Lab Members


Principal Investigator
Post Doctoral Associates
Ph.D. Students
Masters Students
Undergraduates
Ph.D. Alumni


Principle Investigator

Dr. Lawrence Bonassar
Daljit S. and Elaine Sakaria Professor
Dr. Bonassar joined Cornell University in 2003 after five years on the faculty of the Center for Tissue Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Orthopedic Research Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in the Center for Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently serves on the editorial board of the journal Tissue Engineering.

 


Ph.D. Students

Karan Vishwanath

B.A.Sc. in Materials Engineering, University of Toronto
kv267@cornell.edu

“Lubrication Mechanisms of Articular Cartilage”

 

 

 

 

Serafina Lopez

B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of New Mexico

M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University
sl3222@cornell.edu | Twitter: @Serafina_Lopez4

“Meniscus Tissue Engineering”

 

 

Eric Yoon

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
dy335@cornell.edu

“Depth-dependent Mechanics of the Temporomandibular Joint”

 

 

 

 

Caroline Thompson

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, The University of Connecticut
clt89@cornell.edu | LinkedIn: Carolinebikes

“Stem Cell Therapies for the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis”

 

 

 

 

Alikhan Fidai

B.S. in Bioengineering, The University of Texas at Dallas
abf76@cornell.edu | Twitter: @Khancepts_

“Tissue Engineered Intervertebral Discs”

 

 

 

 

Alicia Matavosian

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville
aam346@cornell.edu | Twitter: @amatavosian

“In-line, Non-destructive Determination of Cellular Properties in Bioink During Printing”

 

 

 

Aiyana Fortin

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, The University of Vermont
agf49@cornell.edu | Twitter: @FortinAiyana

“Targeted Therapeutic C’ dot nanoparticles for Osteoarthritis”

 

 

 

Ashley Cardenas

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
ac2498@cornell.edu

“Mitochondrial transfer as a repair strategy for intervertebral disc disease”

 

 

 

Salman O Matan

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington
aeg246@cornell.edu | Twitter: @SalmanOMatan

“Microscale structure and functional relationships of healthy and arthritic human cartilage”

 

 

 

 

Carlos Urrea De La Puerta

A.S. in Engineering, Cochise College
B.S in Biomedical Engineering, The University of Arizona

cyu2@cornell.edu | Twitter: @cyurrea_

 “Meniscal Enthesis Tissue Engineering”

 

 

Julia Bellamy

B.E. in Engineering Sciences, concentration in Biomedical Engineering, Dartmouth College
B.S. in Physics, Minor in Mathematics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

jrb527@cornell.edu

“Parameter Optimization for Collagen Bioprinting”

 

India Dykes

B.S. Bioengineering, Washington State University

ied5@cornell.edu

“Bioprinting and Bioinstrumentation”

 

 

 

Spencer Witt

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, 2023

smw374@cornell.edu

“Articular Cartilage Lubrication Mechanics”

 


Masters Students

Avdhesh Vermani | B.Eng. Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, ’23
“C’ Dot nanoparticles for Osteoarthritis: Therapeutic delivery of the anabolic growth factor IGF-1 in bovine articular cartilage”
av527@cornell.edu


Undergraduates

Antonio Garces ’25

Dennis Kang ’25

Emily D’Angelo ’25

Smriti Sridharan ’25

Zongyin Dong ’25

Alexandra Griffin ’26

Megh Prajapati ’26

Ryan Lyppens ’26



Ph.D. Alumni

Leigh Slyker, Ph.D.

Senior Engineer II, Drug Product Development at Moderna
ls882@cornell.edu

Sean Kim, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate, Tissue Engineering at Ark Biotech
bk525@cornell.edu

Steven Ayala, Ph.D.
sa2262@cornell.edu

Jongkil Kim, Ph.D.
jk2787@cornell.edu

Marianne Lintz, Ph.D.
ml2428@cornell.edu

Rebecca Irwin, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Duke University
rmi8@cornell.edu

Elizabeth Feeney, Ph.D.
Research Analyst, Duke University
ef362@cornell.edu

Stephen Sloan, Ph.D.
Biotech Equity Research Associate, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
srs387@cornell.edu

Sierra Cook, Ph.D.
sgc73@cornell.edu

Nicole Diamantides, Ph.D.
Application Specialist at Cellink, Co
cdd72@cornell.edu

Jill Middendorf, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
jmm749@cornell.edu

Alexander Boys, Ph.D.
Research Associate, University of Cambridge
ajb459@cornell.edu

Christopher DiDomenico, Ph.D.
Senior Biomechanist, ARCCA, Inc.
cdd72@cornell.edu

Benjamin Cohen, Ph.D.
Scientist at 3D Bio Therapeutics
bpc67@cornell.edu

Jorge Mojica Santiago, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Florida
jam863@cornell.edu

Mary Clare McCorry, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Food and Drug Administration
mcm338@cornell.edu

Brandon Borde, Ph.D.
Knowledge Engineer at Bridgewater Associates
bhb54@cornell.edu

Edward Bonnevie, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania
edb77@cornell.edu

Katherine Hudson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate at Lehigh University
katherine.hudson@lehigh.edu

Darvin J. Griffin, Ph.D.
Medical Science Liaison at Medtronic
dg423@cornell.edu

Nizeet Aguilar, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis School of Medicine
izaguila@iupui.edu

Kirk Samaroo, Ph.D.
Founder of Biotech Company
kjs259@cornell.edu

Corinne Henak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin
chenak@wisc.edu

Jenny Puetzer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University
jlpuetzer@vcu.edu

Nicholas Genes, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
nicholas.genes@mountsinai.org

Nichole Mercier, Ph.D.
Business Development Director, Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO
NMERCIER@DOM.wustl.edu

Jonathan Phillips, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Boehringer-Ingleheim, Ridgefield, CT
jonathan.phillips@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Rani Roy, Ph.D.
Center for Graduate Advisement, Manhattan College, New York, NY
rani.roy@manhattan.edu

Jason Gleghorn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware
gleghorn@udel.edu

Omotunde Babalola, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist,Bristol-Myers Squibb
omb3@cornell.edu

Satish Degala, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Carefusion, Inc.
sdegala123@gmail.com

Jeffrey Ballyns, Ph.D.
Biomedical Engineer, US Food and Drug Administration
ballynsjj@gmail.com

Robert Bowles, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah
robert.bowles@utah.edu
http://bpet.bioen.utah.edu/

Natalie Galley, Ph.D.
Technology Analyst, Fish & Richardson, Boston, MA
galley@fr.com