MS. degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Her research interest lies primarily in the fields of Systems and Synthetic Biology and Regenerative Medicine to develop new methods to improve CRISPR/Cas9 technology for gene therapy. She is currently developing and testing  an immunomodulator CRISPR/Cas9 based vector for more efficient dystrophin gene editing to better treat DMD disease. Outside of the lab, she enjoys watching horror movies, shopping, and traveling with friends. 
Vineet Mahajan, Ph.D.

EMAIL: VSM14@pitt.edu
I am a molecular cell biologist and imaging scientist with a background in biomedical science, immunology and molecular pathology. I have a detailed understanding of the principles and application of immunology, molecular pathology to molecular imaging and drug development in metabolic liver diseases as well as in inflammatory bowel disease. I have acquired over more than 12 years working in preclinical and clinical research in academia (and in collaboration with pharma industry), during which time I have worked at five world leading research centers:  Institute of Pathology in Graz, Austria, F. Hoffmann La Roche Basel, Switzerland + University Medical Centre Groningen Netherland’s Clinical and Preclinical research Centre (UMCG), University of Washington (UW), Seattle, USA and now in University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine.
I have been involved in various research projects in a variety of roles including preclinical/clinical research scientist, imaging scientist, and investigator. I have experience in multicolor, multicolor flow cytometry and flow sorting the cells subpopulations as well as the development and validation of novel (optical and radiological) probes for molecular imaging. I have published in high impact factor leading research journals in the fields of pathology and imaging, wrote 7 award winning abstracts, 3 prestigious international fellowships as well as presented in more than 30 international scientific conferences either in oral or poster format. I pursued my PhD in molecular pathology focusing on elucidating mechanistic insights of how misfolded protein aggregates in hepatocytes [Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)] lead to complex pathology leading to hepatocellular carcinoma. I pursued my postdoctoral studies with UMCG at Netherlands where I leading a team to develop a novel imaging probe to study chronic metabolic liver diseases and drug induced hepatotoxicity.
During my postdoctoral research at UW, I was working on immunological aspects involved in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) where I was investigating the role of fibroblast, mesenchymal cells and drug target Cadherins.
During my tenure at Drug Discovery Institute, University of Pittsburgh, I worked on constructing ‘liver on chip’ to develop 3d liver tissue mimicking liver physiological microenvironment driving this tissue towards early and late stages of metabolic syndrome culminating into liver fibrosis and or liver cirrhosis.  
During my tenure at Department of Experimental Pathology, I am investigating CRISPR based gene modulation using multicellular liver on chip.  
My long-term career goal is to contribute to the translation of basic scientific findings into innovative new therapies for patients and to increase our understanding of important disease processes.
Amber Simon

EMAIL: AMS665@pitt.edu
Amber joined the SKMO lab in 2021. Before working at Pitt, Amber earned her Bachelor of Arts in Genetics from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in 2013.
After graduation she worked at a research technician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, specializing in peripheral blood processing and FACS analysis in the hematology oncology department.
After her time at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Amber worked as a laboratory manager and research technician at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Meyer Cancer Center. She organized lab operations and performed experiments on various projects. She has experience in management, wet lab research and pharmaceutical drug development.
Amber has served in many volunteer committees including Susan G. Komen and The Anxiety and Depression Initiative, where she served as the lead yoga instructor. In her spare time, she likes to travel, exercise, read, and create art. 

