Members

Ronak Afshari

Dr. Ronak Afshari received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Tehran University (2010); M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from Amirkabir University of Technology (2013) and Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Shahid Beheshti University (2019), Tehran-Iran, for studies concerning functionalization of carbonaceous nanomaterials as well as metal/polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery and catalysis. Meanwhile, she has been awarded the best researcher of 2019 among Ph.D. students at Shahid Beheshti University. She also pursued a postdoctoral course in the Department of Physics at the Sharif University of Technology with a focus on the synthesis and functionalization of nanobubbles as neoteric medicinal platforms. She has over 25 papers, reviews and science books and made over 5 announcements at international scientific conferences. Her current research interests lie in designing novel organic synthetic routes for the functionalization of nanomaterials including carbon nanostructures and biopolymers, in developing multifaceted and stimuli-responsive biomaterials. Her hobbies include reading, traveling and spending time with her friends/family.

rafshari@g.ucla.edu

Tess De Maeseneer

Dr. Tess De Maeseneer joined the Annabi lab in March 2024. She obtained a B. Sc. degree in Engineering Sciences from KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2017. Afterwards, she enrolled in a M. SC. program in Chemical Engineering at KU Leuven (Belgium). In 2019, she decided to join the Soft Matter, Rheology and Technology lab (KU Leuven,Belgium) as a PhD student. Her PhD work was centered around the development of a novel breast reconstruction method in close collaboration with UGent (Belgium), VUB (Belgium) and UZGent (Belgium). Her main research focus was on the structural characterization of injectable hydrogels intended to be used as scaffold materials. She currently works for the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and the Department of Medicine at UCLA under joint mentorship of Dr. Nasim Annabi and Dr. Renea Sturm. The main focus of her work is on the use of advanced fabrication methods for the regeneration of a hierarchical blood vessel network in urological tissues. In her free time, she likes to do sports, meet with friends and travel to the world’s most famous surf spots.

tess.demaeseneer@kuleuven.be

Arpita Roy

Dr. Arpita Roy joined the research group of Prof. Annabi as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022. She obtained her B.Sc. degree from the University of Burdwan, India in 2014 and completed her M.Sc. degree in chemistry (Gold Medalist) from Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India in 2016. Then, she received her Ph.D. degree from Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, in 2022 under the supervision of Prof. Sagar Pal at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. Prof. Santanu Dhara from School of Medical Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT KGP) was her external supervisor. Her research interests include the synthesis and design of various hydrogels/composites and their biomedical applications. In leisure time she likes to dance, travel, and spend time with her family and friends.

arpitachem28@g.ucla.edu

Yuting Zheng

Yuting began her research in Professor Annabi’s lab as a PhD student at UCLA in the Fall of 2020. She received her bachelor’s degree with a major of Chemistry from University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and received her master’s degree from University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Chemical Engineering. During her master’s degree, she worked in Prof. Phillip Messersmith’s lab as a student researcher. Her research fields mainly focus on developing functional biomaterials with tunable mechanics, self-healing properties and stimuli-responsive behaviors for a wide range of biomedical applications such as tissue regeneration, tumor therapy, wound healing, immunomodulation, etc. She aspires to develop these therapies to improve the quality of healthcare around the world by engineering smart hydrogels and nanocomposites for drug/cell delivery and dynamically crosslinked materials that suit their drug cargo and delivery needs on a molecular level. Yuting also worked as a full-time analytical assistant in Estee Lauder R&D center for half a year. In her free time, Yuting likes to travel, planting and enjoy her time with the family!

Zyt0825@g.ucla.edu

Saumya Jain

Saumya received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Seattle University in the spring of 2020. Three years of her undergraduate studies were dedicated to carbohydrate chemistry research in the lab of Dr. Joseph Langenhan. She worked on developing a novel synthetic route to produce a glycosylated asparagine residue that is vital in post-translational cellular modifications and, therefore, in many areas of drug development. Among various technical skills she has learned during undergraduate research, Saumaya most enjoys synthesis, analysis by NMR, and recombinant gene expression using PCR. Saumya joined Dr. Nasim Annabi’s lab in the fall of 2020  as she pursues her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at UCLA. Outside of the sciences, Saumaya loves listening to music, learning new songs on the guitar, hiking, teaching new crafts to her younger sister, and spending time with friends.

