People

Haynes Lab Group Members

Group photo, July 2024

Haynes Group in July 2024

Principal Investigator: Dr. Christy L. Haynes (she/her)

Dr. Christy L. Haynes

Christy (she/her/hers) completed her undergraduate work at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN (1998) with a major in Chemistry and minors in Mathematics and Spanish. Christy's doctoral work was done at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (2003) under the direction of Richard P. Van Duyne. Her doctoral thesis title was "Fundamentals and Applications of Nanoparticle Optics and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering." Before arriving at the University of Minnesota, Christy performed postdoctoral research as an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of R. Mark Wightman at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2005). Her efforts in the Wightman lab focused on applying microelectrode amperometry to probe single cell exocytosis.

Christy has been running the Haynes Lab at the University of Minnesota since Fall 2005 and has been head of the Department of Chemistry since June 2023. Find more details on her curriculum vitae. Pronouce Christy Haynes.

Current Group Members

Riley Lewis

Graduate Student: Riley Lewis, Joined in Fall '19

Riley (he/him/his) is a sixth year graduate student. He graduated in 2019 with a B.A. in Chemistry from the New College of Florida. While in the Haynes lab, he plans to work on designing nanoparticles with PFAS affinity as joint work between the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology and a NIEHS collaboration. Riley was a Biotechnology training grant trainee and also completed an internship at Seagate during his graduate work.Pronouce Riley Lewis.

Beza Tuga

Graduate Student: Beza Tuga, Joined in Fall '19

Beza is a sixth year chemistry graduate student. She earned her B.S. in biochemistry from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. While in the Haynes group, she will be working to develop nanomaterials for agricultural applications as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Pronouce Beza Tuga.

Beza's LinkedIn profile is available.

Eleni Spanolios

Graduate Student: Eleni Spanolios, Joined in Fall '19

Eleni is a sixth year graduate student who earned her B.A. in Chemistry from New College of Florida. While in the Haynes group, she will be working on single cell electrochemistry. Pronouce Eleni Spanolios.

Cheng-Hsin Huang

Graduate Student: Cheng-Hsin Huang, Joined in Fall '20

Cheng-Hsin is a fifth year graduate student who earned her B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from National Taiwan University. While in the Haynes group, she plans to design nanoparticles with PFAS affinity as joint work between the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology and a NIEHS collaboration. Pronouce Cheng-Hsin Huang.

Mahmoud Matar Abed

Graduate Student: Mahmoud Matar Abed, Joined in Fall '20

Mahmoud is a fifth year graduate student who earned his bachelors degree in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao. He also received a Masters degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Arizona State University. While in the Haynes lab, he will be working with plasmonic/SERS based sensors. Mahmoud held a GEM Fellowship and also completed an internship at NASA during his graduate work. Pronouce Mahmoud Matar Abed.

Wilanyi Alvarez Reyes

Graduate Student: Wilanyi Alvarez Reyes, Joined in Fall '21

Wilanyi is a fourth year graduate student who earned her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey in May 2021. While in the Haynes Lab, she plans to develop nanomaterials for agriculture applications as joint work between the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology and a USDA collaboration. Pronounce Wilanyi Alvarez Reyes.

Casey Wouters

Graduate Student: Casey Wouters, Joined in Fall '21

Casey is a fourth year graduate student who earned her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Oklahoma in May of 2021. While in the Haynes lab, she plans to study plasmonic sensing as a NSF graduate research fellow. Pronouce Casey Wouters.

Clare Froehlich

Graduate Student: Clare Froehlich, Joined in Fall '22

Clare is a third year graduate student in chemical engineering, co-advised by Professor Vivian Ferry. She joined the Haynes lab as an undergraduate in 2019, and graduated summa cum laude with her B.ChE. in chemical engineering and B.S. in chemistry from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2022, then continued in the group as a graduate student. While in the Haynes lab, she will be working on developing chiral plasmonic nanomaterials for use in SERS sensors as a NSF graduate research fellow. Pronouce Clare Froehlich.

Abby Stitgen

Graduate Student: Abigail Stitgen, Joined in Fall '22

Abby is a third year graduate student who earned her B.A. in Chemistry from Ripon College in May 2022. While in the Haynes lab, she plans to work on carbon dots. Pronouce Abby Stitgen.

Rhea Caldwell

Graduate Student: Rhea Caldwell, Joined in Fall '23

Rhea is a second year graduate student who earned her B.S. in Chemistry at Saint Louis University in May 2023. While in the Haynes lab, she plans to work on electrochemical redox sensing. Pronounce Rhea Caldwell.

Timmy Nguyen

Graduate Student: Timmy Nguyen, Joined in Fall '23

Timmy is a second year graduate student who earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and Biotechnology with a minor in Physiology at Cal Poly Pomona. While in the Haynes Lab, he plans to work on devloping and using plasmonic/SERS sensing. Pronounce Timmy Nguyen.

Rima Jamous

Undergraduate Researcher: Rima Jamous

Rima is a post-bac researcher after completing her major in Chemistry at UMN. She joined the Haynes lab in January 2023 and is working with Wilanyi and Beza on developing nanomaterials for sustainable nanotechnology.

Rima Jamous

Undergraduate Researcher: Katie Riley

Katie is senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering. She joined the Haynes lab in September 2023 and is working with Mahmoud to develop SERS sensors.

Heather Muenter

Undergraduate Researcher: Heather Muenter

Heather is a senior earning their B.S. in Chemistry and minoring in Astrophysics. They joined the Haynes lab in January 2024 and is working with Dr. Safia Jilani and Abby on carbon dot sensors.

Judith Zhu

Undergraduate Researcher: Judith Zhu

Judith is a junior earning her B.S. in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. She joined the Haynes lab in September 2024 and is working with Cheng-Hsin and Wilanyi on silica nanoparticle synthesis.

