Alumni of the Sailor Group at UC San Diego
Vivechana Agarwal
Sabbatical visitor: 2009-2010
ORCID:
Current Position: Professor, Autonomous State University of Morelos, Cuernavca, Mexico
Vivechana is a Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the Investigation Center for Engineering and Applied Sciences in Autonomous State University of Morelos (CIICAp-UAEM) in Cuernavca, Mexico. She was supported by a Sabbatical Grant from CONACyT, Mexico. Her research interests include photonic properties of porous silicon, graphene, and other carbon materials for sensor and catalysis applications.
updated: Dec 2022
Alessandro Ajó
Visiting Graduate Student: 2022
ORCID: 0000-0003-4049-3818
Current Position: Researcher, University of Milan, Italy
Alessandro was a PhD student in Pharmaceutical Science at the laboratory of Professor Luisa De Cola at the University of Milan, who visited the lab Feb-Aug, 2022. Alessandro received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology at the University of Milano-Bicocca and a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology and Nanomedicine at Northeastern University in Boston. His work focused on encapsulation of biomolecules and peptides into porous silicon nanoparticles for drug delivery and cancer treatment. He emphasized nanoparticle-hydrogel hybrids.
updated: Aug 2024
Sara Alvarez
Graduate Student: 2003-2009
PhD 2009, Chemistry & Biochemistry: “Stability and Biocompatibility of Porous Silicon and Porous Alumina for Cell and Biomolecular Sensing”
ORCID:
Current Position: Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist at Agilent Technologies
Sara’s research project involved construction of a “Smart Petri Dish”–integrating live cells with porous Si photonic crystals for biosensing applications. She developed the chemistry and materials science to place microscopic sensor pads under live cells and cell colonies in order to create a real-time tissue-based biosensor. She published 7 papers and one issued patent from her thesis work.
updated: Dec 2022
Jennifer Andrew
Post-Doctoral Researcher: 2008-2011
ORCID:
Current Position: Professor, University of Florida, Gainesville
Jenny was a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sailor group. She received a PhD in Materials Science at UC Santa Barbara from David R. Clarke (now at Harvard University) in 2008, on multiferroic applications of polymer-based nanocomposites. Her four publications from her time at UC San Diego focused on the loading and release of proteins and other molecules from porous Si nanostructures, for controlled release drug delivery applications. Jenny began her faculty position at the University of Florida (Gainesville) in 2011.
updated: Dec 2022
Emily Anglin
Graduate Student: 2003-2007
PhD 2007, Chemistry & Biochemistry: “Chemically Modified and Nanostructured Porous Silicon as a Drug Delivery Material and Device”
ORCID:
Current Position: Senior Development Chemist, Spinnaker Biosciences, inc.
Emily’s research path began at Ohio Aerospace Institute and the NASA Glenn Research Center, where she worked on dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells for use in space environments. Her thesis project involved controlled release of drugs from nanostructured porous Si photonic crystals, in an NSF-sponsored collaboration with the research group of Jean-Marie Devoisselle and Frederique Cunin in Montpellier, France. She was the recipient of an American Heart Association Fellowship to develop these materials for use in coronary artery stents. After receiving her PhD from UCSD in 2007, Emily spent 4 years in post-doctoral studies with Prof. Nico Voelcker in Australia. She returned to the Sailor lab for a brief stint as a post-doc (working on in vivo applications of porous Si-based nanoparticles) before joining the founding team of researchers at Spinnaker Biosciences in Feb 2014. She published 5 papers from her thesis work.
updated: Aug 2024
Michael Ansell
Post-Doctoral Researcher: 1998-2000
ORCID:
Current Position: Professor of Chemistry, Las Positas College
Mike was a post-doctoral fellow who received his PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Oregon. He worked on synthesis and theoretical analysis of photoluminescent polymers based on silicones. He is currently Professor of Chemistry at Las Positas College.
updated: Aug 2024
Maria Ariza Avidad
Visiting PhD Student: 2013
ORCID:
Current Position:
Maria was a PhD. Student in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Granada, Spain when she spent 6 months in the Sailor Labs. Her PhD work focused on colorimetric chemical sensors for heavy metals in water. She participated in the 2013 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology and then continued her project in our lab until December 2013. Her Discovery Project involved image analysis of degradable porous Si-based photonic crystals.
