Principal Investigator
Steven Caliari
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Virginia
Education and Training
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania (2013-2016)
PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2013)
MS, Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010)
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Florida (2007)
Email: caliari at virginia dot edu
Office: Wilsdorf 204
Phone: 434.243.1821
ORCID: 0000-0002-7506-3079
Graduate Students
Kelly Bukovic
6th Year (joined Fall 2020)
PhD Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Florida (2020)
Hometown: Orlando, FL
Interests: Painting, art history, refinishing furniture, crocheting, traveling, wine
Email: kmb5pu at virginia dot edu
James Gentry
6th Year (joined Fall 2020)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University (2018)
Hometown: College Station, TX
Interests: Baking, reading, spending time with family, music
Email: jg9zk at virginia dot edu
Geshani Bandara
5th Year (joined Fall 2021)
PhD Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Peradeniya (2020)
Hometown: Matale, Sri Lanka
Interests: Spending time with family & friends, journaling, cooking, traveling, meditation
Email: bek2hm at virginia dot edu
Ryann Boudreau
5th Year (joined Fall 2021)
PhD Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Bioengineering, University of New Hampshire (2021)
Hometown: Londonderry, NH
Interests: Baking, ultimate frisbee, board games, zumba, hanging out with friends & family, puzzles
Email: zns8mx at virginia dot edu
Manasi Krishnakumar
3rd Year (joined Fall 2023)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biomedical Engineering, NC State University & UNC Chapel Hill (2023)
Hometown: Morrisville, NC
Interests: Music, traveling, spending time with friends and family, Greys Anatomy
Email: jkd6ng at virginia dot edu
Jeremy Ortmann
3rd Year (joined Fall 2023)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Tech (2023)
Hometown: Hobe Sound, FL
Interests: Video games, baking, all the sports
Email: jmo3pay at virginia dot edu
Olivia Morren
3rd Year (joined Fall 2023)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biochemistry-Molecular Biology, Gettysburg College (2022)
Hometown: Allentown, PA
Interests: Pilates, visiting coffee shops/bakeries, traveling, visiting family and friends, dance
Email: rrh6cs at virginia dot edu
Annabelle Hendrickson
2nd Year (joined Fall 2024)
PhD Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BA, Neuroscience and Mathematics, Smith College (2024)
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Interests: Horses, cooking, math, music, photography
Email: xtk4ax at virginia dot edu
Delaney McNally
1st Year (joined Fall 2025)
PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder (2025)
Hometown: Loveland, CO
Interests: Reading, baking, traveling, knitting, and hiking
Email: xtk4ax at virginia dot edu
Undergraduate Students
Sarth Pathak
4th Year (joined Summer 2023)
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Herndon, VA
Interests: Building things, drinking coffee, listening to & arranging music
Email: kyn6hw at virginia dot edu
Ethan Yu
4th Year (joined Summer 2024)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Potomac, MD
Interests: Watching sports, singing, beatboxing, eating Chinese food
Email: kwr2vd at virginia dot edu
Afia Ofori
2nd Year (joined Summer 2025)
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Alexandria, VA
Interests: Crocheting, watching romance movies, creative writing
Email: mnh5vf at virginia dot edu
Asma Sanaullah
2nd Year (joined Fall 2025)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Lake Mary, FL
Interests: Reading, baking, listening to music, long walks, spending time with family and friends
Email: mac5sn at virginia dot edu
Zoe Bastardi
2nd Year (joined Fall 2025)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Interests: Dancing, reading, baking with friends
Email: wak7kv at virginia dot edu
Lab Alumni
Doctoral Students:
Leilani Astrab (PhD, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2020 – Fall 2025
Dissertation: Investigating macrophage-fibroblast interactions and mechanical cues in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis
Mackenzie Skelton (PhD, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2019 – Summer 2025
Dissertation: Development of experimental and computational tools to investigate the mechanobiology of cellular senescence in fibrotic disease
Current: Adjunct Professor, Randolph College
Jenna Sumey (PhD, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2018 – Spring 2023