Archive of Group Photos

Group photo, June 2023

Haynes Group in June 2023

Group photo, August 2021

Haynes Group in August 2021

Group photo, May 2021

Haynes Group in May 2021

Group photo, January 2020

Haynes Group in January 2020

Group photo, December 2018

Haynes Group in December 2018

Group photo, Winter 2018

Haynes Group in Winter 2018

Group photo, August 2017

Haynes Group in August 2017

Group photo, July 2015

Haynes Group in July 2015

Group photo, July 2014

Haynes Group in July 2014

Group photo, February 2014

Haynes Group in February 2014

Group photo, January 2013

Haynes Group in January 2013

Group photo, February 2012

Haynes Group in February 2012

Group photo, June 2011

Haynes Group in June 2011

Group photo, June 2010

Haynes Group in June 2010

Group photo, July 2009

Haynes Group in July 2009

Group photo, Oct 2008

Haynes Group in October 2008

Group photo, Oct 2007

October 2007

Group photo, Apr 2007

April 2007

Group photo, Aug 2006

August 2006

Graduate Student Alumni

Bryce Marquis

Graduate Student: Dr. Bryce Marquis, Joined in Fall '05

Bryce successfully defended his Ph.D thesis on August 6, 2010. Bryce was the first student to work on the Haynes group's nanotoxicity project. In addition, he mentored many undergraduate and junior graduate student researchers and performed significant department and community service. After defending his thesis, Bryce did postdoctoral reearch at NIST working on in vivo nanotoxicity studies with Bryant Nelson. Bryce is currently a tenure-track faculty member at the University of Central Arkansas Medical School.

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Shencheng Ge

Graduate Student: Dr. Shencheng Ge, Joined in Fall '05

Shencheng successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on April 26, 2011. Shencheng was the first student to exploit electrochemical techniques to study chemical messenger storage in and secretion from individual blood platelets. Shencheng was a recipient of the University of Minnesota's Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship and is currently performing postdoctoral research with George Whitesides at Harvard.

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Kyle Bantz

Graduate Student: Dr. Kyle Bantz, Joined in Fall '06

Kyle successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on November 4, 2011. While in the Haynes lab, she used surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to characterize complex mixtures of pollutant and lipid systems. After defending her thesis, Kyle performed postdoctoral research with Milan Mrksich at Northwestern University. Kyle is now a term faculty member in the UMN Chemistry Department with a focus on undergraduate analytical courses.

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Sara Love

Graduate Student: Dr. Sara Love, Joined in Fall '06

Sara successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on November 1, 2011. While in the Haynes lab, she explored bioanaytical aspects of nanoparticle cytotoxicity in chromaffin cells and blood. Sara is the Associate Director of Clinical Chemistry, Toxicology, and POC testing in the laboratory medicine & pathology department at Hennepin County Medical Center.

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Yu-Shen Lin

Graduate Student: Dr. Yu-Shen Lin, Joined in Fall '07

Yu-Shen successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on April 12, 2012. While in the Haynes lab, he was a recipient of the Taiwan Merit Scholarship and a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. His research focused on synthesizing novel chemotherapeutic nanoparticles and assessing their cytotoxicity. Yu-Shen spent some time as a Scientist at Oncothyreon in Seattle, WA. and is now a Senior Research Chemist at Ferrotec.

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Melissa Jones

Graduate Student: Dr. Melissa Maurer-Jones, Joined in Fall '07

Melissa successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on November 27, 2012. While in the Haynes lab, she was a recipient of the NSF Graduate Fellowship, an ACS DAC Fellowship, and a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Her research focused on the correlation between reactive oxygen species and chemical messenger secretion after cell exposure to nanoscale materials. Melissa also initiated the Haynes group's work considering bacterial nanoparticle toxicity. After doing postdoctoral research with Prof. Kris McNeill at the ETH in Zurich, Melissa is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Email Melissa

Melissa Maurer-Jones' curriculum vitae is available.

Secil Koseoglu

Graduate Student: Dr. Secil Koseoglu, Joined in Summer '09

Secil successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on December 14, 2012. While in the Haynes lab, co-advised by Phil Buhlmann, Secil's work focused on characterizing the fundamental behavior of individual human platelets, with specific interest on membrane phenomena. Secil did postdoctoral research with Dr. Robert Flaumenhaft at Harvard Medical School and is currently a Research Scientist at Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

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Benjamin Manning

Graduate Student: Dr. Benjamin Manning, Joined in Fall '08

Ben successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on July 16, 2013. While in the Haynes lab, Ben was a Chemical Biology Trainee (2010-2012) and a recipient of a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. His work focused on study of chemical messenger delivery in mast cells in various inflammatory states. Dr. Manning is currently attending medical school at the University of Minnesota.

Email Ben
Audrey Guerard

Graduate Student: Dr. Audrey Meyer, Joined in Fall '08

Audrey successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on October 22, 2013. While in the Haynes lab, Audrey was a recipient of the NSF Graduate Fellowship and a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Her work focused on developing MS analysis methods for the mast cell and platlet secreteome/lipidome. In November 2013, Audrey began work as a Process Engineer at Intel in Portland, OR.

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Donghyuk Kim

Graduate Student: Dr. Donghyuk Kim, Joined in Fall '08

Donghyuk successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on October 23, 2013. His work focused on building a microfluidic model of the immune system and exploring how immune cells communicate with one another. Following his thesis defense, Donghyuk began postdoctoral research with Dino DiCarlo at UCLA.

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Samuel Egger

Graduate Student: Sam Egger, Group member from Fall '12 to Fall '14

While in the Haynes lab, Sam worked to synthesize mesoporous silica nanoparticles for both biomedical and sensing purposes.

Antonio Campos

Graduate Student: Dr. Antonio Campos, Joined in Fall '11

Tony successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on April 6, 2015. His work focused on developing SERS sensors for detection of bloodborne protein species. Tony is currently serving as an adjunct professor at University of Texas at Austin.

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Katherine Stevens

Graduate Student: Dr. Katie Hurley (née Stevens), Joined in Fall '10

Katie successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on August 25, 2015. Her work focused on building multifunctional therapeutic nanoparticles. While pursuing her doctoral work, Katie was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and won a UMN Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. She is now working at a Principal Chemist in the On-Premise Laundry group within Institutional R&D at Ecolab in Eagan, MN.

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Solaire Finkenstaedt-Quinn

Graduate Student: Dr. Solaire Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Joined in Fall '10

Solaire successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on January 28, 2016. Her thesis work focused on exploring the fundamentals of human platelet chemical messenger storage and secretion, with an emphasis on imaging techniques. In addition, Solaire pursed a significant amount of chemical education research considering both outreach and formal school audiences. She is now working as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Michigan on a project titled “Collaborative Research: Accelerating the Pace of Research and Implementation of Writing-to-Learn Pedagogies across STEM Disciplines.”