Saumyaaditi@gmail.com

Zhanpeng (Jim) Liu

Jim joined Professor Annabi’s lab as a Ph.D. student in the fall of 2023. He received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China (2023). For his undergraduate research, he focused on developing the microbially induced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) surface modification approach and investigating the unique mechanics of the generated structure, as well as fabricating the novel drug delivery system which could be used for bone regeneration. He is now interested in the design of biomaterials which is inspired by nature or could mimic the characteristics of bio-interface in human body, for example, the hard-soft tissue interface, for tissue adhesive or regeneration applications. In his free time, Jim likes reading books, listening to J-pop music, learning finger-style guitar, playing computer games and spending time with family and friends.

zpliu30@g.ucla.edu

Min-Hsuan (Jessie) Lin

Jessie joined Dr. Annabi’s lab in 2023 as a PhD student of Chemical Engineering. She received her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University (NTU) (2020). She then worked in Dr. Ying-Chih Chang’s lab at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, in which she helped develop an in vitro drug screening system for circulating tumor cells (CTCs). After that, she came back to NTU to study for her master’s degree with Dr. Jiashing Yu, focusing on the research of conductive biomaterials for tissue engineering. She is now interested in exploring biomaterials that have multifaceted applications and unlocking their potential to solve pressing real-world challenges. In her free time, Jessie enjoys watching comedies and animes and spending time with friends.

minhsuanlin74@gmail.com

Marian Olewine

Marian Joined Dr.Annabi’s lab in 2024 as a PhD student of Chemical Engineering. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. Her research is focused on cancer therapies using microRNA loaded nanoparticles and tissue regeneration using hydrogels. When she is not in the lab she enjoys cooking, traveling, and hanging out with her cats and friends.

molewine@g.ucla.edu

Tiffany Jean

Tiffany graduated from UCLA in June 2024 with a B.S. in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. She returned to UCLA to continue her research with Dr. Annabi in the Annabi Lab as a graduate student in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Her research interests focus on functional biomaterials, specifically gene and drug delivery. She is passionate about the intersection of chemical engineering and healthcare. Outside of her academic pursuits, Tiffany enjoys spending time with friends, camping, snowboarding, and going to the beach.

Nanditaa Balachander

Nanditaa received her bachelor’s in Biotechnology from SRM University, India. Her undergraduate research was focused on mitophagy and stem cell quiescence. She is a second year master’s student in Bioengineering and is working on 3D bioprinting for urethral tissue applications. Outside the lab, she enjoys painting, playing badminton and spending time with friends.

Gayatri Patel

Gayatri received her B.Sc. in Bio-convergence in 2019 from Yonsei University, South Korea. Her undergraduate research was focused on the purification of surface receptor proteins. She is currently a master’s student in Bioengineering at UCLA. In Dr. Annabi’s lab she is working on a 3D bioprinting project for dental applications. Outside of the lab, Gayatri enjoys listening to music, cooking and spending time with family.

Fang Zhou

Fang became a member of Professor Annabi’s lab as a master student in the fall of 2023. She received her bachelor’s degree of Chemical Engineering from Soochow University in 2019 and studied the photo-induced self-assembly polymerization of biodegradable polyester as her undergraduate dissertation. After
working as a research assistant in a scientific corporation, Fang got familiar with the techniques to obtain polymer-stabilized metallic nanoparticles and their medical applications. Now she has great interest in electroconductive biomaterials for myocardial infarction repair, meanwhile, to achieve a combination with her
research background. In her spare time, Fang enjoys singing, watching anime and jogging.