Jonathan earned his B.Sc. in 2006 from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY). He then moved to Stanford University (Stanford, CA) where he earned a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering studying structure and electronic transport properties of organic electronics materials. In 2012, he joined the Dept. of Bioelectronics at the Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne in France as a Marie Curie post-doctoral fellow, working on conducting polymer based devices for bioelectronic recording and stimulation. Jonathan spent 2015-2016 as a member of the research staff at the Palo Alto Research Center (Palo Alto, CA) before joining the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University in 2017.

Xudong earned his B.Eng. in Thermal Science and Energy Engineering in 2014 from University of Science and Technology of China and worked on microfluidic-based blood cell separation. He then moved to Dr. Paddy Chan’s group in The University of Hong Kong and worked on organic bioelectronics. He has been focused on the fabrication and characterization of both organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) and organic field effect transistor (OFET), fabrication of biosensors through surface bio-functionalization of metal electrode in transistors as well as utilization of non-volatile OECT for neuromorphic devices in his doctoral study. After received his Ph.D. degree in 2019, He joined the Rivnay Lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University. His current research focuses on the fabrication of biochemical sensors based on aptamer functionalized OECT as well as the design of organic/inorganic hybrid circuits. In his spare time, he likes to play basketball and go to the gym.

Giovanni Maria Matrone (Gianmaria) received his Master’s degree in Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology at the Politecnico of Milan in 2015. During his studies he spent a term as a visiting student at Imperial College London. In April 2016, he joined the Innovative Training Network (ITN) named INterFaces in Opto-electRonic Thin Film Multilayer Devices (INFORM) as an EarlyStageResearcher (ESR). He was also a PhD student supervised by Prof. Natalie Stingelin at Imperial College London, his host institution. He performed secondments at University of Bayreuth, Technion University of Israel and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He defended his PhD thesis ( “Understanding structure-property relationship of bulk hetero-junction polymer-fullerene blends”) in September 2019. Soon after, in October 2019, he joined the Tissue Electronics Laboratory at the IIT Naples as postdoctoral researcher focusing on neuromorphic electronics devices with neurotransmitter-mediated plasticity. In the frame of an ongoing institutions collaboration, he then moved to Eindhoven University of Technology expanding his research towards neuromorphic spiking circuit. He joined the Rivnay Lab in September 2022. His current research focuses on the design of OECT-based spiking circuit for sensory coding and neuromorphic computing applications. In his free time, he likes running/hiking, playing video-games/ board-games and reading fantasy/sci-fi books.

Abijeet has an interdisciplinary background in both Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences. He earned his Doctorate degree from University of Dayton, Ohio under the supervision of Prof. Amit Singh and Prof. Panagiotis A. Tsonis, during which he received graduate showcase award for outstanding Ph.D. research and award of excellence for teaching undergraduate students. The focus of his PhD research was to characterize novel regeneration genes from newt (Notophthalmus viridescence) using Drosophila as a genetic tool. To his surprise he found that these genes can regulate conserved pathways to trigger a robust restoration of missing tissue in Drosophila eye model with weak regeneration potential. Post Ph.D. he did two years of postdoc in Prof. Min Zhao’s Bioelectronics lab at University of California, Davis (UCD), during which he inspected endogeneous bioelectric fields to facilitate cell migration, induce proliferation of peripheral nerves, and improve wound healing. In the lab of Dr. Jonathan Rivnay his current study focuses on the engineering and validation of biohybrid tissue electronics to promote tissue repair, specifically peripheral nerve regeneration. In spare time he likes to read, play cricket, ride bike, backpacking, and photography.

