Our Team
Harikrishnan Parameswaran, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Hari is an Associate Professor in the department of Bioengineering at Northeastern University. He holds a Master’s and Ph.d. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University where he was mentored by Dr. Bela Suki and Dr. Kenneth Lutchen.
His current work is motivated by the need to understand why asthmatics remain susceptible to asthma attacks despite therapeutic intervention. Hari is the recipient of K99/R00 and R21 awards from the NIH and an early CAREER award from the NSF.
Outside of the lab, he spends most of his time with his five-year old son. He loves photography, everything automobile related, riding bikes, exploring the backroads of New England and plants.
Vasuretha Chandar
2nd Year Ph.D. Candidate | BioE | Molecular Cell & Tissue Engineering
Vasu joined Hari’s lab in Fall 2022. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2019, and worked as a Research Technician at Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC prior to joining the lab. Her strong interest in hands-on research and curiosity to understand the underlying principles of smooth muscle mechanobiology motivated her to join the team.
Her current work in the lab revolves around understanding the force maintenance capability of smooth muscle cells. She was awarded first-place for her talk at the 4th Annual BIOE Symposium (Jul 2023).
Outside of the lab, she enjoys painting, singing, playing board games & binge-watching Netflix shows.
Benjamin M Goykadosh
2nd Year Ph.D. Candidate | BioE | Biomechanics, Biotransport, and Mechanobiology
Benjie joined Hari’s lab in Fall 2022. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Physics from Yeshiva University. His keen interest to bridge the domains of biology and physics in order to solve complex problems in asthma motivated him to pursue his PhD in Hari’s lab.
His current work in the lab addresses how cells communicate over long distances contributing to enhanced disease progression at rates faster than previously thought. He was awarded third-place for his poster presentation at the 4th Annual BIOE Symposium (Jul 2023).
Outside of the lab, Benjie enjoys rock climbing, hiking, gardening and playing chess.
Our Alumni
Ryan R Jamieson Ph.D.
Ph.D. Student (2018-2023)
Ryan graduated from the lab in May 2023. His work was focused on the role of pathological collagen remodeling in the progression of airway hyperreactivity in asthma. He explored how macrophages can be used to reverse excessive deposition of collagen, a hallmark of fibrotic diseases. His recent paper was selected for the "APS select", the American Physiological society's collection of best physiology papers.
Ryan was the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award! He has also been awarded an abstract scholarship from the American Thoracic Society for best rated abstract. Currently, he is actively pursuing research positions in exploratory biological research in the pharmaceutical industry.
Suzanne E Stasiak Ph.D.
Ph.D. Student (2017-2022)
Suzie graduated from the lab in December 2022. Her work focused on understanding the mechanobiology of airway narrowing in Asthma. In her work, she uncovered the existence of a unique communication system among human smooth muscle cells that uses force to frequency modulate long-range calcium waves.
Suzie was the recipient of the college of engineering's best graduate student award for research in 2021! She was also awarded abstract scholarships from Biophysical Society & the American Thoracic Society. In the lab, she worked on micropatterning, traction force microscopy experiments, and numerical analysis. She is currently exploring life as a PhD grad with aspirations to join the Biotech industry with a fresh perspective.
Samuel R Polio Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow ( 2017-2019)
Sam holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. Sam joined Hari's lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2017. He was instrumental in setting up the lab and developing protocols for micropatterning extracellular matrix proteins. His work on the regulatory effect of ECM on intercellular connections between human airway smooth cells was published in Scientific Reports. Sam is currently a patent agent at Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, MA.
Diego Vargas Arango Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar from KU Leuven, Belgium (2019)
Diego Vargas holds a Masters and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University. While doing his postdoctoral training with Hans Van Oosterwyck, he spent a summer in our lab modeling the effects of substrate stiffness on force transfer pathways in smooth muscle cell ensembles. This work was published in the Biophysical Journal. Diego is currently a senior scientist at Dewpoint Therapeutics, Dresden, Germany
Ralston Augspurg
Undergraduate Researcher, Dept of Bioengineering
Ralston was a 4th year bioengineering student at Hari’s lab. During his time in the lab, he contributed significantly to Ryan’s research. Ralston was a recipient of the Spring 2021 PEAK Ascent award from Northeastern University for his research in the lab! He is currently an MD Candidate at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Nihal Bharath
Undergraduate Researcher, Dept of Bioengineering
Nihal was a 3rd year undergraduate student studying Bioengineering and Biochemistry with a concentration in Cell and Tissue Engineering. He aims to enter medical school after graduation. Outside of schoolwork and the lab, he works part-time as an emergency medical technician, volunteers at Boston Medical Center & enjoys rock climbing and playing volleyball.