Members of the EMBLA group

Please read more about the members of EMBLA below. Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to hear more about our research or join our research group.

Maria Tenje - PI

I lead the research group EMBLA - Enabling Microtechnologies for Biomedical and Life science Applications. The main goal of the lab is to develop microsystems for applications within the life sciences with a special interest on research related to micro/nano fabrication and processing of new materials.

I teach in several different courses in the undergraduate programmes and give a PhD course called "Introduction to BioMEMS". I was a member of the Young Academy of Sweden between 2014-2019 (chair 2018-2019 and vice chair 2017-2018) and I hold a Faculty position at SciLifeLab where I am also the Director of the pilot facility Customized Microfluidics. My research is funded by large grants from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Academy Fellow 2016 and Prolongation Grant 2021) and the European Research Council (ERC Starting Grant 2017, ERC Consolidator Grant 2022).

I am on a research exchange at UC Santa Barbara, CA, USA during the academic year 2022-2023 collaborating with the group of Prof. Beth Pruitt. 

Short CV

  • 2019, Professor Microsystems Technology, Uppsala University
  • 2015, Docent Microsystems Technology, Uppsala University
  • 2007, PhD Microtechnology, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
  • 2003, MSc Physics, Lund University
  • 2002, BSc Physics, Imperial College London

Telephone: +46 (0)18 471 70 61     Email: maria.tenje@angstrom.uu.se

Samah Abou-Sharieha - Researcher

Samah joined the EMBLA research group in September 2020 as a Researcher.

Short CV

  • 2018-2019 Postdoc, The Institute of Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University (Japan)
  • 2016-2018 (Teaching) Assistant Professor, Amman University (Jordan)
  • 2015-2016 Postdoc, The Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel)
  • 2014 Postdoc, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
  • 2012-2013 Postdoc, The Ohio State University (USA)
  • 2009-2012 Lecturer, Al-Ghad College of Medical Sciences (Saudi Arabia)
  • 2009, PhD Biochemistry "Identification of TM9SF2 as a candidate cell surface marker common to breast carcinoma cells", Okayama University (Japan)

Email: samah.abousharieha@angstrom.uu.se

Laurent Barbe - Researcher

Laurent joined the EMBLA research group in November 2017 as a Researcher. His research interests are droplet microfluidics and organ-on-chip. Laurent is also Manager of the pilot facility Customized Microfluidics.

Short CV

Telephone: +46 (0) 18 471 72 35    Email: laurent.barbe@angstrom.uu.se

Anna Fornell - Researcher

Anna joined the EMBLA research group in September 2023. Her research is focused on the combination of acoustofluidics and droplet microfluidics.

Short CV

  • 2023-, Researcher in EMBLA group, Uppsala University
  • 2022-2023, High school teacher, Carl Engström gymnasiet
  • 2020-2022, PostDoc, Lund University
  • 2019-2020, PostDoc in EMBLA Group, Uppsala University
  • 2018, PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Lund University
  • 2012, MSc in Engineering NanoScience, Lund University

Email: anna.fornell@angstrom.uu.se

Sofia Johansson - Researcher

Sofia joined the EMBLA research group in November 2017. Her research involves microengineering for reliable in vitro models of biological barriers (e.g. the blood-brain-barrier) through the development of organs-on-chip technology. This research on improved biological models using microfluidics and microfabrication aims to facilitate the drug discovery process and other biological investigations.

Short CV

  • Since 2017, Postdoc in EMBLA group, Uppsala University
  • 2015-2017, Postdoc in Hybrid Bio-Device group, University of Southampton (UK)
  • 2014, PhD in Electrical Engineering "Vertical Nanowire High-Frequency Transistors", Lund University
  • 2008, MSc in Engineering Nanotechnology, Lund University

Telephone: +46 (0)18 471 72 35   E-mail: sofia.johansson@angstrom.uu.se

Sagar Agnihotri - Postdoc

Sagar joined the EMBLA research group in November 2021. His main supervisor is Prof. Dan Andersson at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University.

Short CV

  • 2021, Post-doctoral research associate, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, (USA).
  • 2021, Joint PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) (India) and Monash University (Australia). 

Email: sagar.agnihotri@imbim.uu.se

Neeraj Katiyar - Postdoc

Neeraj joined the EMBLA research group in May 2022 as a Postdoc. His research interests are in understanding the physical variables in on-chip cell cultures subjected to fluid flow and their role in the modulation of cellular behavior. He is also working on validating the algorithms, developed to predict the optimal culture conditions for spheroids/organoids in microfluidic culture platforms.