Abhijith started his engineering journey during his undergrad at TKMCE, Kollam. He primarily focused on robotics, developing co-operating robots, self-balancing robots, and speech recognition. He launched his research career during his master’s in Nanotechnology at NIT Karnataka under the supervision of Prof. Anandhan Srinivasan. He worked on developing highly porous electro-spun polymer gel electrolytes for Li ion and Na ion batteries. Later he moved to a highly interdisciplinary team at NTU Singapore, working on various kinds of materials such as perovskites and organic semiconductors under the supervision of Prof. Leong Wei Lin. Thanks to the vibrant colleagues, he prolifically collaborated with various research teams and worked on developing photodetectors, OFETs, OECTs, and neuromorphic devices. He earned his PhD for revealing the fundamentals of ionic liquid doping for enhancing solid state OECT (SSOECT) performance. In Rivnay lab, he is working on an implantable ‘living pharmacy’ called NTRAIN (Normalizing Timing of Rhythms Across Internal Networks of Circadian Clocks) that focuses on controlling body’s sleep/wake cycles.

Ruiheng earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry with a minor in Math in 2018 from Peking University. Ruiheng was a member of Prof. Junrong Zheng’s lab and spent a lot of time on ultrafast laser spectroscopy and different microscope systems. Ruiheng joined Northwestern as a chemistry Ph.D student in 2018. Now he focuses on different kinds of characterization techniques, including EQCM, UV-Vis, Raman, GIXS, XPCS, XRF, EM and AFM. Through different characterizing methods, people can get a better understanding of the structure property relationships of different conjugated polymers. His research is mainly focusing on acid treated PEDOT:PSS and also explores other novel OMIEC materials. Ruiheng loves photography, world history and road trip in his spare time. Especially, he is a crazy fan about classical art. He has a personal website: https://edbalt.com/.

Hanie (She/Her/Hers) is an Iranian-Canadian NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University. She identifies as a biotech researcher, mentor, and entrepreneur. Hanie holds a BSc and an MSc in Chemical Engineering. Hanie earned her PhD degree (in Pharmaceutical Sciences) from the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Shana Kelley where she built reagentless electrochemical systems for infectious disease diagnostics. She co-founded a startup, Arma Biosciences, in 2020 to take this technology to the market. Hanie has mentored over 20 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and is a proponent of teamwork (published with 50+ co-authors). She is an advocate for equitable personalized health for everyone and is exploring opportunities for building affordable and scalable diagnostics technologies.

Rachel graduated from Fordham University in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemistry. During her time as an undergraduate, Rachel researched under Dr. Ipsita Banerjee where she developed peptide-based nanoparticles for applications in tissue regeneration. Rachel joined Northwestern’s Biomedical Engineering PhD program in 2021. Her current research interests involve the development of hybrid conductive nerve allografts with incorporated thin-film electronics for applications in neural tissue monitoring and regeneration. In her spare time, she likes to play board games, read, and rock climb.

Isaiah Daniel Duplessis earned his B.S. degrees in Phtiscs and Chemistry from the University of Richmond in 2020. During his undergraduate career his research focused on cross-coupling catalysts. Joining the Materials Science and Engineering department in 2020 his current work focuses on adapting conductive oxide materials for use in bioelectronics. His hobbies are following the NBA, playing fighting games with his friends, and listening to pop and house music.

Rosalba graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a B.S. in Materials Engineering. During her undergraduate studies, Rosie researched under Dr. Konstantin Sobolev to optimize the properties of concrete and researched ways to improve and tune the electronic and magnetic properties of cement pastes. In the summers of '22 & '23 she worked as a research aide for Dr. Valentine Novosad at Argonne National Laboratory to explore transition metal nitride thin films and fabricate superconducting device architectures. Now in the Rivnay lab, her work is focused on characterizing the properties of mixed ionic/electronic conductors under the supervision of Dr. Lincoln Lauhon. In her spare time, she loves to dance, use microscopy for art, and cook new recipes.

Victoria graduated from the University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign in 2023 with a B.S. in Bioengineering. During her undergraduate career, Victoria worked in Dr. Rashid Bashir's Laboratory of Integrated Biomedical Micro/Nanotechnology and Applications. She worked with microfluidics-based point-of-care diagnostics devices for the detection of various conditions including sepsis, COVID-19, Zika, and breast cancer. Victoria's primary interests are using electrochemical aptamer-based biosensors for diagnostics purposes in implantable devices. She is currently exploring the chemistry involved in creating anti-fouling surfaces to improve the longevity of the sensors in biological environments. In her free time, she likes to paint, knit, and bake.

