Principal Investigator
Steven Caliari
Assistant 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
Erica Hui
6th Year (joined Fall 2016)
PhD Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Kansas (2016)
Hometown: Lenexa, Kansas
Interests: Reading, traveling, spending time with friends & family, eating, music,
watching baseball (go Royals!) or college basketball
Email: eh3ja at virginia dot edu
ORCID: 0000-0002-6401-2137
Ivan Basurto
5th Year (joined Fall 2017)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, Lafayette College (2015)
Hometown: Wilton, Connecticut
Interests: Sports (soccer, hockey, swimming, triathlon), spending time with family and friends, traveling, food, music
Email: imb5wy at virginia dot edu
Beverly Miller
5th Year (joined Fall 2017)
PhD Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Bioengineering, Oregon State University (2017)
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Interests: Hiking, camping, softball, reading adventure books, lifting weights, dancing, and traveling
Email: bbb4nq at virginia dot edu
Jenna Sumey
4th Year (joined Fall 2018)
PhD Candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, Virginia Tech (2018)
Hometown: Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Interests: Traveling, running, hiking, drinking coffee, petting dogs
Email: jls6sw at virginia dot edu
ORCID: 0000-0003-2402-603X
Leilani Astrab
2nd Year (joined Fall 2020)
PhD Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida (2020)
Hometown: Melbourne, Florida
Interests: Traveling, reading, coffee, eating
Email: la4re at virginia dot edu
Mackenzie Grubb
3rd Year (joined Fall 2019)
PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Florida (2019)
Hometown: Sarasota, Florida
Interests: Hiking, reading, exploring, soccer, skiing, volleyball
Email: mg7qw at virginia dot edu
Need to space things out here to line up pictures.
James Gentry
2nd Year (joined Fall 2020)
PhD Student, Department of Biomedical Engineering
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University (2018)
Hometown: College Station, Texas
Interests: Baking, reading, spending time with family, music
Email: jg9zk at virginia dot edu
Kelly Bukovic
2nd Year (joined Fall 2020)
PhD Student, Department of Chemical Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Florida (2020)
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Interests: Gardening, art history, playing viola and piano, crocheting, traveling, cooking, reading
Email: kmb5pu at virginia dot edu
Undergraduate Students
Audrey Hansrisuk
4th Year (joined Spring 2019)
Major: Biochemistry
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Interests: Dogs, food, painting and calligraphy, learning languages, and sports (volleyball and figure skating)
Email: aih2gf at virginia dot edu
Gregg Gardner
4th Year (joined Spring 2019)
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina
Interests: Cooking, hiking, traveling
Email: gg3sr at virginia dot edu
Austin Amacher
3rd Year (joined Spring 2020)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia
Interests: Running, music, hiking, food, spending time with friends & family
Email: ara2as at virginia dot edu
Abigail Harrell
4th Year (joined Summer 2021)
Majors: Chemistry, English
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Interests: Ballet, Russian Literature, board games, and puzzles
Email: agh8xs at virginia dot edu
Mikayla Jackson
2nd Year (joined Fall 2021)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Berlin, New Jersey
Interests: Playing guitar, music, reading, spending time with friends, baking
Email: mj5pjn at virginia dot edu
Samir Muhammad
3rd Year (joined Summer 2021)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Woodbridge, Virginia
Interests: Skateboarding, traveling, hiking, spending time with family & friends
Email: sam5dtx at virginia dot edu
Emily Pham
4th Year (joined Summer 2021)
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Aldie, Virginia
Interests: Sushi (and food in general), traveling, the beach, photography, piano, and basketball
Email: ep2au at virginia dot edu
Lab Alumni
Masters Students:
Deniz Unal (MS, Chemical Engineering), Fall 2017-Fall 2019
Thesis: Studies of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells in 3D Hyaluronic Acid Scaffolds
Undergraduate Students:
Kathryn Smith (Chemical Engineering), Summer 2019-Spring 2021, Current: Technical Solutions Engineer at Epic Systems (Verona, WI)
Kathryn Gimeno (Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2018-Spring 2021, Current: Manufacturing Scientist at Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN)
Erin McIhinney (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 (Biomedical Engineering), Summer 2019
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:
Amber Jackson (undergraduate, George Mason University), Summer 2018
Noah Hester (high school student), Summer 2018
Caliari Lab 