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
Susan Peacock - Project Coordinator
Susan joined the EMBLA research group in November 2017 as a part-time Project Coordinator.
Short CV
- 2012-2017, Portfolio Manager, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK)
- 2012, PhD Molecular Electronics "Growth and characterisation of functional molecular wires", Bangor University (UK)
Telephone: +46 (0) 18 471 57 44 Email: susan.peacock@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)
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
- 2008-2017, Researcher, Senior Expert at CSEM (Switzerland)
- 2006-2008, Research fellow, KTH (Sweden)
- 2004-2005, Postdoc,Center for Engineering in Medicine, Harvard Medical School (USA)
- 2002-2003, Research and Teaching assistant, University of Technology of Compiegne (France)
- 2001, PhD Bioengineering/Biomechanics "Mechanisms of adhesion of leukocytes to synthetic fibers: application to blood filtration", University of Paris (France)
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)

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)

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)

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 |