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Sarah Gruba

Graduate Student: Dr. Sarah Gruba, Joined in Fall '12

Sarah successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on April 21, 2016. Her thesis work focused on both single cell and mass spectrometric analysis of platelet and mast cell secretion. During her time as a graduate student, she was supported as a trainee on the Biotechnology Training Grant and did an internship at Boston Scientific where she is now working. Email Sarah

Ian Gunsolus

Graduate Student: Dr. Ian Gunsolus, Joined in Fall '11

Ian successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on May 3, 2016. His thesis work focused on the interaction between engineered nanomaterials and Gram-negative bacteria. During his time as a graduate student, he was a trainee on the Biotechnology Training Grant and was also a recipient of the Torske Klubben Fellowship and Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Dr. Gunsolus is currently a Laboratory Scientific Director for HealthPartners in the Twin Cities.

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Xiaojie Wu

Graduate Student: Dr. Xiaojie Wu, Joined in Fall '11

Xiaojie successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on August 3, 2016. His thesis work focused on developing microfluidic platforms to study immune cell interactions in complex, dynamic environments. During his time as a graduate student, he did an internship at ZeptoLife, and is now an R&D Manager in a Sino-Japanese joint venture in Shanghai.

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Victoria Szlag

Graduate Student: Dr. Victoria Szlag, Joined in Fall '12

Victoria successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on February 16, 2018. Her thesis work, co-advised by Professor Theresa Reineke, focused on the use of glycopolymers as affinity agents in SERS sensors. She is now a Senior Scientist in R&D Pharmaceutical Sciences at Boston Scientific.

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Tian Qiu

Graduate Student: Dr. Tian (Autumn) Qiu, Joined in Fall '12

Autumn successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on March 27, 2018. Her thesis work focused on studying environmental nanotoxicity and developing new analytical methods to study nanoparticles in complex matrices as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. She is now Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois, working in the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan Sweedler.

Joe Buchman

Graduate Student: Dr. Joe Buchman, Joined in Fall '13

Joe successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on December 18, 2018. His thesis work focused on uncovering the key molecular interactions underlying nano-bio interactions as part of the "Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology." During his time in the Haynes lab, Joe held a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and was also a trainee on the Biotechnology Training Grant.

Sunipa Pramanik

Graduate Student: Dr. Sunipa Pramanik, Joined in Fall '13

Sunipa successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on December 20, 2018. Her thesis work focused studying environmental nanotoxicity of Cd-free quantum dots as part of the "Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology" and the "Materials Research Science & Engineering Center." Sunipa is currently a science advisor for Environmental Health & Safety at Columbia University.

Bo Zhi

Graduate Student: Dr. Bo Zhi, Joined in Fall '14

Bo successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on August 16, 2019. His thesis work focused on bacterial toxicity evaluation of group IV semiconductor nanocrystals for the MRSEC and synthesis and applications of carbon-based luminescent nanoparticles for the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Bo is currently a senior research scientist at Zeon in Japan.

Peter Clement

Graduate Student: Peter Clement, Joined in Fall '16

Peter completed his M.S. work in the Haynes lab exploring the toxicity of complex metal oxides and phosphate nanomaterials within the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

Hyunho Kang

Graduate Student: Dr. Hyunho Kang, Joined in Fall '14

Hyunho successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on December 19, 2019. His thesis work focused on multifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticle synthesis within the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Hyunho is currently a research chemist at Merck in Rahway, New Jersey.

Natalie Hudson-Smith

Graduate Student: Dr. Natalie Hudson-Smith, Joined in Fall '15

Natalie successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on September 21, 2020. Her thesis work focused on methods development for characterizing the toxicity of engineered nanoparticles and science outreach within the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Natalie is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stonybrook University as part of the IRACDA-NY teaching/research program, performing research with Prof. Liz Boon.

Amani Lee

Graduate Student: Dr. Amani Lee, Joined in Fall '15

Amani successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on August 26, 2020. His thesis work was co-advised by Dr. Haynes and Dr. Pomerantz, focusing on fluorine-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Amani is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Kang Xiong-Hang

Graduate Student: Dr. Kang Xiong-Hang, Joined in Fall '15

Kang successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on August 25, 2020. Her thesis work focused on characterizing the role of blood platelets in malarial infection using single cell electrochemical measurements. Kang is currently a clinical chemistry fellow at HCMC in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Becky Rodriquez

Graduate Student: Dr. Becky Rodriguez, Joined in Fall '16

Becky defended her Ph.D. thesis on November, 5 2021. Her thesis work focused on using SERS and polymers to detect for various toxins. Becky is currently a research staff member in the operational evaluation division of the Institute for Defense Analysis. Pronouce Rebeca Rodriguez.

Jiayi He

Graduate Student: Dr. Jiayi He, Joined in Fall '16

Jiayi defended her Ph.D. thesis on July 12, 2022. Her thesis work focused on transistor-based sensors to detect small and large molecule targets. Jaiyi is currently a consultant at McKinsey & Company in New Jersey.

Xiaoxiao Yao

Graduate Student: Dr. Xiaoxiao Yao, Joined in Fall '17

Xiaoxiao defended her Ph.D. thesis on July 28, 2022. Her thesis work focused on both fundamental and applied studies of carbon dots. Xiaoxiao is currently a senior chemist at Biorad in San Francisco. Pronouce Xiaoxiao Yao.

Tana O'Keefe

Graduate Student: Dr. Tana O'Keefe, Joined in Fall '18

Tana defended her Ph.D. thesis on March 1, 2024. Her thesis work focused on the use of nanoparticles for agricultural applications as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Tana also completed an internship at 3M during her graduate work. Tana is currently a senior scientist at Land O' Lakes in Arden Hills, MN. Pronouce Tana O'Keefe.

Postdoc and Visiting Scholar Alumni

Dr. Adam D. McFarland

Postdoc: Dr. Adam D. McFarland

Adam is now a research scientist at Eli Lilly. He joined the Haynes research group as an expert in Raman spectroscopy ready to explore the synthesis and transport of neurotransmitters inside cultured neuronal cells.

Adam earned his B.S. at the University of Dayton (1999) and his Ph.D. in the Van Duyne group at Northwestern University (2004). He performed one year of postdoctoral research in the Hersam group at Northwestern University (2005) before joining the Haynes lab.

Dr. Nathan Wittenberg

Postdoc: Dr. Nathan Wittenberg

Nate joined the Haynes Lab after a postdoctoral stint at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Nate did his undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota and completed his Ph.D. at Penn State University (2006) under the guidance of Prof. Andrew Ewing, where he used giant liposomes to mimic cellular processes.

While in the Haynes lab, Nate worked to perform spectroscopic and electrochemical identification of neurotransmitters in invertebrae and single blood platelets. Nate is currently performing postdoctoral work with Prof. Sang-Hyun Oh at the University of Minnesota.