Short CV

  • 2022, Research Associate, Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali (India)
  • 2021, Ph.D. in Nanoscience & Technology “Axonal transport of topically applied gold nanoparticles in the sensory neurons of dorsal root ganglion” from Center for Nanosciences & Molecular Medicine, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Kochi (India)

Email: neeraj.katiyar@angstrom.uu.se

Pradipta Kr Das - Postdoc

Pradipta joined the EMBLA research group in January, 2023. His research is focused on the theoretical study of acoustic traps and the associated heating effect.

Short CV:

  • 2022, PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of South Florida (USA)
  • 2013, M. Tech, Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India)
  • 2009, B. E., Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata (India)

Email: pradipta.das@angstrom.uu.se

Federico Cantoni - PhD student

Federico joined the EMBLA research group in September 2017. His research is focused on the development of a laminated BBB model by combining bioengineering and microfluidics. The model could be used as a platform for drug screening and biological investigations.

Short CV

  • Since 2017, PhD student in Microsystems Technology, Uppsala University
  • 2016, MSc Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology, Politecnico de Milano (Italy)

Email: federico.cantoni@angstrom.uu.se

Yuan Cui - PhD student

Yuan joined the EMBLA research group in May 2020. She is currently developing a microfluidic platform to measure the metabolism in single marine phytoplankton cells. The platform will form a core pillar of her PhD work in assessing the environmental impacts on cells with a focus on heterogeneity within populations. Her main PhD supervisor is Dr. Lars Behrendt at the Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University.

Short CV:

  • Since 2020, PhD student in Environmental Toxicology, Uppsala University
  • 2019, MSc in Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich (Switzerland)
  • 2017, BSc in Environmental Engineering, Jilin University (China)

Email: yuan.cui@ebc.uu.se

Linglu Hong - PhD student

Linglu joined the EMBLA group in March 2023. Her research focuses on design 3D-bioprinted biomaterial systems to understand the cell/tissue behavior in response to biomechanical and biochemical cues, focusing on the process of cancer invasion and the corresponding immune response.

Short CV:

  • Since 2023, PhD student, Uppsala University
  • 2022-2023 Research Assistant, Uppsala University
  • 2020-2022 MSc Bio and Nano Materials, Uppsala University
  • 2016-2020 BSc Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China

Email: linglu.hong@angstrom.uu.se

Praneeth Karempudi - PhD student

Praneeth joined the EMBLA research group in October 2017. In his PhD project, he focuses on developing microfluidic devices and molecular biology tools to study antibiotic resistance evolution in bacteria (Escherichia coli) at single cell level. Main PhD supervisor is Prof. Johan Elf at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University.

Short CV:

  • Since 2017, PhD student in Molecular Biotechnology, Uppsala University
  • 2017, MSc Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland)
  • 2014, B. Tech (Honors) Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (India)

Telephone: +46 (0)790 21 18 62  Email: praneeth.karempudi@icm.uu.se

Astrid Olivefors - PhD student

Astrid Olivefors joined the EMBLA research group in November 2022. Her project will be focused on microfabricated vessels for vascularisation of organoids.

Short CV:

  • Since 2022, PhD student, Uppsala University
  • 2020 – 2022, AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Technology & Development Graduate Programme
  • 2019, MScEng Chemical Engineering and Engineering Physics, Nanotechnology, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden)

Email: astrid.olivefors@angstrom.uu.se

Qian Shi - PhD student

Qian joined the EMBLA research group in September 2020. Her project will focus on the development of a microfluidic platform for controlled generation and culture of human cerebral organoids, with the assistance of acoutofluidic methods. The platform could be used for drug discovery and basic medical research.

Short CV:

  • Since 2020, PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, Uppsala University
  • 2020, MSc in Applied Biotechnology, Uppsala University
  • 2017, BSc in Biochemical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (Israel)

Email: qian.shi@angstrom.uu.se

Eszter Szombati - PhD student

Eszter Szombati joined the EMBLA research group in September 2022. She will design substrates with microwells that are ideal for single cell handling especially for INS-1 and human β-cells. The microwells should enable live cell analysis and be able to keep individual cells separated and be suitable for optimizing cell culture conditions. Her main PhD supervisor is Prof. Ingela Lanekoff at Chemistry-BMC.

