Joshua N. Leonard
Principal Investigator
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Director, Northwestern Predoctoral Biotechnology Training Program
Co-Director, Graduate Cluster in Biotechnology, Systems, and Synthetic Biology
Founding Member, Northwestern Center for Synthetic Biology
Member, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Member, Chemistry of Life Processes Institute
Mentor, Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Program (IBiS)
Mentor, Masters in Biotechnology Program
Mentor, Molecular Biophysics Training Program
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, 2006
Management of Technology Certificate, Haas School of Business, 2005
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, 2000
Postdoctoral Fellows
Rachel R. Mizenko
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, 2024
Lab member since 2024 (co-advised with Neha Kamat)
Research Interests: Extracellular vesicles, targeted drug delivery, and synthetic biology
Doctoral Students
Jonathan Boucher
Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program (IBiS)
B.S. in Human Physiology, Boston University, 2014
Lab member since 2019
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and novel therapeutic strategies
William Corcoran
Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Graduate Program (IBiS)
B.S. in Biology, Carleton College, 2014
Lab member since 2019 (co-advised with Gabriel Rocklin)
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and receptor engineering
Gauri Bora
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 2019
Lab member since 2020
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and cell therapies
Amparo Cosio
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Minor in Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2020
Lab member since 2020
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and engineering cell-based therapeutics
Yannick Schreiber
Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
B.S. in Neuroscience and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Minor in Biochemistry, University of Arizona, 2019
Lab member since 2021
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and novel therapeutic strategies
Beth DiBiase
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, B.S. in Biochemistry, Northeastern University, 2021
Lab member since 2021 (co-advised with Neha Kamat)
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, engineering therapeutic exosomes, and synthetic vesicles
Michael Anderson
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Miami University, 2022
Lab member since 2022
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, engineered cell therapies
Amy Weiss
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut 2023
Lab member since 2023
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, engineering cell therapies
Lauren Redus
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Minor in Mathematics, University of Rochester 2023
Lab member since 2023
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, engineering cell therapies
Madeleine Keller
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Miami University 2024
Lab member since 2024
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, gene therapy
Xavier “Xav” Bower
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Molecular Engineering, Minor in Spanish Language and Literature, University of Chicago 2020
Lab member since 2024 (co-advised with Julius Lucks)
Research Interests: Synthetic biology, deep learning, and therapeutic applications of functional RNA
Coco Nut the Palm Tree
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
B.S. in Beach Fun
Lab member since 2017
Research Interests: Criminal justice
Undergraduate Students
Emilie Jacobus
Biomedical Engineering
Lab member since 2022
Gabriela Cosenza
Chemical Engineering
Lab member since 2023
Jieun Woo
Chemical Engineering
Lab member since 2024
Adam DiPasquale
Biomedical Engineering