Email Nate
Ashish Datt

Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr. Ashish Datt

Ashish earned his PhD with Dr. Sarah Larsen at the University of Iowa, where he studied adsorption properties of silica and zeolite particles. As a postdoctoral researcher in the Haynes lab, he synthesized novel multifunctional core-shell mesoporous nanomaterials for biomedical and sensing applications.

Kayeong Shin

Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr. Kayeong Shin

Kayeong earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry with Dr. Hoeil Chung at Hanyang University (2014), Korea, where she worked on detection of disease biomarkers based on SERS combined with FFF system. While in the Haynes group, her research interest focused on live cell imaging using TIRF microscopy. Kayeong departed the Haynes lab in March 2016 to be a Senior Research Engineer at Samsung Electronics in Korea.

Zhe Gao

Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr. Zhe Gao

Zhe earned her PhD in Chemistry with Dr. Ilya Zharov at the University of Utah, where she worked on synthesis and characterization of novel boron and silica nanoparticles. While in the Haynes group, she worked on SERS analysis of protein analytes in blood and synthesis of mesoporous silica for biomedical applications. Zhe is currently a research associate in the Bischof Lab at the University of Minnesota.

Zhe's curriculum vitae is available.

Hattie Ring

Postdoctoral Researcher: Dr. Hattie Ring

Hattie earned her undergraduate degrees at Iowa State University (2007) with majors in Physics and Chemistry. She then completed her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley (2012), where she worked on NMR and MRI applications of xenon hyperpolarization and atomic magnetometry in Alex Pines' group. While in the Haynes lab, she worked on a wide variety of collaborative projects largely focused on quantification of iron-oxide nanoparticles in vivo with magnetic resonance imaging. In 2021, Hattie took a position as a Research Specialist at 3M focused on NMR in research and development (photo credit: David Trease).

Hattie's LinkedIn profile is available.

Dr. Safia Jilani

Postdoc: Dr. Safia Jilani (she/her)

Safia earned her B.S. in chemistry and studied secondary education at Dominican University. She then earned her Ph.D. with distinction in chemistry at Georgetown University. Her work focused on nanomaterials, electrochemical catalysis, and spectroelectrochemistry in the context of designing better catalysts for ethanol fuel cells. In the Haynes lab and Center of Sustainable Nanotechnology from August 2022 - August 2024, Safia was working with Eleni, Riley, Abby, and Heather on electrochemical measurements of reactive oxygen species. Pronouce Safia Jilani.

Safia’s LinkedIn profile is available here.

Ozlem Ersin

Research Fellow: Ozlem Ersin

Ozlem worked in the Haynes lab to add her expertise in immunology. She collaborated with Shencheng, Audrey, Donghyuk, and Ben to advance our immune system-on-a-chip work. Ozlem is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Manchester College.

Vivian Feng

Visiting Faculty: Prof. Vivian Feng

Vivian is an Associate Professor at Augsburg College who spent her 2014-2015 academic year on sabbatical in the Haynes lab. She is working as part of the "Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology" on environmental nanotoxicity using a bacterial model.

Cassandra Knutson

Summer 2013 NNIN RET Researcher: Cassandra Knutson

Cassie is a chemistry teacher and technology integration specialist in White Bear Lake Area Schools. Cassie earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of North Dakota and obtained her Masters degree in science education from the University of Minnesota. During summer 2013, Cassie worked with Audrey Meyer to optimize the pedagogical focus of the Haynes group's outreach activities.

Jolene Johnson Armstrong

Summer 2013 LEF Researcher: Jolene Johnson Armstrong

Jolene is an assistant professor at St. Catherine University who joined the Haynes lab in June 2013 with two of her undergraduate researchers, Sara and Rachel. Jolene got her doctorate in the Mueller lab in the Physics department at the University of Minnesota before taking a position at St. Kate's in Fall 2012. Sara is a senior and Rachel a junior at St. Kate's, both are Chemistry majors. They worked with mentor Solaire Finkenstaedt-Quinn to perform TIRF imaging on platelets in a microfluidic device.

Sharon Haldeman

Summer 2012 RET Researcher: Sharon Haldeman

Sharon is a high school teacher at Southwest High School, teaching Chemistry, Biology, and Physical Science. She worked, during summer 2012, on outreach activities (with mentors Melissa Maurer-Jones and Audrey Meyer) as a participant of the NNIN RET program.

Sarah Schoeller

Summer 2015 and 2016 MRSEC RET Researcher: Sarah Schoeller

Sarah a chemistry teacher at White Bear Lake High School. She spent summer 2015 and 2016 participating in the MRSEC "Research Experience for Teachers" program and was working with Solaire on a project involving science in dystopian literature.

Summer 2017 MRSEC RET Researcher: Michael Maudal

Michael was a chemistry teacher at White Bear Lake High School. He spent summer 2017 participating in the MRSEC "Research Experience for Teachers" program and was working with Natalie on two projects involving science in dystopian literature and hands-on activities to explain the chemistry of climate change.

Guicen Ma

Visiting Scholar: Dr. Guicen Ma

Guicen got her PhD degree in Chemistry from Zhejiang University of China in 2013. Now, she is an associate research fellow at the Tea Research Institute, CAAS, in China. Her research interest is in the detection of trace contaminants in tea; while in the Haynes lab, she will use the SERS for pesticide detection.

Undergraduate Researcher Alumni

Andrea Ligocki

Undergraduate Researcher: Andrea Ligocki

Andrea is a chemistry major who worked in the Haynes Lab from October 2021 - August 2024. She and her mentor, Beza, worked to develop polymeric nanoparticles for sustainable agriculture.

Alejandra Rodriguez-Nazario

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Alejandra Rodriguez-Nazario

Alejandra was a junior Chemistry undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico-Cayey. She joined the Haynes lab for Summer 2024 through the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN) Summer Undergraduate Research Experience. While in Haynes lab, she worked with Abby to identify optimal synthesis conditions for fluorescent carbon dots.

Ana Katrina (Chinny) Tiu

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Ana Katrina (Chinny) Tiu

Chinny was a senior majoring in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry at the College of the Holy Cross. She joined the Haynes lab for Summer 2024 through the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN) Summer Undergraduate Research Experience. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with Riley to develop nanoparticles with PFAS affinity.

Lon Yang

Undergraduate Researcher: Lon Yang

Lon was a sophomore undergraduate student studying chemistry and chemical engineering during his Spring 2024 semester in the Haynes Lab. He worked with Beza, Wilanyi, and Cheng-Hsin to develop nanomaterials for agriculture applications.

