Spring 2024
Daniel Hernandez, an undergraduate researcher in the Kraft lab, was awarded the Marchoe Dill Northern Scholarship! Congratulations Daniel!
Apurva Godbole has successfully defended her Ph.D.thesis entitled, "A Noninvasive Screening Tool for Cell Fate Determination Using Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning in Tissue Engineering and Microbiology Applications"! Congratulations Dr. Godbole!
Fall 2023
Sonji Lamichhane has passed the Preliminary Examination. Congratulations Sonji!
Apurva Godbole has completed her summer internship at Merck & Co and has returned to our lab. Welcome back Apurva!
Professor Mary Kraft has been promoted to Full Professor!
Summer 2023
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for receiving a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (NRSA F31) from the United States National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This prestigious fellowship is designed to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research. Great job Melanie!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole for receiving a 2023 - 2024 3M Corporate Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering! 3M Corporate Fellowships are made possible by gifts to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the 3M Corporation. Outstanding job Apurva!
Apurva Godbole will be an Analytical Research and Development Intern at Merck & Co in Kenilworth, NJ during the summer semester. Congratulations Apurva!
Spring 2023
Congratulations to Christian Sarol for graduating with his B.S. in Bioengineering! We'll miss you Christian! Best of luck in your new job as an Environmental Protection Engineer at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency!
Fall 2022
Melanie Brunet has won the Second Place Poster Presentation Award for her poster presentation entitled, "Depth correction of 3D NanoSIMS images show intracellular lipid and cholesterol distributions while capturing the effects of differential sputter rate," at the 2022 Graduate Research Symposium in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Great job Melanie! You' re really cleaning up the presentation awards!
Melanie Brunet received the Excellence in Biointerfaces Poster Award for her poster presentation entitled, "Depth correction of 3D NanoSIMS images show intracellular lipid and cholesterol distributions while capturing the effects of differential sputter rate" at the 2022 International Conference on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS 23) in Minneapolis, MN. Great job Melanie!
Melanie Brunet has won the First Place Poster Award at the AVS Prairie Chapter's Fall 2022 Symposium for her poster presentation entitled, "Depth Correction of 3D NanoSIMS Images Show Intracellular Lipid and Cholesterol Distributions While Capturing the Effects of Differential Sputter Rate". Congratulations Melanie!
Congratulations to Sonji Lamichhane for successfully passing the Research Qualifying Examination. Outstanding job Sonji!
Summer 2022
The Kraft lab says goodbye to PhD graduate, Dr. Brittney Gorman, who is starting a Postdoctoral Researcher position at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Best of luck Brittney! We're going to miss you!
Congratulations to Brittney Gorman for successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Tools for Imaging Intracellular Lipid Distributions with High-Resolution Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry"! Dr. Brittney Gorman was hooded by Prof. Mary Kraft at the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on Dec 17, 2022. Congratulations Brittney!
Melanie Brunet is the recipient of the 2022 - 2023 AT Widiger Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering! Keep up the great work Melanie!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole for receiving a 2022 - 2023 3M Corporate Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering! 3M Corporate Fellowships are made possible by gifts to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the 3M Corporation. Outstanding job Apurva!
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for receiving a 2022 - 2023 DuPont Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering! The DuPont Science and Engineering Fellowship is awarded from the DuPont Science and Engineering Endowment given to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Outstanding job Melanie!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole for winning 1st Place for her oral research presentation entitled, "Development of a microarray platform to noninvasively screen blood stem cell fate using Raman spectroscopy and machine learning" at the Chinese American Chemical Society Great Lakes Chapter (GLCACS) 24th Annual Conference in Abbott Park, IL. Outstanding job Apurva!
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for receiving a 2022 School of Chemical Sciences Graduate Teaching Award! Great job Melanie!
Spring 2022
The Kraft lab says goodbye to PhD graduate, Dr. Isamar Pastrana-Otero, who is starting as a Process Development Scientist II at Nitto Avecia. Best of luck Isamar! We'll miss you!
