Members

Ronak Afshari

Dr. Ronak Afshari joined Dr. Annabi’s group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022. She 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

Rizwan Subhani

Dr. Rizwan did B.S. (Hons) in Bioinformatics from the Government College University, Faisalabad in 2012; M.Phil in Biotechnology from the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2014; and Ph.D. degree in Chemistry in 2019 from the Nanjing University, China, under the supervision of Prof. Xinghua Xia. He also pursued a postdoctoral course in the School of Medicine, Shenzhen University. Dr. Rizwan has published over 50 papers (h-index = 18, i-10 index = 33) in prestigious journals (ACS Nano, Advanced Science, Theranostics, Advanced Functional Materials, Biomaterials, Nano Today, Applied Material Today, Journal of Nanobiotechnology, etc.) with a cumulative impact factor of greater than 500. Recently, he joined Annabi’s research group as a research scientst, where he will focus on bridging and interfacing chemistry, materials science, and biomedical science to develop advanced functional biomaterials with properties useful in nanomedicine, controlled delivery of biotherapeutics, immunomodulation, and tissues engineering to address the unmet health challenges.

Avijit Baidya

Dr. Avijit Baidya pursued his double degree doctoral studies from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) and Aalto University, Finland. He awarded with Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Tech) from respective schools in July 2018. During his doctoral studies, he was associated with Dept. of Chemistry (IIT M), Mechanical Engineering (IIT M) and Applied Physics (Aalto University) for his interdisciplinary research. He holds expertise on molecular functionalization, surface engineering, interfaces, fabrication of nano-biomaterials, wettability, magnetic nano-materials, etc. He earned M.Sc. in Chemistry (gold medalist) from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras). Before that, he has finished B.Sc. in Chemistry from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Currently, he is working with Prof. Nasim Annabi as a postdoctoral researcher and focused to design multifunctional tissue adhesives for different biomedical applications. He is also keen to understand the molecular aspect of these bio-adhesives, in general. Before Joining Annabi’s lab, he was working with Prof. Ali Khademhosseini at CNSI, UCLA. He was leading the bio-materials sub-group having a focused research interest on the fabrication of functional biomaterial for drug delivery and capture, disease models, regenerative bio-adhesives and others. Avijit loves to work in a team and moves forward with a passion to achieve success through “the hard work” and “the power of imagination”. Apart from research, he is passionate about football, photography, cooking and music.

A.baidyaju@gmail.com

Yavuz Oz

Dr. Yavuz Oz received his B.Sc. in Chemistry in 2010 from Gazi University. Then, he completed his M.Sc. in 2014 and Ph.D. in 2020 in Chemistry at Bogazici University under supervision of Prof. Amitav Sanyal. During his Ph.D., he focused on smart polymer nanocomposites and graphene based materials tailored for targeted delivery and imaging. After gaining 2 years of experience in industry, Dr. Yavuz Oz started his post-doctoral studies in Prof Nasim Annabi`s research group in Spring of 2022. Currently, he is working on functional polymeric nano-platforms utilized for targeted delivery and controlled release. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, spending time with his family, and watching Premier League.

yavuzozz@yahoo.com

Hossein Montazerian

Hossein received his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Shahid Rajaee University, Tehran, Iran (2015) and continued his MASc studies at The School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada in 2018. Hossein’s undergraduate research was focused on the design and mechanical characterization of the 3D-printed porous bone scaffolds. As a part of his MASc studies, Hossein’s research was further extended to the area of stretchable and wearable sensors. At UBC, he worked in Composites Research Network and Advanced ThermoFluidic Laboraties. Hossein is currently co-supervised by Prof. Paul Weiss and Prof. Nasim Annabi since Spring 2020. Prior to joining Annabi Lab, he worked in Khademhosseini Laboratory at UCLA. He is so excited to pursue his research on the next-generation hydrogel biomaterials for the development of bioadhesives and medical sealants. 

Hmontazerian@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