PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PRISCILLA HWANG
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering
Associate Member of VCU Massey Cancer Center
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GRADUATE STUDENTS
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CORINNE LEONARD
Graduate Student
My research interests include investigating the biomechanical cues that primarily drive breast cancer metastasis. Specifically, my project focuses on how extracellular matrix alignment plays a role in collective migration and the forces that are associated with this. In my free time I enjoy baking, cooking, DIY projects, planning lab activities/outings, and spontaneously getting boba with my lab mates!
JESSICA WILLIAMSON
Graduate Student
My research interests lie in understanding the mechanisms of breast cancer metastasis to bone and bone marrow. Specifically, my projects will focus on understanding the role of exercise, by tibial loading, on breast cancer metastasis to bone in an animal model. When I am not working in the lab, I enjoy cooking, spending time with my family, and loving my fur babies.
My research interests are in leader cells and their mechanisms in cancer metastasis. Currently, my project is focused on investigating how P-cadherin forces promote leader cell driven collective cell migration. Besides working in the lab, I enjoy painting, photography, and scouting out for the best places to eat!
JOHN MCKEAN
Graduate Student
My research interests are in microfluidic device design and fabrication. My project focuses on the design and testing of a 2-layer ovarian cancer-on-a-chip device to investigate how flow rate affects cancer cell adhesion and invasion into the omentum. In my free time I enjoy drawing and making music.
SYDNIE TRAN
Graduate Student
Gevick Safarians
Graduate Student
My research interests lie in engineering translational microfluidic systems to study metastatic cancer. Specifically, my project focuses on understanding the role of the mechanochemical and immune milieu of the bone microenvironment in driving prostate cancer invasiveness and treatment response. When not in the lab, I enjoy playing basketball, mechanically loading my bones in the gym, and spending time with my friends and family.
STUDENTS
Nafisa Anjum
McNair Scholar
Mentor: Corinne Leonard
Hazel Sterling
UROP Fellow
Mentor: Corinne Leonard
Eggbert Lloyd Weber
Lab Mascot
STAFF
Jessanne Lichtenberg, Ph.D.
Laboratory Manager
LAB ALUMNI
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Caleb McCurdy (Undergraduate Student)
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Caroline Rucker (DERI Fellow)
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Nicholas Rhodes (Undergraduate Student)
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Melissa Valladares (REU Mechanobiology Fellow)
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Ella Ramamurthy (REU Mechanobiology Fellow)
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Alina Jafri (Undergraduate Student)
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Shriya Das (DERI Fellow)
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Trey Redman (REU Fellow)
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Santiago Lopez (IMSD Fellow)
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Phoebe Sanjaya (REU Mechanobiology Fellow)​
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Somya Narra (ChiSEL Fellow)
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Joyce Xu (High School Student)
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Anna Young (ChiSEL Fellow)
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​Logan Petry (Graduate Student)
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Amanda Pearson (DURI Fellow)
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Kyia Hill (Undergraduate Student)
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Arpita Das (High School Student)
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Xaria Lucas (VCU Massey/VSU SUCCEED CREP)
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Grace Panek (REU Mechanobiology Fellow)
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Omar Zeineddine (Undergraduate Student)
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Jesse Rolston (Undergraduate Student)
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Valentina Santos Agreda (UROP fellow)
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Claire Hollingsworth (Massey/ACS CURE Intern)
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Grace Cosby (REU Mechanobiology Fellow)
