Principal Investigator

 
 

Clark T. Hung, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Engineering & Orthopaedic Surgery

Doctoral students

 

Matthew J. Pellicore
Graduate Researcher

Jack Rogot
Graduate Researcher

Neeraj Sakhrani
Graduate Researcher

Howard J. Nicholson III
Graduate Researcher

 
 

Derek Ning
Graduate Researcher

 
 
 

Neo Nyoni
Graduate Researcher

undergraduate studentS

 
 

Ratna Sharma, SEAS ‘25

 
 

Claire Pinnie, SEAS ‘25

 
 

Caroline Schleif, SEAS ‘26

 
 

Leyla Selman, SEAS ‘26

Lab Managers (Pets) :)

 
 

Sammy the Dood

 
 

Nala

collaborators

Gerard A. Ateshian, Columbia University, Department of Mechanical Engineering

James L. Cook and Aaron M. Stoker, University of Missouri, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Steven B. Abramson and Mukundan Attur, NYU Langone Medical Center, Department of Medicine

Lewis M. Brown, Columbia University, Quantitative Proteomics Center

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Brent R. Stockwell, Columbia University, Department of Biological Sciences

Loreto Valenzuela Roediger, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocess

Eric G. Lima, The Cooper Union, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Glyn D. Palmer and Alfonso Martin-Peña, University of Florida, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute

Roshan Shah, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Xiaoning (Jenny) Yuan, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Mark Gorelik, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics

J. Chloe Bulinski, Columbia University, Department of Biological Sciences

Kacey G. Marra, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Bioengineering

Roy K. Aaron, Brown University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Ruggero Cardossi, IGEA Medical

Martin M. Knight, Queen Mary, University of London, Department of Mechanobiology

Helen H. Lu, Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

X. Edward Guo, Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Elisa E. Konofagou, Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Nadeen O. Chahine, Columbia University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Mark Borden, University of Colorado, Department of Mechanical Engineering

José L. McFaline-Figueroa, Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Stryker Orthopaedics

Apex Biomedical

Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation

 Alumni

Associate Research Scientist

Post-doctoral Fellows

  • Robert M. Stefani, PhD (January ‘20-August ‘20)

    • Current: Food and Drug Administration

  • Brendan Roach, PhD (December '16-March '17)

    • Current: Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P.

  • Adam Nover, PhD (November '15-May '16)

    • Current: LEK Consulting

  • James Henstock, PhD (April '15-July '15): visiting scholar (from University of Keele, UK)

    • Current: University of Liverpool, UK (faculty)

  • Terri-Ann N. Kelly, PhD (November '11-November '13)

    • Current: Epibone (research scientist)

  • Silvia Panseri, PhD (March '11 - September '11): visiting scholar (from University of Bologna, IT)

    • Current: Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, Bologna, Italy (faculty)

  • Elena Alegre-Aguarón, PhD (August '10-May '12): visiting scholar (from University of Zaragoza, Spain)

    • Current: co-founder of start-up in Spain (Cellider Biotech)

  • Grace O'Connell, PhD (October '09-September '12): postdoctoral fellow from University of Pennsylvania

    • Current: Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley

  • Najmuddin Gunja, PhD (February '09-June '10): postdoctoral fellow from Rice University

    • Current: Polytechnique Montreal, Canada (postdoctoral fellow)

  • Jason Fong, MD (March '09-March '10)

    • Current: Stevens Institute (postdoctoral fellow)

  • Eric G. Lima, PhD (May '08-August '08)

    • Current: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Cooper Union University

  • Kenneth W. Ng, PhD (October '07-August '08)

    • Current: Senior Medical Director in the scientific services group of Health Science Communications

  • Erik Finkelstein, PhD (May '07-August '07)

    • Current: Department of Health in the City of New York

  • Christopher C-B Wang, PhD (August '01-June '03)

    • Current: Director, Open Underwriting - Pricing and Balance Transfer, American Express, New York

  • Michelle A. LeRoux-Williams, PhD (September '00-October '01)

    • Current: COO, Tissue Banks International, Columbia MO

  • Glyn D. Palmer, PhD (September '99-December '00)

    • Current: Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, University of Florida

Doctoral Students

  • Lianna R. Gangi (September ‘18-June ‘24)

    • Thesis: Toward Understanding Synovium Structure-Function Relationships and Investigating Sex-based Differences in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

    • Current: Lumanity

  • Hagar M. Kenawy (September ‘18-February ‘24)

    • Thesis: Inflammatory-Based Therapies Driven by Intervertebral Disc Injury Responses

    • Current: Postdoctoral Fellow at CHOP/Penn Dental

  • Andy J. Lee (September ‘17-August ‘23)

    • Thesis: Strategies to Modulate the Joint Response to Pathological Mediators

    • Current: InVitro Cell Research, LLC

  • Robert M. Stefani (September ‘13-December ‘19); Awardee of the Hung-Huang Graduate Award in Biomedical Engineering

    • Thesis: Role of the Synovial Membrane in Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis and Cartilage Repair

    • Current: Food and Drug Administration

  • Eben G. Estell (September ‘12-December ‘18)

