Colin Hisey (PI) – Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Colin Hisey is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. He earned B.Eng. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He then trained as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where he helped establish and run the Hub for Extracellular Vesicle Investigations, and then returned to Ohio State to join the inaugural cohort of LEGACY Postdoctoral Scholars, where he was awarded a MOSAIC K99/R00 from NIBIB. Outside of the lab, he enjoys travel, coffee, functional martial arts, watching Ohio sports teams, and studying evidence-based investing.
Anna Kolesov – PhD Student; Biotechnology Training Program
Anna Kolesov, with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Davis, is a second-year PhD student in Dr. Hisey’s lab, where her research interests are focused on optimizing migrasome isolation and micropatterning to develop a platform to study glioblastoma cell migration. In her free time, she enjoys training for triathlons, going to the beach, hiking, and anything chocolate.
Evan Horvath – PhD Student
Evan Horvath is a first-year PhD student in biomedical engineering focused on the role of bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) in antimicrobial resistance and the applications of bEV research in global health. He graduated with his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. In his free time, he enjoys lifting weights, reading, and cooking.
Simran Bansal – Undergraduate Student
Simran Bansal is a second-year undergraduate at Northwestern University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering on a pre-law track. She is interested in studying single-cell trapping using gravity as a potential mechanism to isolate and study cells.
Karina Vasile – Undergraduate Student
Karina Vasile is a third-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University, majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering. Her work focuses on developing an in vitro placental model to study how placental extracellular vesicles can be used for fetal diagnosis. In her free time, she enjoys fencing, traveling, and cooking.
Aarti Patel – PhD Student; Regenerative Engineering Training Program
Aarti Patel, a second-year Biomedical Engineering student at Northwestern University, is exploring how placental extracellular vesicles can be used for fetal diagnosis and developing an in vitro placental model to study how they can be used for treatment. Aarti has earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Ohio State University, where she also focused on the potential therapeutic use of extracellular vesicles. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and painting.
Leah Ju – PhD Student
Leah Ju is a first-year PhD student in biomedical engineering focused on studying and engineering extracellular vesicles from mesenchymal stem cells for therapeutic use. She graduated with her B.S. in bioengineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For fun, she enjoys reading, piano, and spending time with her family.
Natalie Reitz – Undergraduate Student
Natalie Reitz is a third-year undergraduate at Northwestern University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering on a pre-medicine track. She is interested in optimizing migrasome isolation and micropatterning to develop a platform to study glioblastoma cell migration.
Meghan Quinn – PhD Student; Chemistry of Life Processes Institute Training Program
Meghan Quinn is a second-year Biomedical Engineering student at Northwestern University, where her project focuses on using micropatterning technology for a biomimetic brain model to study neuron-derived extracellular vesicles and their role in disease progression and healing after injury. Meghan has a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton. In her free time, she enjoys running, cooking, and reading.
Thaddeus Tripp – MS Student
Thaddeus Tripp earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan and is currently a Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. His research focuses on using Raman spectroscopy to evaluate the viability of extracellular vesicles produced in bioreactors and studying how suspension-cell passage affects vesicle production. Outside the lab, Thaddeus enjoys cooking, hiking, and gardening.
Edwin Shirvanian – Undergraduate Student
Edwin Shirvanian is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering. He is interested in studying migrasome isolation to develop a platform to study the migration of aggressive cancer cells.
Previous Lab Members
Isha Nayyar – MS Student
Originally from New Zealand, she holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Science from the University of Auckland. Isha Nayyar graduated with a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. Her research focus in the Hisey Lab was on leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to advance biomedical research. Beyond her academic endeavors, Isha enjoys traveling, playing the guitar, and spoken word poetry.
Hisey Lab 