Meredith Hoff

Undergraduate Researcher: Meredith Hoff

Meredith was a senior majoring in Chemistry at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC during her time as 2023 Lando summer research student in the Haynes lab. She worked with Clare to develop chiral nanomaterials for SERS sensors.

Ani Melichar

Undergraduate Researcher: Zephani Melichar

Ani was a fourth year undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona when she spent Summer 2023 in the Haynes lab as a CSN SURE researcher. She worked with Eleni on electrochemical measurements of reactive oxygen species.

Sharmaka Mohamud

Post-baccalaureate: Sharmaka Mohamud

Sharmaka was a post-bacc researcher working in the Haynes lab as a North Star STEM PRELS Research Fellowship from January - August 2023. He graduated from Augsburg University in 2021, where he earned his B.S. in Biopsychology. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with Tana O’Keefe and Cheng-Hsin Huang to develop mesoporous silica nanoparticles for agricultural applications.

Rhea Caldwell

Summer 2023 Incoming Graduate Student Researcher: Rhea Caldwell

Rhea was a year zero graduate student who earned her B.S. in Chemistry at Saint Louis University in 2023. She spent Summer 2023 in the Haynes lab working with Clare to develop SERS sensors. Pronounce Rhea Caldwell.

David Ajayi

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: David Ajayi

David was a premed health sciences student at the University of Minnesota Rochester who joined the Haynes Lab in June 2022 through the CSN's Research Experience for Veterans (REV) program. He was mentored by Eleni focusing on electrochemical detection of reactive oxygen species.

Timmy Nguyen

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Timmy Nguyen

Timmy was a third year undergraduate student double-majoring in Biochemistry and Biotechnology with a minor in Physiology at Cal Poly Pomona. He joined the Haynes Lab in June 2022 through the REU/LANDO program and was mentored by Casey on plasmonic sensing for the summer. Pronounce Timmy Nguyen.

Antavia Paredes-Beaulieu

Summer 2022 Incoming Graduate Student Researcher: Antavia Paredes-Beaulieu

Antavia studied Chemistry at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN and is excited to begin her Ph.D. Studies at the University of Minnesota in Fall of 2022. She spent Summer 2022 working in the Haynes Lab with her mentor, Cheng-Hsin Huang. Antavia worked with Cheng-Hsin to synthesize mesoporous silica nanoparticles for environmental applications.

Clare Froelich

Undergraduate Researcher: Clare Froehlich

Clare was a Chemistry and Chemical Engineering double major at the University of Minnesota. She joined the Haynes Lab in February 2019 and worked with Becky and Jiayi on aptamer-based toxin sensing and became an expert in surface plasmon resonance, graduating in May 2022 summa cum laude. In Fall 2022, Clare re-joined the Haynes Lab as a jointly advised doctoral students. Pronouce Clare Froehlich.

Salman Jaiteh

Undergraduate Researcher: Salman Jaiteh

Salman was a UMN Chemistry major from West Africa, the Gambia. He joined the Haynes lab in Fall 2021 to work with Riley on nanoparticles for environmental remediation applications until his graduation in May 2022.

Astrid Hernandez

Undergraduate Researcher: Astrid Hernandez

Astrid, who joined the Haynes Lab in June 2021, graduated with her Chemistry major in Spring 2022. Mentored by Eleni, she developed electrochemistry methods to detect reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Astrid is now a chemistry specialist for WuXi AppTec. Pronouce Astrid Hernandez.

Ali Anod

Undergraduate Researcher: Ali Anod

Ali worked in the Haynes lab with Tana for Fall 2020 on nanoparticles for agricultural applications and returned to the lab again for the 2021-2022 academic year to continue that research. He graduated in Spring 2022 with a major in Human Physiology.

Meghan Cahill

Undergraduate Researcher: Meghan Cahill

Meghan, who joined the Haynes Lab in September 2017, graduated with her Chemistry major in May 2021. Mentored by Natalie, she studied nanotoxicity in bacteria as part of the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Meghan is currently a researcher at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, CT.

Trever Sheldon

Undergraduate Researcher: Trever Sheldon

Trever graduated in May 2021 with a major in chemistry and a minor in pharmacology. He joined the Haynes Lab in September 2019 and worked with Jiayi and Becky on mycotoxin sensor design until his graduation. Trever is currently attending pharmacy school at UMN.

Mary McIntire

Undergraduate Researcher: Mary McIntire

Mary joined the Haynes Lab in January 2020 and worked with Xiaoxiao on carbon dot synthesis until August 2021.

Kaitlyn Gruber

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Kaitlyn Gruber (she/her)

Kaitlyn was a Summer 2021 LANDO/NSF REU Student from Gustavus Adolphus College where she double-majored in Chemistry and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. During her summer in the lab, she worked with Jiayi and Clare on aptamer-based serotonin sensing using SPR.

Radwa Abdelaziz

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Radwa Abdelaziz

Radwa was a Summer 2021 CSN SURE student joining from CUNY-Hunter College where she majors in Chemistry with minors in Middle Eastern and Environmental Studies. During her summer in the lab, she worked with Beza on assessing nanoparticle toxicity utilizing growth-based viability assays.

Wilanyi Alvarez Reyes

Undergraduate Researcher: Wilanyi Alvarez Reyes

Wilanyi is a senior majoring in chemistry and minoring in mathematics at University of Puerto Rico who worked (remotely) in the Haynes lab during summer 2020. As part of the CSN REU program, she worked with Natalie Hudson-Smith and Tana O'Keefe on a nanoscience-themed interactive-text game project.

Emma Henshaw

CSN Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Emma Henshaw

Emma, was a rising junior at St. Lawrence University studying biology, chemistry, and public health, who joined the Haynes group for Summer 2019. She worked with mentor Hyunho Kang to characterize how nanoparticle surface roughness influences nano/bio interactions.

Sang-Hyuk Lee

Undergraduate Researcher: Sang-Hyuk Lee

Sang-Hyuk was an undergraduate researcher in the Haynes lab, majoring in chemistry and minoring in biology. He worked with his mentor Amani to optimize nanoparticle loading with fluorinated molecules.

Elaine Kappel

Undergraduate Researcher: Elaine Kappel

Elaine joined the Haynes group in Spring 2018 and worked in the lab until leaving to study abroad in August 2019. She worked for one semester with D. Hattie Ring to expand the applications of the ferrozine assay and then worked with Xiaoxiao to examine carbon dots and their various properties.

Eileen McIntire

Undergraduate Researcher: Eileen McIntire

Eileen joined the Haynes lab in January 2016 and stayed until December 2018. She worked with Sunipa to characterize bacterial response to Si nanocrystals and CSN nanomaterials and is now working at Ecolab.