Congratulations to Isamar Pastrana-Otero for successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Development of Single-Cell Raman Spectroscopy for Noninvasively Screening the Differentiation of Living Stem and Progenitor Cells in Biomaterial Platforms for 2D and 3D Cell Culture"! Dr. Isamar Pastran-Otero was hooded by Prof. Mary Kraft on May 15, 2022. Congratulations Isamar!
The Kraft lab has begun an exciting new project on the development of new bioimaging tools for microalgae! We will collaborate with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on this project. Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Apurva Godbole has been selected as a 2022 Research Live Finalist! Research Live is campus-wide competition for the best 3-minute research talk that is open to graduate students in all disciplines at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Outstanding job Apurva!
Fall 2021
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for passing the preliminary examination! Outstanding job Melanie!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole for passing the preliminary examination! Outstanding job Apurva!
Brittney Gorman presented an invited talk entitled, High-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) imaging of intracellular lipid distributions, on December 1, 2021 in the ASBMB Lipid Research Division Seminar Serie. Brittney's talk was advertised in ASBMB Today. Outstanding job Brittney!
Brittney Gorman has received a Southeast Regional Lipid Conference Presentation Award for her talk, High-resolution Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) Imaging of Intracellular Lipid Distributions, at the 55th Southeastern Regional Lipid Conference (SERLC) in Asheville NC on November 19, 2021. Great job Brittney!
Apurva Godbole has won Second Place Poster Presentation Award for her poster presentation entitled, Raman Spectroscopy and Multivariate Analysis for Noninvasive Determination of Cell Phenotype in Hydrogel Cultures, at the 2021 Graduate Research Symposium in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering on October 8, 2021. Great job Apurva!
First-year Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering graduate student Sonji Lamichhane is the newest member of the Kraft lab! Sonji joins us after earning a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico. Welcome Sonji!
Brittney Gorman has received an AVS Student Poster Award for her poster presentation, Depth Correction and Height Estimation for 3D SIMS Depth Profiling Images, at the 2021 Prairie Chapter AVS Annual Symposium that was held virtually on September 9, 2021. Outstanding job Brittney!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole for receiving a AT Widiger Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering for the 2021-2022 academic year! Outstanding job Apurva!
Summer 2021
The Kraft lab welcomes undergraduate researcher, Christian Sarol to the lab. Christian will be mentored by Brittney Gorman.
Fall 2020
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for winning a Prairie Chapter Student Poster Award for her poster entitled, "Development of a Topographic z-Correction Algorithm for 3D Depth NanoSIMS images," at the 2020 AVS Prairie Chapter Virtual Symposium on September 14, 2020. Outstanding job Melanie!
Congratulations to Apurva Godbole and Melanie Brunet for successfully passing the Research Qualifying Examination. Great job Apurva and Melanie!
Summer 2020
Congratulations to Sayani Majumdar for successfully defending her final Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Single-Cell Analysis of Niche-Mimetic Platforms Using Raman Microspectroscopy"! Great job Sayani!
Congratulations to Isamar Pastrana-Otero for receiving a 2020 - 2021 3M Corporate Fellowship from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at UIUC. 3M Corporate Fellowships are made possible by gifts to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the 3M Corporation. Outstanding job Isamar!
Susan Pham has graduated with a Masters of Science in Chemistry! Susan will be starting a new position as an Applications Chemist at CEM Corporation in Charlotte, NC. Congratulations Susan! Best of luck in your future endeavors!
Congratulations to Melanie Brunet for being appointed to the University of Illinois's Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program (CBI TP) for the 2020-2021 academic year! This is a highly prestigious award that recognizes students of exceptional promise. Outstanding job Melanie!
Spring 2020
Congratulations to Daphne Shen for graduating with her B.S. in Chemical Engineering! We'll miss you Daphne! Best of luck in graduate school!
Sayani Majumdar has received a Spring 2020 Conference Travel Award from the Graduate College at UIUC in order to present a poster, "Monitoring fate specification of hematopoietic stem cells on niche‐mimetic platforms using Raman microspectroscopy" at the Biomedical Engineering Society Cellular and Molecular Engineering Conference in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico in January 2020. Congratulations Sayani!