Lab member since 2024
Bogdan Buzdugan
Visiting Scholar from North Park University
Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, minor in Chemistry
Lab member since 2025
Research Technologist
Henry Schirmer
B.S./M.S. in Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, 2024
Lab member since 2024
Research Interests: Synthetic biology and computational biology
Alumni
Graduate Students and Postdocs
Catherine Leites, Masters in Biotechnology (2009) – LinkedIn
Nicole Hataway, Masters in Biotechnology (2009) – LinkedIn
Sindhuja Sagar, Masters in Biotechnology (2010) – LinkedIn
Shirley Samuel-Abraham, Postdoctoral Fellow (2011)
Stephen Bi, BS/MS Biomedical Engineering (2012) – LinkedIn
Brendon Dusel, Masters in Biotechnology (2012) – LinkedIn
Jennifer Greenspan, Masters in Biotechnology (2012) – LinkedIn
Patrick Ho, Masters in Biotechnology (2012) – LinkedIn
Anthony Chipre, Chemistry (2012)
Ragan Pitner, BS/MS Biomedical Engineering (2013) – LinkedIn
Nichole Daringer, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2014) – LinkedIn
Yishan Chuang, Ph.D. Chemical Eningeering (2014) – LinkedIn
R. Michael Gower, Postdoctoral Fellow (2014) – LinkedIn
Rachel Dudek, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2015) – LinkedIn
Andrew Scarpelli, Ph.D. IBiS (2015) – LinkedIn
Danny Wells, Ph.D. Applied Math (2015) – LinkedIn
Michelle Hung, Ph.D. IBiS (2016) – LinkedIn
Stephen Lenzini, BS/MS Chemical Engineering (2016) – LinkedIn
Kelly Schwarz, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2017) – LinkedIn
Andrew Younger, Ph.D. IBiS (2017) – LinkedIn
Peter Su, MS Chemical Engineering (2017) – LinkedIn
Everett Allchin, BS/MS Chemical Engineering (2017-2018) – LinkedIn
Benji Leibowitz, BS/MS Chemical Engineering (2018) – LinkedIn
Daniel Fernandez, Masters in Biotechnology (2018) – LinkedIn
Austin Miller, Masters in Biotechnology (2018) – LinkedIn
Amy Hong, BS/MS Chemical Engineering (2019) – LinkedIn
Suchitra Sankaranarayan, Masters in Biotechnology (2019) – LinkedIn
Joseph Draut, BS/MS Chemical Engineering (2019) – LinkedIn
Taylor Dolberg, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2020) – LinkedIn
Joseph Muldoon, Ph.D. IBiS (2020) – LinkedIn
Patrick Donahue, M.D., Ph.D MSTP (2022) – LinkedIn
Alexis Prybutok, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2022) – LinkedIn
Max Ezekiel, MS Chemical Engineering (2022) – LinkedIn
Aaron Morris, Postdoctoral Fellow (2022) – LinkedIn
Kate Dray, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2022) – LinkedIn
Devin Stranford, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2021), Postdoctoral Fellow (2021-2023) – LinkedIn
Hailey Edelstein, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2023) – LinkedIn
Simrita Deol, M.D., Ph.D MSTP (2022) – LinkedIn
Roxi Mitrut, Ph.D. Chemical Engineering (2023) – LinkedIn
Taylor Gunnels, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering (2024) – LinkedIn
Iva Hammitt-Kess, BS/MS Biomedical Engineering (2024) – LinkedIn
Kathleen (Katie) Dreyer, Ph.D. Chemical engineering (2024)
Affiliated Students
Luke Vistain, Ph.D. IBiS (2017) – LinkedIn
Rotation Students
Adam Pah, IBiS (2008) – LinkedIn
Bethany Baumann, IBiS (2009) – LinkedIn
Andrew Scarpelli, IBiS (2010) – LinkedIn
Roli Mandhana, IBiS (2011)
Luke Vistain, IBiS (2011) – LinkedIn
Michelle (Marcus) Hung, IBiS (2011) – LinkedIn
Kasia Soczek, IBiS (2012)
Andrew Younger, IBiS (2013) – LinkedIn
Alexandra De Paz, IBiS (2013) – LinkedIn
Joseph Muldoon, IBiS (2014)
Soo Ro, IBiS (2014) – LinkedIn
Patrick Donahue, MSTP (2014) – LinkedIn
Nikita Divekar, IBiS (2015) – LinkedIn
Sophia Li, MSTP (2015)
Michael Vincent, IBiS (2017) – LinkedIn
Tae-Eun Kim, IBiS (2017)
Clare Harper, IBiS (2018)
Simrita Deol, MSTP (2018) – LinkedIn
Stephen Lander, MSTP (2018) – LinkedIn
William Corcoran, IBiS (2018) – LinkedIn
Jon Boucher, IBiS (2019) – LinkedIn
Michael Ray, IBiS (2019) – LinkedIn
Daniel Selgrade, MSTP (2019) – LinkedIn
Jacquelyn Trujillo, MSTP (2019) – LinkedIn