Undergraduate Researcher: Davis Long

Davis joined the Haynes Lab in February 2017 as a biochemistry major. Mentored by Hyunho, he synthesized mesoporous silica nanoparticles as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

Kaila Kemnetz-Ness

Undergraduate Researcher: Kaila Kemnetz-Ness

Kaila joined the Haynes lab in September 2017 and stayed until her graduation in May 2018. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Kang Xiong-Hang to explore the role of blood platelets in malarial infection through a mouse model. She is now attending pharmacy school.

Katie Landy

Undergraduate Researcher: Katie Landy

Katie joined the Haynes research lab in August 2016 and stayed until her graduation in May 2018. She majored in Chemistry with minors in Biochemistry and Sustainability Studies and worked with Joe Buchman in the Haynes Lab to explore bacterial toxicity of nanoparticles. Katie is now a graduate student in the Chemistry Program at Northwestern University

Sam Bryson

Undergraduate Researcher: Sam Bryson

Sam,a Chemistry and Chemical Engineering double major, joined the Haynes lab in January 2016 and continued research until Spring 2018. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Victoria Szlag to create SERS substrates for use as novel sensors.

Undergraduate Researcher: Kyle Johnson

Kyle joined the Haynes lab in Fall 2014 and stayed until his graduation in May 2018. He worked jointly with the Haynes lab and the Feng lab to explore the bacterial toxicity of Au nanoparticles as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, and he wrote a summa cum laude honors thesis based on this work. Kyle is currently working as an indefinite contractor for 3M via Pace Analytical in Minneapolis, MN.

Lizbeth Hernandez

CSN Summer 2017 Undergraduate Researcher: Lizbeth Hernandez

Liz was a junior majoring in Biology who joined the Haynes lab for summer 2017. She worked with Natalie to explore the toxicity of new battery materials as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

Sam Merlus

MRSEC Summer 2017 Undergraduate Researcher: Sam Merlus

Sam was a rising junior majoring in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Tuskegee University who spent summer 2017 in the Haynes lab. Through the MRSEC REU program, Sam was working in the Haynes lab with mentor Bo Zhi to assess the toxicity of doped silicon nanocrystals.

Huan (Kyle) Nguyen

Lando Summer 2017 Undergraduate Researcher: Huan (Kyle) Nguyen

Kyle was a rising senior chemistry major at the College of Wooster who spent summer 2017 in the Haynes lab. Through the Lando program, Kyle was working in the Haynes lab with mentor Amani Lee on his PFC-loaded nanoparticle work.

Anaeli Shockey Lopez

CSN Summer 2017 Undergraduate Researcher: Anaeli Shockey Lopez

Anaeli was a undergraduate in Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez when she spent summer 2017 in the Haynes lab. While in the Haynes lab, she was working with Tian (Autumn) Qiu and Peter Clement to explore the interaction between lipid vesicles and gold nanoparticles.

Dona-Carla Forester

Undergraduate Researcher: Dona-Carla Forester

Dona was a Chemistry major who worked the Haynes lab from September 2015 until May 2017. Dona worked with Autumn to characterize the molecular character of nanoparticle/bacteria interactions and is the co-author on a paper published in Analytical Chemistry.

Anna Krieger

Lando Summer 2016 Undergraduate Researcher: Anna Krieger

Anna spent summer 2016, when she was a rising senior at Gustavus Adolphus College, in the Haynes lab. At Gustavus, she majored in chemistry and minored in statistics. Through the Lando program, she worked in the Haynes lab with mentor Kang Xiong-Hang on her blood platelet work.

Susan Pham

CSN Summer 2016 Undergraduate Researcher: Susan Pham

Susan spent summer 2016, when she was ready to begin her 5th year as an undergraduate at Oklahoma State University. AT Oklahoma State, she's a triple major in chemistry (B.S.), biochemistry & molecular biology (B.S.A.G.), and mathematics, and She plans to go to graduate school after graduate. Her research interests are in synthesizing/characterizing materials for different types of applications. During summer 2016, Susan worked with Bo on synthesizing carbon dots from a variety of carbon precursors.

Megan Klein

Undergraduate Researcher: Megan Klein

Megan was a Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from May 2013 - August 2016. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentors Ashish Datt and Katie Hurley to fabricate mesoporous silica-based sensors. Megan is current in graduate school for chemistry at MIT.

Michael McDermott

Undergraduate Researcher: Michael McDermott

Michael was an undergraduate Chemistry major who worked in the Haynes lab from December 2014-August 2016. While in the Haynes lab, we worked with Dr. Zhe Gao to create core-shell nanoparticles. He is currently a process engineer in the diffusion department at Polar Semiconductor.

Adam Joules

Undergraduate Researcher: Adam Joules

Adam was a Chemical Engineering major who worked the Haynes lab from January 2014 - July 2016. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentors Sam Egger and Dr. Hattie Ring to synthesize mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug delivery. Adam went on to be a research associate at Applied Membrane Technology, Inc. and then started in UMN's Biomedical Engineering PhD program in Fall 2019.

Kadir Hussein

Undergraduate Researcher: Kadir Hussein

Kadir graduated with a Chemistry major from the University of Minnesota in December 2016. While working in the Haynes lab from April 2013-February 2016, he worked with mentors Ian Gunsolus and Ben Meyer to monitor bacteria respiration during nanoparticle exposure. Kadir's work was supported in part by the McNair Scholars Program. Since his time at UMN, Kadir completed an MS degree in Data Science at the University of St. Thomas and has been working as an R&D Chemist at Medtronic.

Matt Styles

Undergraduate Researcher: Matt Styles

Matt worked in the Haynes lab from May 2013 until leaving for grad school in August 2015. While in the Haynes lab, worked with mentors Antonio Campos and Victoria Szlag to fabricate substrates for surface-enhance Raman scattering and use them for protein sensing applications.

Nate Rackstraw

Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Nate Rackstraw

Nate was a rising junior at Macalester College pursuing a B.A. in chemistry when he worked in the Haynes lab for summer 2015. Nate worked with Autumn on her environmental nanotoxicity project.

Emily Cliff

UMN Lando Researcher: Emily Cliff

Emily was a rising junior at Ripon College where she was majoring in chemistry and minoring in biology when she worked in the Haynes lab for summer 2015. As part of the Lando REU program, she worked with Xiaojie Wu to use microfluidic devices to research how different cell types communicate using biological signaling molecules.

