Past Lab Members

Goutham Bojja, B.S.

Goutham Bojja received his B.S. in Pharmacy from GITAM University, India in 2020.  During his undergraduate program, his research was focused on improving the bioavailability of Naproxen using various cyclodextrins.  Goutham's research interest in the field of biomaterials led him to take up the master’s program in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.  Upon beginning his studies at Penn, he developed an interest in the field of genetic engineering and vaccine development. With the direction of Drs. Mohamad Gabriel-Alameh and Istvan Tombacz, he is worked on the space of genetic engineering, mRNA production, and LNP formulation for vaccines.

Wendy Bonilla-Acosta, M.S.

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Wendy Bonilla-Acosta received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University. During her time as an undergraduate student, Wendy researched sexual dimorphism and sexual selection in D. melanogaster (fruit flies) and C. maculatus (bean beetles). After graduation, Wendy attended Rowan University and received her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences.  

In October 2021, Wendy joined the Weissman Lab under the supervision of Dr. Xiomara Mercado-Lopez and worked on vaccine development against viral diseases such as Influenza and Flaviviruses.  

Hiromi Muramatsu, Ph.D.

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Dr. Hiromi Muramatsu received his B.S. from the Tokyo University of Science in Tokyo, Japan in Chemistry in 1989. He earned his doctorate in Veterinary Science from the Nippon Veterinary and Life Sciences University in Tokyo, Japan in 2004 under the tutelage of Professor Kazuaki Takahashi. His thesis work focused on the role of superoxide anions during experimental cerebral ischemia using an MCA technique in rats. Dr. Muramatsu was a researcher at the Nippon Medical School in the laboratory of Professor Katayama from 1983-2001. In this role he became an expert in generating and characterizing focal ischemia in rats. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Frank Welsh in 2001 to continue his research in ischemia. He was an NRSA Post doc from 2004-2005 and trained under Dr. Katalin Kariko in molecular biology techniques focusing on RNA therapies. He worked with Drs. Kariko and Weissman through 2013, studying the effect of non-immunogenic mRNA on erythropoietin levels in mice. He joined BioNTech SE in 2013 with Dr. Katalin Kariko to starting up the mRNA Division, where they continued the work initiated at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to the University of Pennsylvania in the laboratory of Dr. Drew Weissman in 2016. Working with Drs. Weissman and Norbert Pardi, his work focused on protein replacement therapies and mRNA vaccines.

Norbert Pardi, Ph.D.

Bryn V. Queeley, M.S.

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Bryn Queeley received her B.S. from Rowan University with a degree in Biochemistry. Shortly after graduation she pursued a Master’s degree in Bioengineering from Temple University. Bryn is now aspiring to be a medical scientist, similarly, to her supervisor Dr. Elena Atochina-Vasserman, with whom she studies mRNA synthesizing and vaccine development. Bryn joined the Weissman lab November 2021.

Hamna Shahnawaz,B.A.

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Hamna Shahnawaz received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Bryn Mawr College in 2018. She joined the Weissman lab in the summer of 2017 as a CTSA-TRIP awardee. Under the supervision of Dr. Weissman, she worked on a project improving the efficiency of mRNA translation through molecular modifications, and later continued this project as her undergraduate thesis. Following her graduation, Hamna joined the lab full-time as a research specialist and contributed to projects to refine LNP delivery and explore the non-vaccine applications of mRNA-LNPs. Hamna also produced in vitro transcribed mRNA for lab members and collaborators, and provided training to lab personnel on mRNA production until 2021.

Adam Sirusas, B.A.

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Adam Sirusas received his B.A. in Biomathematics from Rutgers University, New Brunswick in May 2020. While completing his degree, Adam helped investigate the molecular ecology of bats regarding the fungal pathogen P. Destructans, as well as how climate change affects gene expression in coral.

After a handful of temporary COVID-19 diagnostic positions, Adam joined the Weissman Lab in 2021 under the supervision of Drs. Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh and Istvan Tombacz. He supported his colleagues’ research on mRNA vaccine technology by producing in vitro-transcribed mRNA and performing a variety of assays. In the near future, Adam plans to attend graduate school and work on interdisciplinary research problems that incorporate his diverse academic background.