Dissertation: Engineering mechanically dynamic hyaluronic acid hydrogels to investigate stromal cell mechanosensitivity
Current: Investigator, Downstream Process Development at GSK (King of Prussia, PA)
Beverly Miller (PhD, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2017 – Fall 2022
Dissertation: Supramolecular Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Fibers for Translational Tissue Engineering Applications
Current: Commercialization Agent at Booz Allen Hamilton/ARPA-H (Portland, OR)
Ivan Basurto (PhD, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2017 – Spring 2022
Dissertation: Designing Biomaterials for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering Following Volumetric Muscle Loss Injury
Current: Scientist I, Research & Development at Anika (Boston, MA)
Erica Hui (PhD, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2016 – Fall 2021
Dissertation: Designing Spatiotemporally Tunable Viscoelastic Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels to Study Cell Mechanobiology During Fibrosis
Current: Investigator, Drug Development, Downstream at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (King of Prussia, PA)
Masters Students:
Deniz Unal (MS, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2017-Fall 2019
Thesis: Studies of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells in 3D Hyaluronic Acid Scaffolds
Undergraduate Students:
Sabrina Liskey (BS, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2022-Spring 2025
Cooper Wyatt (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2023-Spring 2025
Tanvi Bhat (BS, Psychology), Spring 2022-Spring 2024
Zach Tentor (BS, Chemistry), Spring 2022-Spring 2024
Lily Burns (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2022-Spring 2024
Sophia Godfrey (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2023
Samir Muhammed (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2021-Spring 2023, Current: Technology Business & Integration Analyst at Accenture (Philadelphia, PA)
Peyton Johnston (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2021-Spring 2023
Mikayla Jackson (Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2021-Spring 2022
Emily Pham (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2021-Spring 2022, Current: Data Scientist Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean, VA)
Abigail Harrell (BS, Chemistry), Summer 2021-Spring 2022, Current: Chemical Engineering PhD Student at the UC – Boulder (Boulder, CO)
Austin Amacher (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Spring 2020-Spring 2022, Current: BME Patent Examiner at U.S. Patent Office (Washington, D.C.)
Audrey Hansrisuk (BS, Chemistry), Spring 2019-Spring 2022, Current: Bioengineering PhD Student in the Webber Lab at Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN)
Gregg Gardner (BS, Chemical Engineering), Spring 2019-Spring 2022, Current: Engineers in Leadership Trainee at Emerson (Austin, TX)
Kathryn Smith (BS, Chemical Engineering), Summer 2019-Spring 2021, Current: Technical Solutions Engineer at Epic Systems (Verona, WI)
Kathryn Gimeno (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2018-Spring 2021, Current: Manufacturing Scientist at Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN)
Erin McIlhinney (Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2019-Summer 2020
Priyanshi Jain (BS, Biology), Fall 2016-Fall 2019, Current: Medical student, New Jersey Medical School
Sarah Zagorin (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Fall 2017-Spring 2019, Current: Biomedical Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Washington DC)
John Quezada (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2019, Current: Medical Scribe at UVA Health (Charlottesville, VA)
Emily Zezas (Speech Pathology), Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Mark Mora (BS, Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2017-Spring 2019, Current: Masters Student in Translational Medicine at Keck Graduate Institute (Claremont, CA)
Oliver Phoa (BS, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2016-Fall 2018, Current: Rotational Development Program Associate at Amgen (West Greenwich, RI)
Rebecca Earhart (BS, Chemical Engineering), Summer 2017-Spring 2018, Current: Associate Specialist, Engineering at Merck (Elkton, VA)
Grant Guan (BS, Computer Science), Fall 2016-Spring 2018, Current: Associate at Boston Consulting Group (Chicago, IL)
Visiting Students:
Alex Harmon (undergraduate, Hampton University), Summer 2022
Amber Jackson (undergraduate, George Mason University), Summer 2018
Noah Hester (high school student), Summer 2018
Caliari Lab 