Ryan LeGraw
EMAIL: ryl17@pitt.edu

Ryan is a PhD student in the Cellular and Molecular Pathology program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  After graduating from Northwestern University in 2014 with a BS in Chemical Engineering he worked as a research technician for two years in the laboratory of Dr. Hanno Hock in the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.  At MGH, he worked on projects investigating the role of ETV6 in hematopoiesis and specifically in vivo murine B cell development. At Pitt Ryan works on the development pluripotent stem cell-based liver organoid models using synthetic gene circuits and their application for ex vivo hematopoiesis.  He enjoys playing guitar, live music, podcasts, Boston sports, running, and hiking.​

Mohammad Naser Taheri
EMAIL: mot23@pitt.edu 

Progress in science is often driven by advances in technology. The field of cell biology was born after Hooke and Leeuwenhoek could grind lenses of sufficiently high quality to make the first microscope and usher humanity into a previously unseen world. As an undergraduate student in Molecular Biology, I became familiar with many brilliant strategies that ingeniously evolved in the course of evolution so that cells would cope with the physical and chemical, and then biological constraints. Then, in the field of molecular biotechnology, I learned that by inspiration from those ingenious strategies we can develop powerful technologies to solve intractable human problems. According to this biologically inspired engineering approach, I would like to develop cutting-edge technologies in the course of my PhD so as to expand the frontiers of science to the realm of yet unexplored mysteries and intractable problems.

Alumni:

Elizabeth Delgado
EMAIL: ead98@pitt.edu

Liz is studying safety mechanisms for genome engineering. Originally from Texas, Liz spends much of her free time hiking, biking, and walking with her pup, Max. When she's not recklessly winging it through online recipes, she is reading papers to inspire more ideas for regulation of CRISPR-Cas9 through guide RNA engineering. In the future, she hopes to continue exploring cell biology in order to develop bioengineering solutions to pressing humanitarian concerns. 

​Victor Hernandez-Gordillo
EMAIL: vhernandez@pitt.edu

​Victor Hernandez-Gordillo is a Research Associate at Pittsburgh. He got a PhD in biology from Purdue University and Postdoctoral experience at MIT leading a project to design biomaterials for human-derived intestinal organoids and the design of a gut micro-physiological system. His experience in bacterial genetics, cancer cell biology, stem cell biology, pharmacology, chemical biology, biomaterial design, and 3D organoid culture has given him a unique interdisciplinary background to design complex tissue models. At Pittsburgh Dr. Hernandez-Gordillo will lead a project focused on investigating the safety of CRISPR-Cas technology in the context of a liver micro-physiological system.  

Farzaneh Moghadam
EMAIL: fam52@pitt.edu

​Farzaneh is a post-doctoral research scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. She graduated from the University of Tehran with a B.S. degree in biology. Farzaneh got a PhD in Biological design engineering from Arizona State University, where she focused on developing safe and enhanced CRISPR based gene therapy candidates.  Here at Pitt, she works on the applications of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology in genome engineering both in vivo and in the context of a liver micro-physiological system. Besides research, her passion is science communications focusing on girls’ interests in STEM and women empowerment through accessing higher education at worldwide view.​

Saman Sarraf
EMAIL: sas563@pitt.edu

​Saman studied medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After working in the medical products industry for several years, mostly in business development and management functions, he restarted doing clinical research in 2014 and worked as a research assistant/coordinator for about 6 years at hospital centers in New York City mainly in the field of oncology. He then decided to move toward translational research inspired by his long-lived enthusiasm for the science and ingrained curiosity about mechanisms and disease biology.​ In the words of Richard Feynman, "there is a difference between the name of the thing and what goes on... [between] when we are teaching words, and when we are teaching science itself." Saman too hopes his new endeavor gives him the chance to not just recollect words and names but embark on the journey of finding out what goes on and why. In addition to being a researcher, Saman helps the PIs with the organization of labs and team work coordination.

Dashan Sun
EMAIL: dssun@pitt.edu

​Dash joined our lab as a graduate student majoring in Biomedical Engineering. In Arizona, Dash participated in the work on safety concerns of CRISPR gene therapy and got his applied project finished in our lab. Here at Pitt, he is providing modeling assistance to our circuits and trying to also help wet lab experiments. Dash is interested in exploring how math and computer techniques could help biological research.

David J Menn
EMAIL: dmenn@asu.edu

David is a Ph.D. student joint mentored by our lab and that of Xiao Wang 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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