PI: Samir Ghadiali, Ph.D
I am a full Professor in the Departments of Biomedical 
Engineering and Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University and the OSU Wexner Medical Center and a full member of the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute. I have broad training in biomedical engineering, multiscale modeling, and respiratory biomechanics. I have been the lead PI on several NIH and NSF funded research programs and my laboratory currently conducts translational research in the areas of acute lung injury, cancer metastasis, pre-term birth and Eustachian tube dysfunction. The goal of my laboratory is to use a combination of engineering, biophysical and molecular/cell biology techniques to investigate the mechano-biological mechanisms responsible for disease pathogenesis.
Current Members
Vasudha C. Shukla, Ph.D., research scientist 
Dr. Shukla is a research scientist in Dr. Ghadiali’s lab. She received her PhD from University of Virginia in Electrical Engineering. Primary focus of her doctoral research was on nanofabrication of biomimetic scaffolds for the tissue engineering applications and microfluidic platforms for dielectrophoresis based pre-concentration of nano-scale biological particles. She joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Ohio State University in 2012, where her research centered on mechanobiology of tumor and tumor microenvironment. Her current research includes understanding the role of structural mechanics of the extra cellular matrix as well as other stromal components in tumor microenvironment on cancer cell dissemination and metastasis.
Qinqin Fei , Pharm D. student, Pharmacy
Tricia Oyster, Ph.D. student, Biomedical Engineering
Tricia received her Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in 2017 and is a PhD student in the biomedical engineering department. She is currently evaluating nanoparticle delivery for treatment of ventilator induced lung injury.
Basia Gabela-Zuniga, Ph.D. student, Biomedical Engineering
Basia received her Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from the University of California, Merced in 2017. She is currently a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering department in Dr. Ghadiali’s lab. Basia is researching how hemorrhagic shock and oxidative stress may increase susceptibility to ventilation induced lung injury and how micro RNA therapies targeting specific cell types could alleviate that injury.
Jon Fritz, Ph.D. student, Biophysics
Celine Ertin, B.S. student, Biomedical Engineering
Jordan Peiffer, B.S. student, Biomedical Engineering
Past Students:
Justo Juvian Torres-Rodriguez, Ph.D. student
Justo’s research seeks to find ways to diagnose middle ear pressure regulation (Eustachian tube) problems that lead to middle ear inflammation and other complications. He is also working to identify the critical and internal biomechanics that determine good pressure regulation and fluid clearance function. Since there are no viable ways to perform these experiments in vivo without disrupting the physiological geometries and forces, he uses fluid and structure computational simulations of the system geometry with known tissue material properties to study how certain internal muscle forces and tissue stiffnesses influence middle ear function.
Christopher Bobba, M.D.-Ph.D. student
Chris is a 5th year student in the Medical Scientist Training Program. He is investigating the importance of the alveolar macrophage in initiating the lung pro-inflammatory response during ventilator induced lung injury. His studies include 1) epithelial cell-alveolar macrophage co-culture models of the alveolus, using both primary human and immortalized cell lines, 2) in vivo models of ventilator induced lung injury, and 3) ex vivo models of ventilator induced lung injury. Recent studies have identified a microRNA that may mediate the pro-inflammatory response seen during ventilator induced lung injury in the alveolar macrophage.
Youjin Cho, M.D.-Ph.D. student
Youjin received her Bachelors of Science in Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University in 2014. She is a 4th year student in Medical Scientist Training Program with her PhD training in Biomedical Engineering program. She is investigating the role of biomechanics in cancer progression, metastasis and drug resistance.
Natalia Higuita-Castro, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering & Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University
Jen Malik, Ph.D. – Post-doctoral fellow, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Chris Chang, M.S. – M.D. candidate class of 2022, University of Cincinnati
Kevin Nelson, Ph.D. – Process Development Engineer, Nanofiber Solutions Inc.
Leo Volakis, Ph.D. – Research Scientist, Vapotherm