updated: Mar 2023
Gabrielle Balistreri
Undergraduate Student: 2020-2021
ORCID: 0000-0002-6861-8654
Current Position: Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Gabrielle was an undergraduate Chemistry & Biochemistry student at UC San Diego (class of 2021). She previously worked on fluorescent probes to detect early stages of Alzheimer’s disease in the lab of Emmanuel Theodorakis, and participated in the 2020 and 2021 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology.
updated: Oct 2024
Reagan Beers
Undergraduate Student: 2020-2022
ORCID: 0000-0002-6377-2775
Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Washington, Seattle
Reagan was a UCSD undergraduate Chemistry major (class of 2022) who was a transfer student from West Valley College. Her project focused on photocatalysts that utilize porous silicon nanostructures as stabilizing matrices. She was a participant in the 2020 and 2021, and a Senior Mentor in the 2022 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology. She joined Jessica Ray’s Aquatic Innovation in Materials Science lab for her PhD studies, where she is synthesizing and characterizing nanomaterials for degradation of persistent drinking water contaminants.
updated: Oct 2024
Alessandro Bertucci
Post-Doc: 2017-2018
ORCID: 0000-0003-4842-9909
Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Italy
Alessandro was sponsored by the Marie Curie Fellowship for the project “Multifunctional miRNA-targeting nanodevices for pluripotent cancer theranostics — MIRNANO” in collaboration with Prof. Erkki Ruoslahti at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Prof. Francesco Ricci in the Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche Università di Roma Tor Vergata. Alessandro visited the lab as a visiting student from September 2015 through January 2016, and he began his Curie Fellowship in our lab in January, 2017. Alessandro completed his PhD in Chemical Sciences in March 2015 in the framework of a joint Italian-French program, under the supervision of Prof. Roberto Corradini at University of Parma, Italy, and Prof. L. De Cola at University of Strasbourg, France. His PhD work focused on artificial nucleic acid (PNA, peptide nucleic acids) and silica-based nanomaterials for biomedical applications. His research interests lie in advanced hybrid materials for applications in nanomedicine.
updated: Oct 2024
William Budiman
Undergraduate Student: 2021-2023
ORCID: 0000-0002-3991-0904
Current Position: Graduate student, UCLA
William Budiman was an undergraduate student in Nanoengineering at UC San Diego (class of 2023), who began in the lab as a participant in the 2021 UCSD MRSEC Spring Break RIMSE program, and then he participated in the 2022 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology. His interests focused on catalytic materials embedded in porous silicon nanoparticles.
updated: Oct 2024
Arnaud Chaix
Post-Doc: 2018-2019
ORCID:
Current Position: Research Scientist at KAUST
Arnaud received his PhD under the direction of Dr. Frédérique Cunin at the CNRS Institut Charles Gerhardt, Montpellier France. He visited the group for 3 months in 2013 as part of the exchange activities of the NSF and ANR-sponsored Materials World Network project titled “Chemistry of Porous Silicon Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy.” He began his post-doctoral appointment in the lab in July 2018, working on adsorption and sensing applications of porous silicon-based photonic nanostructures.
updated: Oct 2024
Claire Chen
High School Student: 2020-2021
ORCID: 0000-0003-2999-4291
Current Position: Undergraduate, Carnegie-Mellon University
Claire was a high school student at Pacific Ridge School (class of 2021). Educated in Shanghai and Singapore, she participated in the 2020 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology (SSSiN) via the UCSD MRSEC RIMSE program and she then served as a Mentor in the 2021 SSSiN. She investigated a number of aspects of porous silicon-based systems, with a focus on development of hands-on instructional kits for k-12 schools. She is attending Carnegie-Mellon University, majoring in computer science.
updated: Oct 2024
Hannah Chen
High School Student: 2021-2022
ORCID: 0000-0002-0133-2192
Current Position: Undergraduate, UC Berkeley
Hannah was a junior at Del Norte High School (class of 2022) who participated in the 2021 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology (SSSiN) via the UCSD MRSEC RIMSE program and she then served as a Senior Mentor in the 2022 SSSiN. She investigated modifications to porous silicon-based films to improve their chemical stability. She is attending the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Materials Science and Engineering.