Jacob White

MRSEC REU Researcher: Jacob White

Jake was a rising senior at Tulane University majoring in chemistry and minoring in public health when he worked in the Haynes lab for summer 2015. As part of the MRSEC REU program, he worked with Sunipa on her nanotoxicity project.

Ka Lia Xiong

ACS Seed Researcher: Ka Lia Xiong

Ka Lia was a rising junior in high school at Washington Technology Magnet School when she worked in the Haynes lab for summer 2015. As part of the ACS Project SEED program, she worked with Joe on a nanotoxicity project.

Molly Newbold

Undergraduate Researcher: Molly Newbold

Molly worked in the lab from September 2013 until graduation in May 2015 as she pursued a major in Chemistry with a minor in Biology. Molly is planning to attend dental school after the completion of her undergraduate degree. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with Xiaojie to study the interaction in neutrophils and chemokines in microfluidic devices.

Bruno Bohn

Undergraduate Researcher: Bruno Bohn

Bruno worked in the lab while he was a freshman and sophomore majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry. He worked in the Haynes lab from January 2014-January 2015, with mentors Sarah Gruba and Solaire Finkenstaedt-Quinn. He plans to attend medical school after the completion of his undergraduate degree.

Danielle Francis

2014 Lando Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Danielle Francis

Danielle is a senior chemistry major at Mississippi State University who worked in the Haynes lab during the summer of 2014. Through the LANDO program, she worked with mentor Sarah Gruba to study opioid receptors on blood platelets using a variety of bioanalytical techniques.

Ky Christenson

2014 Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology Undergraduate Researcher: Ky Christenson

Ky is a sophomore chemical engineering major at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He worked with Autumn and other CSN collaborators on the topic of environmental nanotoxicity as part of the 2014 CSN REU program.

Hilena Frew

2014 Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Hilena Frew

Hilena is a Sophomore at Augsburg College, who is advised by Dr. Vivian Feng. She is double majoring in chemistry and mathematics. While in the Haynes lab during summer 2014, she was investigating environmental nanotoxicity on a bacteria model.

Lyle Nyberg

2014 Summer Undergraduate Researcher: Lyle Nyberg

Lyle is a sophomore chemistry and biology double major attending Augsburg College working under Dr. Vivian Feng. While in the Haynes lab during summer 2014, he analyzed how gold nanoparticles affect a gram-positive bacterial model as part of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

Ashlyn Young

Summer 2013 NNIN REU Researcher: Ashlyn Young

Ashlyn is an undergraduate student at UNC, Chapel Hill who joined the Haynes lab for summer 2013. While in the Haynes lab, Ashlyn worked with mentor Xiaojie Wu to study neutrophil chemotaxis using microfluidic platforms.

Dan Bakke

Undergraduate Student: Dan Bakke

Dan is an undergraduate Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering double major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from December 2012- December 2013. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with Katie Hurley to develop separation techniques for iron oxide nanoparticles to be incorporated into mesoporous silica shells.

Yiwen Wang

Undergraduate Student: Yiwen Wang

Yiwen was an undergraduate chemistry major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from April 2012 until June 2013. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentors Audrey Meyer and Ben Manning to monitor cell-secreted species using HPLC with electrochemical detection.

Heidi Nelson

Undergraduate Student: Heidi Nelson

Heidi was an undergraduate Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from January 2011 until August 2012. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentors Kyle Bantz and Secil Koseoglu to exploit plasmonics for various sensing applications. Heidi's work was supported in part by a competitive Heisig-Gleysteen Award and UROP funding. Her research was included in her undergraduate honors thesis, a key component to her summa cum laude Latin honors.

Alec Nicol

Undergraduate Student: Alec Nicol

Alec is an undergraduate chemistry/biochemistry double major at the University of Minnesota. who worked in the Haynes lab from September 2011 until October 2012. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Katie Hurley to synthesize multifunctional mesoporous nanoparticles. Alec's work was supported in part by a competitive UROP award that he earned for 2011-2012. Alec spent summer 2012 in Japan as a researcher in the NanoJapan: IREU program.

Undergraduate Student: Cole Christenson

Cole is a chemistry major at Gustavus Adolphus who spent summer 2011 and 2012 working in the Haynes lab. While in the Haynes lab, he is worked with mentor Melissa Maurer-Jones to perform nanotoxicity experiments in bacteria.

John Thompson

Undergraduate Student: John Thompson

John was an undergraduate Chemistry/Physics/Philosophy triple major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from September 2009 - May 2012. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentors Sara Love and Audrey Guerard to examine blood-nanoparticle interactions and the mast cell secretome. John's work was supported in part by a competitive UROP award that he earned for 2009-2010. John is currently enrolled in the UCLA MD/PhD program.

Zhen (Nancy) Liu

Undergraduate Student: Zhen (Nancy) Liu

Nancy is a senior undergraduate Chemistry/Chemical Engineering double major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab from June 2009 - May 2011. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentors Sara Love and Bryce Marquis to investigate nanoparticle shape effects on cellular toxicity. Nancy's work was supported in part by a competitive UROP award that she earned for 2009-2010.

Gregory Gibson

Undergraduate Student: Gregory Gibson

Gregory is a junior Chemical Engineering major at the University of Minnesota. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Melissa Maurer-Jones to develop a model for nanoecotox studies of metal oxide nanoparticles.

Emily Woo

Undergraduate Student: Emily Woo

Emily graduated with her Chemistry major from the University of Minnesota in May 2011. She began working in the Haynes lab in Summer 2008, and while in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Shencheng Ge to investigate the secretion of chemical messengers from individual blood platelets. Emily wrote and defended an honor's thesis based on her research. She is currently attending the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Nardine Abadeer

Undergraduate Student: Nardine Abadeer

Nardine graduated with her chemistry major from the University of Minnesota in May 2011. She began working in the Haynes lab in January 2010, and while in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Yu-Shen Lin to fabricate mesoporous nanoparticles and assess their toxicity and drug loading capacity. Nardine is now attending chemistry graduate school at the University of Illinois and working with Professor Cathy Murphy as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow.

Undergraduate Student: Gyung Ah (Tiya) Kim

Tiya graduated with her biochemistry major from the University of Minnesota in May 2011. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Ben Manning to perform HPLC analysis of mast cell-secreted species. Tiya wrote and defended an honor's thesis based on her research. She is currently attending medical school at Ewha Womans University in Korea.

Undergraduate Student: Benjamin Carlson

Ben was a chemistry/biochemistry double major at the University of Minnesota. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Secil Koseoglu to perform carbon-fiber microelectrode modification to minimize fouling.