Syed Uddin, IBiS (2020)
Undergraduate Research Associates
Yedida Birnbaum, Biology (2010) – LinkedIn
Jennifer Darby, Chemical Engineering (2010) – LinkedIn
Alexandra Lichtor, Chemical Engineering (2011) – LinkedIn
Jessica Perez, Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), MIT Bioengineering (2011) – LinkedIn
Eric DeFeo, Chemical Engineering (2011) – LinkedIn
Nirajan Rajkarnikar, Chemical Engineering (2011) – LinkedIn
Eric Jiang, Chemical Engineering and ISP (2011) – LinkedIn
Chen Zheng, Biomedical Engineering (2012) – LinkedIn
Samson Berhane, Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), Yale University (2012) – LinkedIn
Darien Hannington, Chemical Engineering (2012)
Brianne Knickel, Chemical Engineering (2012) – LinkedIn
Bradley Solomon, ISP, Computer Science, Biology (2012) – LinkedIn
Louis Knapp, Chemical Engineering (2012) – LinkedIn
Camila Benaim, Computer Science (2013) – LinkedIn
Adam Spiegel, Physics Sciences-Oncology Center summer student, Biomedical Physics (2013)
Hector Castillo, Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), Biomedical Engineering (2014)
Raj Desai, Chemical Engineering (2014) – LinkedIn
Naomi Lisse, Chemical Engineering (2013-2014) – LinkedIn
Vincent Cericola, Chemical Engineering (2013-2014) – LinkedIn
Jason Arnold, Biomedical Engineering (2012-2015) – LinkedIn
Austin Rottinghuas, Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), University of Wisconsin Chemical Engineering (2015) – LinkedIn
Neil Dalvie, Chemical Engineering (2014-2016) – LinkedIn
Pear Dhiantravan, Chemical Engineering (2016) – LinkedIn
Imran Khan, Biology (2016) – LinkedIn
Praneet Polineni, Biology (2016)
Shreya Udani, Biomedical Engineering (2016) – LinkedIn
Cameron McDonald, Chemical Engineering (2017) – LinkedIn
Andrea Shepard, Chemical Engineering (2016-2018) – LinkedIn
Lauren Battaglia, BS Chemical Engineering (2018) – LinkedIn
Ashwin Kulkarni, Biology and Journalism (2017-2018) – LinkedIn
Nicole Toussaint Nasta, Chemical Engineering (2017-2018) – LinkedIn
Katie Zhu, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering (2018)
Siyuan Feng, Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), Johns Hopkins Materials Science and Engineering (2018)
Chris Coleman, Computer Science (2018-2019) – LinkedIn
Viswajit (Vis) Kandula, Biomedical Engineering (2018-2019)
Parth Shah, Biochemistry/Biophysics, Economics, Science in Human Culture (2018-2019) – LinkedIn
Brandon Lim, Biomedical Engineering (2019) – LinkedIn
Andrea Collins, Stanford University Computer Science (2019)
Marya Ornelas, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), Pitzer College Biochemistry (2019)
Elizabeth Schauer, Chemical Engineering (2018-2020) – LinkedIn
Anthony Kang, Biochemistry/Biophysics, Science in Human Culture (2019-2020) – LinkedIn
Ugochinyere Ndukwe, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), Columbia University – Biology and Neuroscience & Behavior (2021) – LinkedIn
Vida Storm Robertson, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), Texas A&M University – Commerce Biological Science (2021)
Austin Chen, Economics (2019-2020)
Kate Chambers, Biomedical Engineering (2019-2021)
Erin Kotzbauer, Chemical Engineering (2019-2022) – LinkedIn
Isabelle Chen, Chemical Engineering (2020-2022) – LinkedIn
Jake Rusnack, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), University of North Carolina at Wilmington – Biology, minor in Chemistry (2022) – LinkedIn
Gretchen Ruiz Cruz, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez – Industrial Biotechnology (2023) – LinkedIn
Eleftheria Beres, Computer Science and Mathematics (2021-2024) – LinkedIn
Yazeed Alroogi, Biomedical Engineering (2022-2024) – LinkedIn
Grace Lin, Northwestern Synthetic Biology REU (SynBREU), Florida State University – Biomedical Engineering (2024) – LinkedIn
Visiting fellows
Ryan Cummings, MD, New York Medical College (2012)
Melchior du Lac, University of Warwick (2014)
Visiting scholars
Sa’adya Levy, King Solomon School (2024)
