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: mpf3vp at virginia dot edu
Charles Gabrion
1st Year (joined Spring 2026)
PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering
MS, Chemical Engineering, Wayne State University (2023)
BS, Chemical Engineering, Wayne State University (2020)
Hometown: Detroit, MI
Interests: Hiking, camping, watching movies
Email: yke7ze 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 