Isamar Pastrana-Otero has received a Spring 2020 Hanratty Travel Award from the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at UIUC. Isamar will use this travel award to present a poster entitled, "Identifying the state of differentiation of liver progenitor cells mediated by TGFbeta1 on cellular microarrays with Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis" at the Biomedical Engineering Society Cellular and Molecular Engineering Conference in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico in January 2020. Congratulations Isamar!
Fall 2019
Brittney Gorman has passed her preliminary examination. Congratulations Brittney!
Congratulations to Daphne Shen for winning the WCC Outstanding Poster Award for her poster presentation, "Development of High-Pressure Freezing/Freeze Substitution Methods to Prepare Cells for Three-Dimensional Imaging with High-resolution SIMS" at the 4th Annual East Central Illinois American Chemical Society Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign on November 16, 2019. Outstanding job Daphne!
Professor Kraft has been named the Chien Family Professorial Scholar for her research on developing and using a chemically specific and spatially well-resolved imaging technique and high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Professor Kraft is also recognized for excellence in teachering and advising, dedication to enhancing diversity, and for playing a significant role in outreach and service to the department, the campus, and their respective professional disciplines.
First-year Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering graduate student, Apurva Godbole, is the newest member of the Kraft lab! Apurva joins us after earning a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Welcome Apurva!
First-year Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering graduate student, Melanie Brunet, is now an official member of the Kraft lab. Welcome Melanie!
Congratulations to Sayani Majumdar for winning the Audience Choice Award for her poster presentation, "Raman Microspectroscopy-Based Single-Cell Analysis of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Fate on Niche-Inspired Platforms" at the 4th Bioengineering and Translational Medicine Conference at Duke University in Durham, NC on October 7, 2019. Outstanding job Sayani!
Recent PhD graduate, Dr. Corryn Chini, is now an Adjunct Professor at Sinclair Community College. Corryn is teaching Introduction to Chemistry in the Fall 2019 semester. Congratulations, and best of luck Corryn!
Brittney Gorman and undergraduate researcher Daphne Shen presented the poster, "NanoSIMS techniques and probes for intracellular structures" at the 2019 AVS Prairie Chapter Symposium at the University of Illinois on September 5, 2019. Great job Brittney and Daphne!
Sayani Majumdar gave a poster presentation entitled "Profiling individual hematopoietic cells on biomaterial-based substrates with confocal Raman micro-spectroscopy" at the 2019 AVS Prairie Chapter Symposium at the University of Illinois on September 5, 2019. Excellent job Sayani!
Isamar Pastrana-Otero presented the poster, "Design, fabrication and characterization of Raman-compatible substrates that enable acquiring Raman spectra from individual cells on cell microenvironments" at
the 2019 AVS Prairie Chapter Symposium at the University of Illinois on September 5, 2019. Great job Isamar!
Materials chemistry graduate student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Susan Nguyen Pham, is now an official member of the Kraft lab. Welcome Susan!
Summer 2019
The Kraft lab welcomes Summer Predoctoral Institute participant and new incoming Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering graduate student, Melanie Brunet. Melanie earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez and a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Puerto Rico, Ponce. She will work with Brittney and Isamar during her research rotation this summer. Welcome Melanie!
Spring 2019
Congratulations to Corryn Chini for successfully defending her final Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Mass Spectrometry Methods for Imaging Cellular Lipids, Organelles, and Proteins"! Dr. Corryn Chini was hooded by Prof. Mary Kraft at the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 10, 2019. Congratulations Corryn!
Alumni update: Ashley Yeager (Ph.D. 2016) has graduated from medical school, completing the Medical Scholar Program MD/PhD program at UIUC. Congratulations Dr. Yeager! We're going to miss you!
Congratulations to Isamar Pastrana-Otero for passing her preliminary exam. Outstanding job Isamar!
Fall 2018
Alumni update: Dr. Vahid Mirshafiee (Ph.D. 2016) is now a Senior Process Development Engineer at Illumnia in San Diego, CA. Congratulations Vahid!