Short CV:

  • Since September 2022, PhD student in Analytical Chemistry, Uppsala Univerisity
  • 2020–2022, Research Assistant at ELTE Lendület Ionmobility Mass Spectrometry Research Group
  • 2022, MSc. In Chemistry Teaching, Eszterházy Károly Catholic University (Hungary)
  • 2020, MSC. in Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary)
  • 2017, BSc. in Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary)

Email: eszter.szombati@kemi.uu.se

Gabriel Werr - PhD student

Gabriel joined the EMBLA research group in June 2019. His research is focused on acoustic trapping for bead-based cytokine detection assays, which will be used for continuous organ-on-chip monitoring. Further, the heating effects during acoustic trapping will be investigated.

Short CV

  • Since 2019, PhD student in Microsystems Technology, Uppsala University
  • 2018, MSc Medical Engineering, Technische Universität München

Email: gabriel.werr@angstrom.uu.se

Lulu Wu - PhD student

Lulu Wu joined the EMBLA group in March 2021. She is interested in Organ-On-Chips, and will continue her PhD project in conjunction with her previous background on nanocellulose

Short CV

  • Since 2018, PhD student, Uppsala University
  • 2013-2017, Research, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., LTD. (China)
  • 2010-2013, M.Sc. in Immunology, Wuhan Institute of Biological products (China)
  • 2006-2010, B.Sc. in bioinformatics, Hebei University (China)

Email: lulu.wu@angstrom.uu.se

Marcus Eklund - Master student

Marcus joined the EMBLA group in September 2023 and will be investigating how acoustofluidics can be used to separate cells and bioparticles in milk as a sample-prep step in microbiological diagnostics.

ALUMNI

Nuzhet Inci Kilic, PhD 2023 Björn Stenestam, Intern 2019
Femke Tolboom, MSc 2023 Gianluca Bortolini, Intern 2019
Lilli Ahopelto, MSc 2023 Per Söderbäck, MSc 2019
Abdul Raouf Atif, PhD 2023 Julia Levy, Intern 2019
Isabel Burdallo, Project Coordinator 2022-2023 Fredrik Lindeberg, MSc 2019
Sarah-Sophia Carter, PhD 2022 Lars Erdmann, MSc 2019
Ana Maria Porras Hernandez, PhD 2022 Jingyi Sun, MSc 2019
Zhenhua Liu, PhD 2022 Anna Blasi, MSc 2019
Susanna Wärmegård, MSc 2022 Gabriel Werr, Intern 2019
Atena Khaji, Postdoc 2017-2022 Anna Fornell, PhD 2018
Hannah Pohlit, Postdoc 2018-2022 Sajal Tiwari, MSc 2018
Linnéa Soto Carlsson, BSc 2022 Noelia D’Elía, Visiting postdoc, 2018
Albin Jonasson, BSc 2022 Rebecka Sörensen, MSc 2018
Samuel Lindner, MSc 2022 Ramón Rial Silva, Visiting PhD student, 2018
Ramon Katoele, Intern 2022 Anette Wolff, Licentiate 2019
Maja Grape, MSc 2022 Fredrik Lindeberg, Intern 2018
Gemma Mestres, Senior Lecturer 2015-2021 Abdul Raouf Atif, MSc 2018
Anna Kim, Researcher 2021 Gabriel Werr, MSc 2018
Maryam Shojaee, Guest PhD Student 2021 Klara Björnander Rahimi, MSc 2018
Alina Beer, MSc 2021 Axel Happstadius, MSc 2017
Tinde Höjer, MSc 2021 Mathias Ohlin, Postdoc 2015-2017
Hanlu Deng, MSc 2021 Frida Sjögren, Licentiate 2017 
Björn Stenestam, MSc 2020 Emma Thomée, MSc 2017
Daniel Feldt, Intern 2020 Krishna Narayan, MSc 2017
Qian Shi, MSc 2020 Karolina Svensson, MSc 2017 
Anna Fornell, Postdoc 2018-2020 Simonne Jocic, MSc 2016
Martin Andersson, Senior Research Engineer 2020 Ana María Porras, MSc 2016
Mara Lucchetti, Visiting PhD student 2020 Anabel Villanueav, BSc 2016
Milena De Albuquerque Moreira, Senior Research Engineer 2018-2019 Arun Thumula, MSc 2016
Sean Searle, Visiting PhD student 2017-2019 Nicki Nordh, MSc 2015

Last modified: 2023-09-25