    • Thesis: Modulation of Synoviocyte Mechanotransduction in the Osteoarthritic Environment

    • Current: Maine Medical Center Research Institute

  • Krista M. Durney (September '12-June '18)

    • Thesis (Joint Advised by Gerard Ateshian): Investigations of Articular Cartilage Delamination Wear and a Novel Treatment Strategy to Increase Wear Resistance

    • Current: TARA Biosystems

  • Amy M. Silverstein (September '12- August '17)

    • Thesis: Development of Biofidelic Culture Models of Osteoarthritis

    • Current: McKinsey & Company

  • Brendan L. Roach (September '11-December '16); NSF Graduate Fellowship

    • Thesis: Modulation of the in vitro Mechanical and Chemical Environment for the Optimization of Tissue-Engineered Articular Cartilage

    • Current: Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P.

  • Adam B. Nover (July '10-February '16)

    • Thesis: Fabrication of Tissue Engineered Osteochondral Allografts for Clinical Translation

    • Current: LEK Consulting

  • Sonal R. Sampat (September '09-September '14)

    • Thesis: Optimization of Culture Conditions for Cartilage Tissue Engineering Using Synovium-Derived Stem Cells

    • Current: Boston Consulting Group

  • Andrea R. Tan (September '07-May '14); NSF Graduate Fellowship, Awardee of the Hung-Huang Graduate Award in Biomedical Engineering

    • Thesis: Towards Clinical Use of Engineered Tissues for Cartilage Repair

    • Current: Goldman Sachs

  • Elizabeth S. Oswald (September '04-Septmber '10); NSF-Presidential Graduate Fellowship

    • Thesis: Effects of Extracellular Osmotic Environment on Chondrocyte and Precursor Cell Physical and Metabolic Properties

    • Current: Booz Allen Hamilton (lead associate)

  • Liming Bian (January '05-August '09)

    • Thesis: Articular Cartilage Repair with Two In Vitro Approaches: Engineered Cartilage and Cartilage Allograft

    • Current: The Chinese University in Hong Kong (faculty)

  • Eric G. Lima (September '01-May '08)

    • Thesis: Tissue Engineering of Cartilage: Transitioning From the Lab Towards a Clinical Setting

    • Current: The Cooper Union (tenured faculty)

  • Kenneth W. Ng (September '01-February '08); Awardee of the Hung-Huang Graduate Award in Biomedical Engineering

    • Thesis: Recreating Biomimetic Micro-Scale and Macro-Scale Structure in Engineered Articular Cartilage

    • Current: Health Science Communications (senior medical director)

  • Nadeen Chahine (September '00-May '06)

    • Thesis: Multi-scale Measurements of the Mechanical and Transport Properties of Native and Engineered Articular Cartilage

    • Current: Columbia University, Orthopedics

  • Terri-Ann N. Kelly (January '00-May '06); NIH minority supplemental graduate fellowship

    • Thesis: Functional Tissue Engineering of Articular Cartilage: Characterization and Optimization of Chondrocyte-Seeded Agarose Hydrogels

    • Current: Epibone (research scientist)

  • Pen-Hsiu Grace Chao (January '99-August '05)

    • Thesis: Physical Forces on Cells: Effects of Applied Osmotic Loading and Direct Current Electric Fields

    • Current: National Taiwan University (tenured faculty)

  • Robert L. Mauck (August '98-July '03); Whitaker Foundation graduate fellowship

    • Thesis: Functional Tissue Engineering of Articular Cartilage: The Effect of Physical Forces on the In Vitro Growth of Engineered Constructs

    • Current: University of Pennsylvania (tenured faculty)

  • Christopher C-B Wang (July '99-August '01)

    • Thesis: Functional Properties of Cartilage and Environment of Chondrocytes: Experiments and Theoretical Analyses

    • Current: American Express (director)

Laboratory Technicians

  • Lance A. Murphy (May ‘18-August ‘20)

    • Current: MD-PhD Student at University of Pennsylvania

  • William T. Yu (May '17-June '18)

    • Current: Bioengineering PhD Student at Stanford University

Masters Students

  • Andy L. Garcia (January ‘21 - September ‘23)

    • Current: Co-founder of a medical startup company

  • Jiachi (Josh) Ou (September ‘20 - December ‘21)

    • Current: IQVIA

  • Sofía Barbosa (January ‘17 - April ‘21)

    • Current: Tahirih Justice Center and University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School 2025

  • Victoria Bahena Lanzagorta (August '20 - January '21)

    • Current: ClearView Healthcare Partners

  • Charles C. Cai (September '16 - August '17)

    • Current: Medicrea

  • Colden M. Lyons (September '16 - May '17)

    • Current: Regeneron

Undergraduate Students

  • Spencer Robbins ‘25, Inioluwa Ojediran ‘24, Athena Pagon ‘23, Maria Nuñez ‘23, Neeraj Sakhrani ‘21, XinYan Qiu ‘23, Sofia Barbosa ‘20, Rika Ichinose ‘21, Saiti S. Halder ‘19, Lance A. Murphy '18, William T. Yu '17, Evie Sobczak '18, Stephanie Lee '16, Priya Medberry '16