Congratulations to Brittney Gorman for winning a Student Poster Award for her poster, entitled, "Design of high-resolution SIMS probes to detect distinct organelles in parallel with lipids," at the 2018 American Vacuum Society (AVS) Prairie Chapter Symposium. The 2018 AVS Prairie Chapter Symposium was held on September 6, 2018 at the University of Chicago. Nice job Brittney!
Summer 2018
Congratulations to Sayani Majumdar for passing her preliminary exam. Great job Sayani!
Spring 2018
Isamar Pastrana-Otero has been selected as one of the Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) for the 2018‐
2019 academic year. This program is designed to facilitate the training for the next generation of great
engineering professors. Congratulations Isamar!
Congratulations to Isamar Pastrana-Otero for recieving an A.T. Widiger Fellowship in Chemical Engineering for the Summer 2018 semester. Great job Isamar!
Isamar Pastrana-Otero and Brittney Gorman have earned Honorable Mentions from the National Science Foundation for their Graduate Research Fellowship applications! Congratulations Isamar and Brittney! Keep up the outstanding work!
Summer 2017
Congratulations to Isamar for successfully passing both the CHBE Research and Quantitative Qualification exams! Great job Isamar!
Fall 2016
The Kraft lab says goodbye to recent PhD graduate, Dr. Yelena Ilin, who is starting a Process Engineer III position at Sanofi Genezyme. Best of luck Yelena! You will be missed!
Yelena Ilin has successfully defended her final Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Utilizing Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis to identify and monitor the differentiation states of individual stem cells". Congratulations Dr. Ilin!
First year Biophysics graduate student, Brittney Gorman, is now an official member of the Kraft lab. Welcome Brittney!
First year Chemical & Bbiomolecular Engineering graduate student, Isamar Pastrana-Otero, is now an official member of the Kraft lab. Welcome Isamar!
Congratulations to Sayani Majumdar for successfully passing the CHBE Research Qualification exam! Great job Sayani!
Summer 2016
Isamar Pastrana-Otero has received an Outstanding Research Award from the Summer Pre-Doctoral Institute (SPI) at the University of Illinois. Great job Isamar!
Diana Rodriguez has completed her summer research in our lab. She is returning to teach high school chemistry at the CROEM School in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. It was a pleasure to have you in our lab Diana!
The Kraft lab says goodbye to recent PhD graduate, Dr. Raehyun "Rayna" Kim, who is starting a new position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of North Carolina. She will be working in Prof. Nancy Allbritton's lab. Best of luck Rayna!
Diana Rodriguez presented a poster and gave a talk entitled, “Using gold nanoparticles for bioimaging cell membrane lipids in stroke-related ischemia” at the nano@illinois Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Symposium at UIUC on July 22, 2016. Nice job Diana!
Isamar Pastrana-Otero presented a poster entitled, “Label-free and noninvasive identification of 32D cells and mesenchymal stem cells using Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis” at the Illinois Summer Research Symposium at the I Hotel & Conference Center on July 21, 2016. Nice job Isamar!
The Kraft lab says goodbye to recent PhD graduate, Dr. Ashley Yeager. Ashley is continuing in the Medical Scholar Program at UIUC as a full-time student in medical school. Best of luck Ashley!
Raehyun "Rayna" Kim has successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis, entiled, "Investigating Sphingolipid Behavior and Function using Metabolic Labeling". Congratulations Dr. Kim!
Ashley Yeager has successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis, entitled, "Exploring the Roles of Key Lipids in the Influenza Life Cycle". Congratulations Dr. Yeager!
The Kraft lab says goodbye to recent PhD graduate Dr. Vahid Mirshafiee, who is starting a new position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology at University of California at Los Angeles. He will be working with Dr. Andre Nel and Dr. Tian Xia. Best of luck Vahid!
The Kraft lab welcomes new incoming graduate student, Isamar Pastrana-Otero, from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. She will be performing research with Yelena this summer. Welcome Isamar!
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