Current Members
Postdoc & Research Fellow
Mahmoud Amouzadeh Tabrizi (mamouzadehta@umass.edu), Senior Research Fellow
Mahmoud got his Ph.D. degree from Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, Iran in 2013. Since then, he has worked in several research centers in Iran and Spain. He was awarded several national and international fellowships such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Co-fund. Mahmoud is also in the world’s Top 2% of scientists list in 2023 (Stanford). His research mainly focuses on the fabrication of nanomaterials and applications thereof for biosensing. He is the editorial board member of Bioengineering journal. Currently he is interested in fabrication of the molecular force sensor.
Muralimohana Rao Singuru (msinguru@umass.edu), Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Singuru obtained his Ph.D. degree from Tunghai University, Taiwan in 2022. Thereafter, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the same university till July 2023. During his doctoral research, Murali designed and synthesized several three-dimensional DNA microstructures for the development of genotoxicant response together with, CRISPR-based sensors. Currently, he works as a postdoctoral researcher in our lab at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research interests include developing nucleic acid-based sensors for imaging mechanical forces and for studying cell membrane intermolecular interactions.
Graduate Student
Ahsan Ausaf Ali (ahsanausafal@umass.edu), 5th Year Graduate Student
Ahsan obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. During his Masters he worked on the development of biosensors for RNA and disease diagnostics. His research interests include bioanalytical chemistry and nucleic acid nanotechnology. Currently he is interested in designing nucleic acid probes which can sense and image various biological and physical processes in cells. Outside of the lab, he likes to play cricket, watch documentaries and photography.
Ru Zheng (ruzheng@umass.edu), 5th Year Graduate Student
Ru obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University where she worked on the delivery of therapeutic proteins via DNA nanostructure-based system. She is currently interested in imaging cellular metabolites with RNA-based sensors. In her free time, she enjoys reading detective novels and cycling.
Zhaolin Xue (zxue@umass.edu), 4th Year Graduate Student
Zhaolin got his B.S. in 2018 from Guangdong University of Technology. Then he went to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and received his M.S. in 2020 majored in materials science and engineering. His research back then was related to plasmonic nanoparticles and SERS. In his spare time, Zhaolin likes playing basketball, snowboarding, hiking, etc.
Lan Mi (lmi@umass.edu), 4th Year Graduate Student
Lan obtained her B.S. in pharmaceutical engineering from Wuhan Institute of Technology, and received her M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China. She used to do research that’s related with nucleic acids, proteins and functional materials for biosensing. During her spare time, she enjoys reading, listening to music and watching movies.
Sima Khajouei (skhajouei@umass.edu), 2nd Year Graduate Student
Sima obtained her B.S. and M.S. in Genetics and Biochemistry from Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran. During her M.S. studies, she focused on designing logic gate-based biosensors using DNA nanotechnology for diagnostics of disease biomarkers. Her current research interest includes multiplexed imaging using fluorogenic RNA aptamers. In her spare time, she likes playing Kalimba, cooking and watching movies.
Priyanka Bhattacharyya (priyankabhat@umass.edu), 2nd Year Graduate Student
Priyanka completed her B.S. from Visva Bharati University and M.S. from Indian Institute of Science, India. For her master’s thesis, Priyanka worked on metallo-supramolecular assemblies and organic imine cages. Her current research focuses on DNA-based force-sensing probes. In her spare time, she likes to watch movies, read books and listen to music.
Hari Priya Sriramakrishnan (hsriramakris@umass.edu), 1st Year Graduate Student
Hari Priya completed her B.S from DG Vaishnav College, India and M.S from Vellore Institute of Technology. For her master’s thesis, Hari Priya worked on the synthesis and characterization of potential pharmaceutical impurities during the production of a Benzosuberone derivative. She also has 1.6 years of work experience at Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb R&D center. Currently she is interested in designing DNA imaging probes for various biomedical applications. In her time outside the lab, she likes to listen to music, travel, watch movies and cook.
Yizhan Guo (yizhanguo@umass.edu), 1st Year Graduate Student
Yizhan is currently a graduate student in the MCB program at UMass. He obtained his B.E. in Food Bioengineering at China Agricultural University. Then he moved to Baltimore, where he completed his M.S. in Biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. During the experience of the previous studies, he developed an interest in monitoring cellular events via biochemical and molecular techniques. Based on his research interest, he is trying to dissect cellular processes using nucleic acid probes.
Undergraduate Student
Justin Kieu (jkieu@umass.edu), Undergraduate Student (Class of 2024)
My name is Justin and I’m a third year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry. After graduation, I plan on getting into dental school to become a dentist and start my own practice. In my spare time, I like to play tennis, volleyball, try new foods, and go to escape rooms.
Qinge Liu (liu35q@mtholyoke.edu), Undergraduate Student (Class of 2025)
My name is Qinge Liu and I’m a current rising junior undergraduate student at Mount Holyoke College majored in Chemistry. I played the violin and did fencing since high school. I enjoy reading, listen to music and sleep during my spare time. After college I’m planning on going to graduate school.