Principal Investigator
Julea Vlassakis, Ph.D. (she/her)
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Rice University
CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research & Burroughs Wellcome Fund CASI Investigator
Training and Education:
Postdoctoral Scholar, Herr Lab, University of California, Berkeley (2018-2021)
Ph.D. in Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley (2012-2018)
B.A. in Chemistry and Physics, Smith College (2012)
Research Staff
Tanushree Dutta, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Ph.D. in Environmental Soil Science (2011), Pennsylvania State University
Carla Canales, MBE
Research Technician
MBE in Applied Bioengineering (2025), Rice University
B.S. in Biomedical Sciences & Minor in Biomedical Engineering (2022), University of Texas at El Paso
Jarrett Fowler
Research Technician (co-mentored with Dr. Grande-Allen)
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering (2024), Texas A&M
Postdoctoral Fellows and Graduate Students
Jocelyn (Jocie) Baker
BIOE Ph.D. student, NIH T32 Cancer Nanotech Fellow,
B.S. in Bioengineering & Minor in German (2020), University of Pittsburgh
Viraj Ghosh
BIOE Ph.D. student,
Rice Center for Teaching Excellence Fellow,
B.S. in Chemical Engineering (2021)
University of California, Santa Barbara
Edgar Ruiz Bello
ChBE Ph.D. student,
ChBE Kobayashi Fellow,
B.S. in Sustainable Chemical Engineering (2018), Universidad de Guanajuato
Wesley Leung, M.S.
Applied Physics Ph.D. student M.S. in Applied Physics (2024), Rice University
B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Physics (2018), Pennsylvania State University
Wenchang Zhou, MBE
BIOE Ph.D. student
MBE in Applied Bioengineering (2022), Rice University
Neica Joseph
BIOE Ph.D. student, NSF Fellow
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering & Minor in Cultural Anthropology (2023), Duke University
Alison Lao
BIOE Ph.D. student
B.S. in Nanoengineering (2023), UC San Diego
Lanie McLeod
Applied Physics Ph.D. Student (co-advised with Dr. Tringides) B.S. in Biochemistry (2024), Tulane University
Abbie Clevenger, Ph.D.
Postdoc
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (2024), Texas A&M University
B.S. in Engineering Science (2020), Trinity University
Samira McWashington
BIOE MBE Student
B.S. in Biology and Minor in in Bioinformatics in Biotechnology and Biomedical Science (2025), University of Houston
Undergraduates
Danae Georgiadis
Rice University
Major: Bioengineering
Expected graduation: 2027
Peter Zhao
Grinnell College
AHA REU 2024, Visiting Researcher 2025
Major: Biological Chemistry
Expected graduation: 2026
Lab Alumni
- Amelia Tsai: 2023-2025 Rice University Undergraduate Researcher
- Mel Zhou: 2023-2025 Rice University Undergraduate Researcher
- Naomi Sahle 2023-2023 Rice University Undergraduate Researcher. Now: Pursuing Masters in Public Health at Columbia University