Author: allisn3

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Posts by allisn3

How blood platelets respond to forces

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How do blood clots become mechanically stable? MolES faculty member and Mechanical Engineering professor Nathan Sniadecki co-led a study that reveals how blood platelets sense and respond to forces, offering new insights into cardiovascular disease. Read the full article from the Department of Mechanical Engineering to learn how this breakthrough could advance treatments for bleeding and clotting disorders.

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Introducing UW MolE’s 2026 PhD cohort

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Group of 16 students standing in two rows outside.

September 29, 2026

The molecular engineering (MolE) doctoral program is excited to introduce the 2026 PhD cohort. Get to know our 15 exceptional new doctoral students who bring a diverse range of academic backgrounds, research interests and experiences. We can’t wait to see the impact they’ll make in our community!

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Nicole Alizade

She/Her/Hers

Nicole’s research focuses on engineering light-responsive protein systems that direct de novo DNA synthesis within living cells, combining generative design with optogenetic control to develop programmable nanopore variants that overcome the scale, complexity and environmental limitations of current technologies.

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Healthy Aging in Rural Communities

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September 28, 2026 | Genevieve Wanucha (UW Medicine, Memory & Brain Wellness Center)

MolES alumna Nam Phuong Nguyen, PhD, is helping improve access to cognitive care in rural Washington through the UW Northwest Rural Brain Health Initiative. As program manager, Nguyen is supporting both community health and groundbreaking dementia research. In this article from UW Medicine, discover how researchers are working to better understand aging, dementia risk and brain health in rural communities.

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NIH backs Olanrewaju lab’s build faster, low-cost HIV medication tests

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Ayọ̀kúnlé Ọlánrewájú — MolES faculty member and assistant professor of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering — has received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With this funding provided by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Ọlánrewájú and his multidisciplinary team will focus on designing faster and more affordable HIV medication tests to improve drug adherence. Learn more about his lab’s research in Department of Bioengineering’s full announcement.

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Dr. Cole DeForest receives renewed funding from NIH for studying biology in 4D

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July 29, 2026 | UW Chemical Engineering

Cole DeForest — MolES director of education and Weyerhaeuser endowed professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering — received a funding extension of five years from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support his lab in developing methods for studying human development and disease progression. Learn more about his lab’s work in the full announcement.

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Q&A: How UW researchers are using AI to speed up drug discovery and development

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July 27, 2026 | UW News

The newly launched Institute for Innovations in Drug Delivery and Disposition (I2D3) brings together expertise from across the University of Washington, including two MolES faculty leaders: Gaurav Bhardwaj, an associate professor of medicinal chemistry who oversees the Institute’s AI-enabled molecular design: and Marco Pravetoni, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science in the UW School of Medicine, who leads drug discovery, translation and commercialization efforts.

In this Q&A by UW News, learn how they’re applying artificial intelligence methods to address the challenges associated with drug development, the most failure-prone processes in modern science. Read More

Dr. Jorge Marchand receives NIH funding to grow the “biocatalytic toolkit” for therapeutics

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July 22, 2026 | UW Chemical Engineering

Jorge Marchand, MolES faculty member and assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has received the prestigious Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Designed to provide highly talented and promising investigators with stable funding,  this five-year grant will support Dr. Marchand’s research on the biosynthesis, discovery and biocatalytic production of natural products. Read the full announcement.

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UW’s ISCRM–MolES Pilot Awards fuel cross-disciplinary innovation

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June 26, 2026

The Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) and Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute (MolES) awarded two UW faculty-led teams Pilot Fellowship Funding.

“These awards support projects initiated through the 2026 ISCRM-MolES Scientific Exchange and are intended to launch new collaborations between the two institutes to develop technologies that will address the root causes of disease, along with creating new opportunities for trainees,” said Suzie Pun, Washington Research Foundation Professor of Bioengineering and director of MolES. Read More

Celebrating MolES graduates

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On June 8 in Kane Hall, the UW Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute (MolES) held a hooding ceremony for eight of our 2025-2026 molecular engineering PhD graduates.  

  
Congratulations, Class of 2025–2026! 
 

Headshot of Gaby Balistreri

Gabrielle Balistreri | Chemical Engineering, Material Science Engineering 
Advised by Elizabeth Nance and Eleftheria Roumeli 

Gabrielle’s thesis, Sustainably Sourced Bacterial Cellulose Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery, was completed in the winter of 2026.  

Headshot of Samantha Borje

Samantha Borje | Electrical & Computer Engineering 
Advised by Georg Seelig 

Samantha’s thesis, High-throughput Implementation and Clique-based Design:  Scaling DNA circuits from Boolean logic gates to Multi-bit Addition, will be completed in the summer of 2026.   

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