Undergraduate Student: Marsha Sintara

Marsha graduated with her chemistry major from the University of Minnesota in May 2011. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Audrey Meyer to perform biomolecule extraction and purification from mast cell releasate. Marsha is attending chemistry graduate school at the University of Rhode Island.

Joe Zibley

Undergraduate Student: Joe Zibley

Joe is a chemistry major at the University of Minnesota. He worked in the Haynes lab during spring semester 2011, working with mentor Donghyuk Kim to build microfluidic devices for single cell manipulations.

Sarah Gruba
Leah Laux

Undergraduate Summer Researchers 2011: Cole Christenson, Sarah Gruba and Leah Laux

Cole is a junior chemistry major at the University of Minnesota who spent summer 2011 working in the Haynes lab. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Melissa Maurer-Jones to perform nanotoxicity experiments in bacteria.

Sarah is a recent graduate of Creighton University who spent summer 2011 working in the Haynes lab as a Lando researcher. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Ben Manning to use HPLC to characterize mast cell secretion.

Leah is a junior biomedical engineering major at Washington University who spent summer 2011 working in the Haynes lab as a NNIN researcher. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Donghyuk Kim to use microfluidic platforms to analyze neutrophil chemotaxis.

Ozge Kurtulus

Undergraduate Summer Researchers 2010: Ozge Kurtulus and Yingxia Wang

Ozge was a chemistry major at Middle East Technical University who spent summer 2010 working in the Haynes lab as a Lando researcher. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Kyle Bantz to perform SERS on lipid species. Ozge is currently in the Chemical Engineering graduate program at UC Davis.

Yingxia Wang

Yingxia was a chemical engineering major at MIT who spent summer 2010 working in the Haynes lab as a NNIN researcher. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Donghyuk Kim to create microfluidic devices for detection of cell secretion.

Kathy Braun

Undergraduate Student: Katherine L. Braun

Kathy graduated as a biomedical engineering major from the University of Minnesota in May 2010. While in the Haynes lab as a UROP researcher, she worked with mentor Bryce Marquis to prepare nanoparticle-exposed cell samples for TEM and performed microscopy analysis. She is a co-author on 3 publications in the Haynes lab and began graduate school in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in Fall 2010.

Jenna Stevens

Undergraduate Student: Jenna Stevens

Jenna graduated as a chemistry major from the University of Minnesota in May 2010. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Melissa Maurer-Jones to investigate the generation of reactive oxygen species in nanoparticle-exposed cells. She is making use of her keen analytical skills working in a Minnesota crime lab.

Chelsea DeRuyter

Undergraduate Student: Chelsea DeRuyter

Chelsea graduated as a Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota in December 2009. She worked in the Haynes lab throughout the 2009 calendar year. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Kyle Bantz to fabricate SERS-active polymer scaffold nanostructures. Chelsea is currently an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at the Minnesota Alliance with Youth.

Sarah and Ivan

Undergraduate Summer Researchers 2009: Sarah Connolly and Ivan Lenov

Sarah was an undergraduate at the University of Florida who spent Summer 2009 in the Haynes lab as a NNIN REU researcher. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Melissa Maurer-Jones to investigate the role of reactive oxygen species in nanoparticle toxicity. Sarah is now a CDC fellow in Central Florida.

Ivan was an undergraduate Chemistry major at Truman State who who spent Summer 2009 working in the Haynes lab as a Lando researcher. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentors Kyle Bantz and Nate Wittenberg to investigate the effects of partition layer ordering on SERS sensor performance. Ivan is currenlty a graduate student at the University of Illinois working in Stephen G. Sligar's group.

Undergraduate Student: Courtney Jones

Courtney was an undergraduate Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota (graduated December 2008) who worked in the Haynes lab for one year. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Kyle Bantz to fabricate novel SERS substrates and characterize them using atomic force microscopy. Her research resulted in one manuscript and an honors thesis. Courtney is currently a technical services specialist at Kerry Ingredients in Dayton, OH

Undergraduate Student: Kyle Kulseth

Kyle was an undergraduate Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota who worked in the Haynes lab during the 2008 calendar year. While in the Haynes lab, Kyle worked with mentor Shencheng Ge to explore immune cell communication using microelectrochemistry techniques. Kyle is currently working at 3M in Maplewood in the Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division in Product Engineering.

Undergraduate Student: Michelle Malaska

Michelle graduated from the University of Minnesota undergraduate program in Spring 2008. While in the Haynes lab, she worked with mentor Sara Love to investigate the effects of nanoparticles on cellular behavior.

Rick Kurker

Undergraduate Summer Researcher 2008: Richard Kurker

Rick was an undergraduate at Providence College who spent Summer 2008 in the Haynes lab as a Lando NSF REU student. Rick worked with Nate Wittenberg to monitor real-time calcium concentration in leech neurons and won the Lando poster session at the end of the summer.

Undergraduate Student: Lindsay Werkmeister

Lindsay was an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota who graduated in December 2007. While in the Haynes lab for two years, she focused on nanoparticle synthesis and TEM characterization.

Undergraduate Student: Han Na Park

Han Na was a senior undergraduate Chemistry major at the University of Minnesota. While in the Haynes lab, she developed retinal tissue protocols and performed electrochemical measurements in that tissue with Shencheng.

Virginia Senkomago and Eva Cornell

Undergraduate Summer Researchers 2006 : Virginia Senkomago and Eva Cornell

Virginia graduated from Berea College and spent Summer 2006 in the Haynes lab as a Lando NSF REU student. Virginia worked with Shencheng to culture retinal neurons.

Eva graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College and spent Summer 2006 in the Haynes lab as an NNIN REU student. Eva worked with Bryce to prepare TEM samples for cytotoxicity studies.

Brian Petkov

High School Researcher: Brian Petkov

Brian worked in the Haynes lab when he was a senior at St. Paul Central High School and taking chemistry courses at the University of Minnesota. While in the Haynes lab, he worked with mentor Ben Manning on murine mast cell extraction and analysis.

Ben Jaynes

Summer High School Researcher: Ben Jaynes

Ben was a rising high school junior from Seattle who worked in the Haynes lab for Summer 2024. Ben worked with his mentor Cheng-Hsin to synthesize mesoporous silica nanoparticles as well as test out new functionalizations to improve PFAS affinity.

Anushua Bhattacharya

High School Student: Anushua Bhattacharya

Anushua worked in the Haynes Lab during the summers of 2010 and 2011 while she was a high school student. She worked with mentors Sara Love and Melissa Maurer-Jones to explore metal nanoparticle cytotoxicity in both mammalian and bacterial cells.