Our Team
Describe your team here.
Xin joined Kam Lab in 2019 and now is a second year PhD student. She completed her B.S in Biomedical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and her M.S in Biomedical Engineering at UC San Diego. Xin's current research interest is the mechanosening of T cells from both healthy donors and CLL patients. She is engineering PDMS substrates with different stiffness to activate T cells and using both fixed imaging and live imaging to study the mechanosensitive spreading of T cells.
Paula is a BME PhD candidate starting in Fall 2020. She is working on how T-cell activation is influenced by substrate rigidity, with a specific focus on the interplay between mechanosensing and the cellular metabolism. Previously, Paula completed a B.Sc. in Molecular and Applied Biotechnology at RWTH Aachen University in Germany in 2017. Afterwards, she received her M.Eng. in Bioengineering from University of California, Berkeley in 2019. For the program's capstone project, she and her team developed a novel, non-invasive therapy solution based on electromagnetic fields (EMF) for reducing the infarct growth post-stroke. In 2020, she completed her M.Sc. in Molecular and Applied Biotechnology. For her master thesis, she developed endothelialized channels for the advancement of a cardiac microphysiological system.
Michael entered Columbia University's Biomedical Engeering Department as an M.S.-to-Ph.D. candidate in Fall 2016. He began working the Cell and Molecular Biomechanics Laboratory (CMBL) under Dr. Christopher R. Jacobs. Their lab studied how to use the body's natural bone remodeling process to develop more effective therapeutics for osteoporosis. Michael's project focused on understanding the degree to which the primary cilium of macrophages regulated osteoclast differentiation and function. In 2019, Michael joined the Microscale Biocomplexity Laboratory (MBL), directed by Dr. Lance C. Kam. The MBL focuses on using engineered surfaces and biomaterials to study T-cell mechanobiology. Michael's project hopes to elucidate the mechanism by which components of the cytoskeleton translocate during T-cell activation, an understanding that will hopefully lead to new immunotherapeutic targets. He received his B.S.E. from Duke University in 2016.
Lingting Shi is a fourth-year graduate student in the department of biomedical engineering. She received a BS in biomedical engineering at Rutgers University where she worked on developing an in vitro approach to identify skin sensitizers to eliminate animal cosmetic testing in Dr. Martin Yarmush’s Lab. After graduation, she joined Dr. Lance Kam’s lab to study mechanosensing of regulatory T cell induction with single-cell analysis. She enjoys working on both cell culture side and computational side of the project. Her goal is to generate a large number of functional Tregs to assist in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Kam earned BS degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Physics from Washington University in St. Louis, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Following postdoctoral research in Chemistry at Stanford University, he joined Columbia University in 2003.
Daizong Sun joined the Kam Lab in Fall 2021 as an M.S. student. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering. He is currently working on optimizing a platform for measuring the traction force of activated T cells.
Anna-Liisa joined the Kam Lab in 2020 as an M.S. to Ph.D. student. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2020 with a Bachelor's in Bioengineering. She is currently working on formulating electrospun substrates to grow T cells for CAR T therapy.