R. Helen Zha

R. Helen Zha

Principal Investigator

Dr. R. Helen Zha received her B.Sc. (2007) from MIT and her Ph.D. (2013) from Northwestern University in Materials Science & Engineering. Additionally, she has postdoctoral research experience at Eindhoven University of Technology and UC Berkeley. Helen is currently an Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a School of Engineering Dean’s Faculty Fellow. She is an affiliate faculty in the Biochemistry and Biophysics program, a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), a member of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM), and a member of the Center for Smart Convergent Manufacturing Systems (CSCMS). Additionally, Helen is an Associate Director of the NY Fashion Innovation Center (NYFIC).

Helen’s research focuses on the study of natural materials and the synthesis of biomimetic materials and processes. Helen has received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the National Institutes of Health R35 MIRA Early Career grant. She is a Scialog fellow and was named an Emerging Investigator by RSC Biomaterials Sciences in 2019. Additionally, Helen received the Rensselaer School of Engineering Research Excellence Award in 2024 and the Rensselaer Board of Trustee’s Class of 1951 Teaching Award in 2023.

Externally, Helen was the 2023 Chair of the Biomaterials program area of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She is also an active member of the American Chemical Society and the Society for Biomaterials.

 
 
 
 
 

Jack Devlin

Jack Devlin

Graduate Student

Jack was born and raised in New City, NY. He graduated from Fairfield University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2021 and a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2022.

 
 
 

Michael O’Sullivan

Michael O’Sullivan

Graduate Student

Michael graduated from Wesleyan University in 2023 with a B.A. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry. Before joining RPI, he worked at a molecular diagnostics startup, BillionToOne, as a member of the Oncology R&D team. His academic interests include bioinspired materials and protein engineering. He is originally from Holliston, Massachusetts.

 
 
 

Angela Moser

Angela Moser

Graduate Student

Angela graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 2017 with a B.S. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, and in 2018 with a B.S. in Chemistry. Before starting graduate school, Angela worked as an Application Engineer at MilliporeSigma for 3 years, where she helped to develop novel membrane chromatography devices for downstream processing of biotherapeutics. Angela grew up in Ellicott, Colorado.

 
 
 

Sahiti Tamirisakandala

Sahiti Tamirisakandala

Graduate Student

Sahiti graduated from Ohio State University in 2022 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering. She is originally from Solon, Ohio.

 
 
 

Vrushali Varude

Vrushali Varude

Graduate Student

Vrushali graduated from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai in 2022 with her Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering. She was born and raised in India.

 
 
 

Robert Carr

Robert Carr

Graduate Student

Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2022. He is originally from Greenwich, NY.

 
 
 

Kripa Nand, Ph.D.

Research Associate

Dr. Kripa Nand is a biotechnologist with hands on experience in mammalian cell culture, animal studies (rodents and sub-human primates), bioreactors, and cancer research. He earned his PhD in Biotechnology from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India, in 2017. Kripa’s work has successfully brought a recombinant anti-hCG vaccine from the lab to clinical trials, developed recombinant immunotherapeutics to treat advanced-stage cancers, established standard operating procedures for large-scale recombinant vaccine production, and transferred technology to the industry. Kripa joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a Research Associate in 2018, where he led a virus-like particle-based vaccine project in the Department of Biological Sciences until August 2024. Since 2024, Kripa has been working in the Zha lab on developing a new platform to modify cell surfaces and enhance the functionality of silk-based materials in biomedical applications.

 

Group Alumni

 

Graduate students and Postdoctoral Fellows:

  • Jeongae Kim

  • Jiseong Jeong

  • Hannah Doss

  • Caleb Wigham

  • Alex Connor

  • Tanner Fink

  • Amrita Sarkar

  • Tahira Catten

  • Jasmine Yang

Undergraduate Researchers:

  • Aditi Patel

  • Alex LaClair

  • Alexis Cooke

  • Antonio Maravilla

  • Ashley Hersey

  • Benjamin Carlson

  • Caitlin Frank

  • Christina Yang

  • Chuhan Yuan

  • Danya Navarette

  • Eleanor Tyner

  • Evan Mistler

  • Fina Corripio

  • Gina Ederr

  • Hana Zeghal

  • Henry O’Donnell

  • Hunter Dalton

  • Irene Amaya

  • Jack Zhu

  • Janaya Nelson

  • Katherine Cianciotti

  • Lakshmi Yannam

  • Lauren Salee

  • Lydia Ding

  • Madison Townsend

  • Mary Margaret St. Cruz

  • Max Nigogosyan

  • Megan Flaherty

  • Nilaish Sen

  • Rain Xie

  • Robin Newman

  • Rowan Smith

  • Samantha Cerezo

  • Sebastian Nassif

  • Shweta Burgula

  • Thomas Cho

  • Urvi Seghal

  • Zhiyun Zheng