updated: Oct 2024
Michelle Chen
Graduate Student: 2006-2011
PhD 2011, Bioengineering: “Separation and Detection of Biomolecules Using Silicon-Based Optical Nanostructures”
ORCID:
Current Position: Vice President/Head of Clinical Development, Perfuse Therapeutics
Michelle joined the Sailor group as a Bioengineering rotation student in June, 2006. Her project involved the design, construction, and use of spatially resolved porous Si nanostructures for the separation, detection, and identification of biomolecules. Michelle worked for Spinnaker Biosciences as a Senior Process Development Engineer before moving to Allergan’s clinical team. In 2021 she accepted a position at Perfuse Therapeutics. She published 6 papers from her thesis work.
updated: Aug 2024
Victor Cortez
Undergraduate Student: 2021-2023
ORCID: 0000-0001-7731-0195
Current Position: Graduate Student, Cal State San Luis Obispo
Victor was an undergraduate Chemical Engineering major at UC San Diego (class of 2023), who was introduced to the lab as a participant in the 2021 Spring Break RIMSE research introduction program, then continued as a participant in the 2021 and 2022 UCSD MRSEC RIMSE program, the Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology (SSSiN). He explored surface chemistry of porous photonic crystals and other optical nanostructures.
updated: Oct 2024
Shanying Cui
High School Student: 2004-2005
ORCID:
Current Position: Program Manager and Principal Research Scientist at HRL Laboratories
Shanying worked on the responses of porous silicon photonic crystals to ethanol solutions, in our early efforts to develop chemical sensors based on porous silicon photonic crystals. She quantified responses using a phototransistor detector/LED illuminator system.
updated: Oct 2024
Joel Grondek
Graduate Student: 2006-2011, 2019-2021
PhD 2021, Chemistry & Biochemistry: “Intravitreal Therapeutic Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Posterior Segment Ocular Diseases”
ORCID: 0000-0002-6386-3423
Current Position: Staff Research Scientist, UC San Diego Jacobs Retina Center
Joel joined the Sailor Group in the Summer 2008, as a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, took a childcare leave of absence, then returned to complete his graduate studies in 2020. He received his PhD from the lab in 2020, and his thesis project involved synthesizing targeted nanoparticles to diagnose and treat myocardial infarction (in collaboration with co-advisor Karen Christman in the Department of Bioengineering) and diseases of the retina (in collaboration with Dr. William R. Freeman in the Jacobs Retina Center). Joel was supported by the UCSD Interfaces graduate training program through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Bioengineering Research Partnership grant through the National Institutes of Health. He published 4 papers from his thesis work.
updated: Oct 2024
Vinh Doan
Graduate Student: 1990-1995
PhD 1995, Chemistry & Biochemistry
ORCID:
Current Position: Distinguished Engineer, System Integration and Failure Analysis at Western Digital
Vinh “Vincent” Doan was the first student to receive their PhD in the Sailor group. Vinh coauthored the first paper from the Sailor Group, and he was the lead (and only author, besides Prof. Sailor) on the first paper published in the journal Science from the Sailor Group. He published 6 papers and 2 issued patents from his thesis work.
updated: Oct 2024
Jinyoung Kang
Graduate Student: 2013-2018
PhD 2018, NanoEngineering: “Porous Silicon Nanomaterials for Bioimaging and Nanomedicine”
ORCID: 0000-0001-6116-3477
Current Position: Post-doc, Ed Boyden and Guoping Feng, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Jinyoung was a Nanoengineering PhD student in the UCSD Department of Nanoengineering who joined the group in November, 2013. She received her BS and MS degrees from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Yonsei Univ., Seoul, Korea in 2007 and 2009, respectively. She then worked at the GS Caltex Refinery Complex in Seoul, Korea as a Plant Engineer until 2012. She participated in the 2014 Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology and she served as a Senior Mentor in the program in the summers of 2015-2018. She worked on the delivery of oligonucleotide therapeutics with porous Si nanoparticles, on the project “Porous Si-Based Therapeutic Nanoplatforms” funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and on the project “Infection-homing nanosystems as antibacterial therapeutics-delivery platforms” funded by the NIH. She published 9 papers and 2 issued patents from her thesis work.
