Summer 2023 Cohort

 Muskan Aslam is a rising senior at North Carolina University, where she is majoring in biomedical engineering with dual concentrations in regenerative medicine and rehabilitation engineering. At her home institution, she has contributed to the fabrication of a tendonon-
chip system to study the effects of fluid shear on tenocyte gene expression for tendon wound healing therapies. This summer, Muskan will be working on the development of a proregenerative ointment for diabetic wound healing in the Ameer lab. Outside of research, Muskan is passionate about reducing gender disparity in engineering and serves as president of Girls Engineering Change, an organization dedicated to this mission. After completing her undergraduate degree, Muskan plans to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering and eventually work in a long-term research position for a research institute. Her goal as a future research is to conduct research regarding treatments for chronic diseases that disproportionally affect minority communities. She also hopes to perform service work to reduce gender disparity and encourage diversity in the field of engineering.

 Kiana Mohammadian is a rising senior at Columbia University, where she is studying biomedical engineering and minoring in entrepreneurship. Kiana was born in Toronto, Canada, but she grew up in Naperville, Illinois (about 1.5 hours away from Evanston). She is interested in the areas of
clinical engineering and translational research. Kiana has experience researching sensorbased medical devices, such as wearable physiological symptom sensors to detect COVID, inflatable hip-airbag belts, powered prosthetics, and robotic walkers. During the semester, Kiana is involved with a microfluidics lab, where she helps develop point-of-care (bedside) chips to detect cancer mutations through a liquid biopsy. She hopes to continue developing devices and techniques that improve healthcare for patients and providers in the future. In her free time, Kiana enjoys volunteering as a tour guide at her local history museum (Naper Settlement), biking, cooking, and spending time with family.

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• Bianca Joaquin is a rising senior at Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois. She plans to pursue biomedical engineering in college and hopes to double major in a humanities field as well. Alongside her mentor, Bianca's research experience this summer focused on the project for developing "A Pro-angiogenic Dermoconductive Wound Dressing."

 Andres Gerena, an upcoming senior year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is studying to be a Chemical Engineer. Returning to Northwestern for a second summer of research, he's drawn back by the unresolved questions that emerged from his previous work. Motivated by a genuine desire to explore these questions, his focus this summer has centered on characterizing the intricate changes occurring within citrate-based polymer films as they undergo the leaching process

 Monijesu Adeosun is a rising senior at Evanston Township High School. She is interested in exploring biotechnology and experiencing the research side of scientific breakthroughs for healthcare. This summer, she worked on a project researching and developing the "Synthesis of a highly elastic biodegradable polymer for regenerative engineering" with her mentor.

 Casey Tan is a rising junior at Northwestern University, having transferred from Wright College. She plans to continue her studies in biomedical engineering. This summer, her research experience focused on "Analyzing Crimping & Deployment of Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds to Asses In-vivo Success" with her mentor.

Dominika Panek is a rising junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, after transferring from Wright College. She plans to continue her major in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Bioengineering, with particular interest in biological micro-electromechanical systems. This summer, she gained wet lab skills while working alongside her mentor to explore the "Fabrication of a Multifunctional Porous Scaffold for Myocardial Infarction Treatment."