Advisor: Dr. Daniel A. Hammer- Discovered that monocyte adhesion from fluid flow is enhanced on stiff substrates (providing insight into how blood vessel stiffening may promote inflammation)- Studied how pro-inflammatory stimuli alter the migration behavior of human macrophages

Advisor: Dr. Sanjay KumarCo-advisor: Dr. David V. SchafferThesis: Genetically Tuning Cellular Mechanobiology- Designed viral vectors with orthogonal inducible promoters to dynamically vary the activity of Rho GTPases in engineered human cell lines- Utilized engineered cell lines for innovative applications:1.Demonstrated that the physical properties of cells (e.g., contractility, stiffness, motility) can be tuned through inducible expression of Rho GTPase mutants2. Spatially patterned cell populations within a 3D matrix by switching cell motility off and on 3. Investigated the effects of simultaneously activating two antagonistic proteins: RhoA and Rac1- Discovered that the invasion of glioblastoma tumor cells can be reduced by activating RhoA

Advisor: Dr. Frederick P. RothInserted genes for RNAi machinery into S. cerevisiae, facilitating RNAi technology in yeast

Advisor: Dr. Gregory Stephanopoulos- Genetically engineered metabolic pathways in E. coli for biopolymer applications- Determined that plasmid stability is critical for polyhydroxybutyrate production scale up

Determined optimal flow paths in the clinical manufacturing plant to reduce pipe holdup losses

Characterized chromatography columns to aid scale up from bench top to manufacturing