updated: Aug 2024
Byungji Kim
Graduate Student: 2014-2019
PhD 2019, Materials Science & Engineering: “Fusogenic Porous Silicon Nanoparticles as a Platform Technology for Gene Therapy”
ORCID: 0000-0001-8131-5255
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery, UT Austin Pharmacy
B.J. was a Ph.D. student in the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) program, who joined the group in Fall 2014. She received her B.S.E in Materials Science and Engineering from University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, and her M.S. in Bio and Brain Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) with Professor Ji-Ho Park. Her work at KAIST focused on fluorescence detection and photothermal therapy of sentinel lymph node metastases using lipid nanoparticles. She led the project “Infection-homing nanosystems as antibacterial therapeutics-delivery platforms”, a joint (NIH BRG) grant in collaboration with the research groups of Erkki Ruoslahti (Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute) and Sangeeta Bhatia (MIT), funded by the NIH. She published 8 papers and 2 issued patents from her thesis work. She joined the faculty at UT Austin in 2025.
updated: Oct 2024
Ann M. Kressin
Graduate Student: 1990-1992
MS 1992, Chemistry
ORCID:
Current Position: Professor Emeritus, College of the Canyons
Ann was the first student in the Sailor group, joining a few months before Prof. Sailor’s arrival in 1990. She set up the lab, did the first electrochemistry experiments, and set it on its trajectory for success. She was the lead author on the first paper published from the Sailor Group (submitted just 7 months after the lab was opened), with coauthors Vinh Doan and Jonathan Klein. She found her passion for teaching in a short appointment at Grossmont College, and joined the Chemistry faculty at College of the Canyons in 2000, achieving Emeritus status from the department in 2021.
updated: Aug 2024
Yi-Sheng Lu
Graduate Student: 2018-2023
PhD 2023, Materials Science & Engineering: “Porous Silicon as a Platform Technology for Detection and Detoxification of Chemical Warfare Agents”
ORCID: 0000-0002-2963-5953
Current Position: Research Scientist, Diametryx Inc.
Yi-Sheng “Eason” Lu earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, his undergraduate thesis related to magnetic-responsive iron oxide nano-spheres for tumor therapy. He first joined the group as an MS student in the Materials Science and Engineering program at UC San Diego, and soon afterward he transitioned to the PhD program. A major goal of Yi-Sheng’s PhD research was to utilize porous silicon as a host matrix to encapsulate enzymes and then evaluate their performance. Using porous silicon as a rigid support, he systematically studied the surface chemistries and nanostructures needed to effectively trap enzymes while retaining–and in some cases enhancing–their catalytic activity. This relied on a key breakthrough that is attributable to Yi-Sheng: his discovery of chemistries that allow trapping and stabilization of enzyme-based catalysts in porous silicon “cages”. He explored the utility of his approach with a number of enzymes, establishing as a general strategy that has become a major theme in our lab. He published 6 papers from his thesis work.
updated: Aug 2024
Prabal Tiwari
Post-doctoral researcher: 2023-2024
ORCID: 000-0003-3169-6840
Current Position:
Prabal joined the lab as a postdoctoral scholar in September 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from PEC University of Technology, India (2015). Prabal then pursued graduate studies at the University of Florida, earning a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in August 2021 under the mentorship of Prof. Jennifer Andrew, focusing on electrospinning of magnetoelectric nanowires and nanoparticle film deposition. Subsequently, as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Amanda Krause at the University of Florida, Prabal specialized in direct coagulation casting of alumina for grain growth studies until May 2022. Prior to joining UCSD, he worked at Entegris, Inc., as a Scientist, researching chemical mechanical planarization for ultra-hard silicon carbide substrates used in EV power components. Prabal’s research interests span interfacial engineering, porous materials and their characterization, with a focus on applications in drug delivery and chemical sensing.
updated: Aug 2024
Jonathan Zuidema
Post-doctoral researcher: 2014-2021
ORCID: 0000-0003-2258-0045
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Kentucky
Jon completed his PhD in 2014 in Biomedical Engineering with Prof. Ryan Gilbert at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. His PhD work focused on the development of nanoparticles and microfibers for central nervous system repair. He joined the lab in July 2014, and in 2018 transitioned to be a joint post-doc with Dr. Mark Tuszynski in the Center for Neural Repair. He has participated as a Senior Mentor in several versions of the Summer School for Silicon Nanotechnology. After a couple years as a Research Fellow at the University of Milan, Italy, he joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky in 2024.
updated: Aug 2024
Graduate student applicants interested in joining our research team can apply through the following UC San Diego MS or PhD programs:
Chemistry & Biochemistry | Nanoengineering | Bioengineering | Materials Science & Engineering