Chutamath (Mint) Sittplangkoon, B.S.

Chutamath (Mint) Sittplangkoon received her B.S. in 2015 from Kasetsart University in Thailand, where she majored in Biology. Chutamath enrolled in the Ph.D. Biotechnology program at the Center of Excellence in Immunology and Immune mediated diseases of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand under the supervision of Prof. Tanapat Palaga. She joined the Weissman Lab as a visiting student from May 2019 to December 2020 under the supervision and guidance of Drs. Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh and Drew Weissman. Her thesis work focuses on developing a therapeutic mRNA cancer vaccine against melanoma, and studying the effect, or influence, of mRNA nucleoside modification on immunogenicity and therapeutic efficacy in mouse tumor models.

Ousamah Younoss Soliman, M.Sc.

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Ousamah Soliman received his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, from Polytechnique Montreal in 2015. During his time as an undergraduate student, he completed three internships in a research laboratory focusing on biomaterials for gene delivery. Under the supervision of Professors Michael D. Buschmann and Marc Lavertu, he led experimental projects with the aim of optimizing the production parameters of chitosan based polyelectrolyte complexes. Within that group, he had contributed to the development and validation of a fully automated production system for sterile large scale and robust assembly of polymeric nanoparticles encapsulating different kinds of therapeutic RNA and DNA. Furthermore, he received his Master’s Degree within that same research group. The Master’s research project involved an exhaustive screening of polyelectrolyte complexes designed for mRNA delivery, with the aim of systematically evaluating the influence of macromolecular properties of chitosan and hyaluronic acid, and components stoichiometry on the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles and their in vitro transfection efficiency. He had joined the Weissman Lab as a research specialist and worked under the supervision of  Dr. Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh. Mr. Soliman has produced over 600 mg of pure mRNA used in several vaccine research & development projects. He has a strong interest in optimization of in-vitro synthesized nucleoside-modified mRNA.

Dian Wang, M.B.

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Dr. Dian Wang received her Bachelor of Medicine degree from Beijing Medical University, P.R. of China in 1984. Dian participated in a variety of projects, including age-related changes to substantia nigra in rat brains, quantitative histochemistry studies on cellular acetylcholinesterase activity, and quantitative and analytical studies on the activity of acetylcholinesterase of nucleus and substantia nigra of senescent rats using image analysis systems.

In 1990, Dr. Wang joined the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Pennsylvania State University. Her work focused on the mechanism of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) crossing the placental barrier and infecting the developing human fetus and causing disease in the newborn. Between 2000 to 2006, Dr. Wang worked for the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, where she developed animal model systems for research on coronary artery disease and the development of therapeutic and prevention strategies. She worked with Dr. Xia at the Department of Anatomy, Pathology, and Cell Biopsy on mouse and rat disease model maintenance, as well as studying the expression and trafficking of transport proteins using cell culture and Western Blot. In 2011, she worked as a research assistant at the Department of Dermatology and mainly focused on mRNA stability and protein-mRNA interaction utilizing cell culture, yeast culture, Northern Blot, and Western Blot.

Dr. Wang joined the Weissman Lab as a Research Specialist in 2019. She worked with Dr. Jibin Zhou in preparing DNA for use in various projects.

Amir Yadegari, M.Sc.

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Amir Yadegari earned a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of Tehran, Iran in 2013. After graduation, he mainly worked on the synthesis and characterization of nanostructures for biomedical applications such as anticancer drug delivery systems, biosensors and wound healing at University of Tehran. In 2017, Amir joined Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a research associate where he continued working on synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials biomaterials for anti-cancer drug delivery systems, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. In June 2020, Amir joined Dr. Weissman's lab at University of Pennsylvania where he mainly worked on modification of mRNA-LNP for specific targeting and gene delivery applications under supervision of Dr. Hamideh Parhiz.