THE JOSHI LAB
Our Members
Principal Investigator
Nitin Joshi, PhD
Dr. Nitin Joshi is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Bioengineer in the Department of Anesthesiology, Peripoperative and Pain Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After obtaining his PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, he did his postdoctoral fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital with Dr. Jeffrey Karp. Dr. Joshi’s main research focus is drug delivery and biomaterials. Technologies developed by him have resulted in 10+ granted and pending patents and technology disclosures, with most licensed to biotech companies and one already advancing through clinical trials. Dr. Joshi’s research work has been published in top tier journals, including Nature Communications, Science Advances, Nanotoday, Biomaterials, and Journal of Controlled Release, and has been highlighted by multiple media outlets and scientific journals around the world. He has received multiple awards for his work, including MIT’s Technology Review Magazine (TR35) India Award, Lockheed Martin Innovation Award, and Boston Patent Law Association (BPLA) 2020 Invented Here! Featured Honoree Award. Dr. Joshi has keen interest in training and mentoring the next generation of biomedical scientists and has mentored more than 30 students to date.
Operations Coordinator
Lisa Talluto
Lisa oversees the lab administration, including fiscal/budget management, grant management, supervision of lab personnel activities, inventory management, ordering of supplies, and managing the on-boarding of new students and postdocs.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Sohyung Lee, PhD
Sohyung joined the lab as a postdoctoral research fellow in April 2022 right after she completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at UCLA under the mentorship of Prof. Dino Di Carlo. She is co-mentored by Prof. Nitin Joshi and Prof. Jeffrey Karp. Her research interests broadly include developing micro/nano-fabrication methods for biomedical applications. During her Ph.D. she worked on 3D bioprinting and microfluidics for tissue engineering and single cell analysis. Currently, her focus is to develop drug delivery platforms for long-lasting drug release for different applications. In her free time, she enjoys watching images and videos of cute animals and she likes walking in warm weather.
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Dongtak Lee, PhD
Dongtak joined the lab as a postdoctoral research fellow in September 2022, under the mentorship of Drs. Nitin Joshi and Jeffrey Karp. Dongtak completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Korea University with Prof. Dae Sung Yoon where he focused on fabricating various biomaterials for biomedical applications. During his Ph.D. course, he developed nanoparticle-based drug screening platforms for treating neurodegenerative diseases and cell membrane-based biosensors. Currently, his research interests broadly include developing drug delivery platforms for translational medical applications. In his free time, he enjoys going for a walk and hanging out with friends and family.
Graduate Students
Mahima Dewani
Mahima is a PhD student from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, jointly supervised by Dr. Nitin Joshi and Dr. Rohit Srivastava. Her research interests include sustained-release drug delivery systems for chronic inflammatory diseases. In the Joshi lab, she is working on drug-delivery carriers and in-vitro models for osteoarthritis. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading and cooking.
Research Assistants
Xinyang Chen
Xinyang is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, pursuing a major in Biomedical Systems Engineering and minors in Computer Science and Statistics. She joined the lab in May 2023 and is working with Dr. Sohyung Lee on a long-lasting drug delivery system. In her spare time, she enjoys reading novels and listening to music.
Christopher Jiang
Chris is a student at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Bioengineering. Since May 2023, Chris has been working under Dr. Jingjing Gao's supervision, focusing on drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier. During his leisure time, Chris finds pleasure in engaging in sports and playing video games.
Zoe Kutulakos
Zoe is an undergraduate studying Engineering Science – Biomedical Systems at the University of Toronto, Canada. Zoe joined the lab in May 2023 and is working with Dr. Dongtak Lee to design intranasal platforms for drug delivery to the brain. Outside of the lab, you can find her exploring the outdoors and striking up conversations in five different languages.
Rong Wang
Rong is an Immunology and Health & Disease undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. She joined the lab in May 2023 as a one-year intern. She works with Dr. Dongtak Lee to develop a nasal drug delivery platform for preventing respiratory infections. In her spare time, she likes cooking and photography.
Eli Weldon
Eli is a third-year at Northeastern University pursuing his undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical science. Eli, who joined the lab in June 2023, is working under the guidance of Dr. Jingjing Gao to explore novel biomaterial approaches that facilitate the delivery of therapeutic payloads across the blood-brain barrier. In his free time, Eli enjoys trying new foods, working out, and taking care of his three dogs.
Lingyun Zhu
Lingyun is a Material Science and Engineering undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. She joined the lab in May 2023 as a one-year Professional Experience Year (PEY) intern and is working with Dr. Sohyung Lee to develop a long-lasting drug delivery system. Outside of the lab, she loves sketching and walking in the city.
Robert McDermott
Robert is a graduate student studying biology at Tufts University. He joined the lab in August 2023 under Dr. Jingjing Gao where they are investigating the application of nanoparticle delivery for gene therapies in the brain. Robert’s interests include hiking, camping, and photography. You can often find him stargazing around the greater Boston area.
Nishkal Pisal
Nishkal is an undergraduate Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Nishkal joined the lab in September 2023 and is working under the guidance of Dr. Jingjing Gao on developing drug-delivery systems for gene therapy in Alzheimer's disease. Outside of the lab, he enjoys rock climbing and playing the piano.
Alumni
Postdoctoral Fellows
Jingjing Gao, PhD (Assistant Professor, UMass Amherst)
Anthony Yu, PhD (Associate Director R&D, Syntis Bio)
John Joseph, PhD (Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Research Assistants/Interns
Ram Godbole
Joshua Mathew
Amogh Gorantla
Jacques Hall
Elias Tamer
Swetharajan Gunasekar
Shumaim Barooj
Chak Sang Ryan Yip
Krisco-Cheuk Cheung
Ziting (Judy) Xia
Chetan Shukla
Julian Kage
Likhita Sree Thiriveedi
Eric Schaar
Eli Agus
Paulina Predko
Dilrasbonu Vohidova
Kabir Swain
Helna Baby Mary
Olivia Snapper
Sruthi Ranganathan
Purna Shah