Zachary graduated from Lehigh University in 2021 with a B.S. in Integrated Natural Science and Engineering. During his time as an undergraduate, Zach researched under Dr. Julie Haas where he studied connections in the brain and developed computer models for networks of neurons. Zach joined Northwestern’s Biomedical Engineering PhD program in 2022. His current research interests involve the development of neuromorphic circuits and synaptic OECTs. In his spare time, he likes to hike, read, and play board games and video games.

Chloe earned her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering with a double major in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2022. In her undergraduate years, Chloe researched under Dr. Tzahi Cohen-Karni designing and optimizing electrodes for nerve regeneration applications. Chloe joined Northwestern’s Biomedical Engineering M.S. program in 2022. In the Rivnay lab, her work is focused on improving the longevity of electrochemical aptamer-based sensing platforms. In her free time, she loves to bake, run, and read.

Junyi graduated from University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2023 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and a double major in Chemistry. His undergraduate research focused on computational phase field modelling and designing piezoelectric materials under Dr. Jiamian Hu. Junyi joined the Rivnay Group as a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering in 2023. His current work involves the materials design and fabrication of in-vivo oxygenation devices for applications such as life support and wound recovery. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, biking, playing badminton, board games and video games with friends.

Dilara earned a B.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2020. During her undergraduate she worked on many projects across various fields. Most notably, she researched the mechanical properties of rotationally symmetric kirigami springs for conformable joint monitoring platforms during her time in the Shtein lab. She joined Northwestern as a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering in 2020. Now her work is centered around investigating the structure-property relations of mixed ionic/electronic conductors. Specifically, she is currently researching ion-trapping in non-volatile OECTs. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, backpacking, and trying new vegan recipes.

Emily is from Grand Rapids, Michigan and earned her B.E. in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University in 2018. She worked for 3 years at the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) doing research on microfluidics and organ-on-chip devices. Emily joined the lab as a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering in fall of 2018. Her work in the lab combines the fields of bioelectronics and synthetic biology to develop biochemical sensors to measure ions and neurotransmitters. Her research interests center around using organic bioelectronic platforms in neural engineering to improve in vivo electrical and neurochemical recordings. In her free time she likes reading, playing and coaching field hockey, backpacking, and hanging out with her cats, Olly and Kickflip.

Beliz earned her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023. During first two years of her undergrad, she worked in Coskun Lab at Georgia Tech on spatial organizations of cells. Later, she joined Stingelin Lab at Georgia Tech, where she worked with hybrid hydrogels to study their structure-property relationship and mechanical properties until she graduated. She joined Northwestern as a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Engineering in 2023. Her research in the lab focuses on lipid-bilayer sensing. In her free time, she enjoys playing instruments, singing and photographing.

John earned his MS and BS from Northwestern in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Manufacturing and Design Engineering, respectively. His passion for creative cutting-edge health and medical technology led him to the Rivnay Group, where he develops advanced microfabricated sensors that can be used to interrogate physiology in lab-grown tissues. Outside of lab, he enjoys athletics, producing 90’s-inspired house and techno music, and reading.

Xinran graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2021 with a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering. During her graduate career, Xinran researched under Dr. Shiyi Zhang where she worked on skin tissue injury repair and translated the results to a therapeutic solution for the patients. She joined Northwestern as a PhD student in 2021. Currently, Xinran is exploring how conductive materials can be used for biohybrid actuator stimulation and sensing. During her spare time, she enjoys backpacking, dancing, baking, and cooking. She has an adorable Pomsky Bubble!

Shiv Patel is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He joined the Rinvay Research Lab because he enjoys the creative, hands-on nature of the chemistry lab. In his own words, he likes to “explore with chemicals.” His research interests include novel fabrication techniques for conductive particles and composites for bioelectronics. In his spare time, he enjoys working out, reading books, and playing with his dog Prince.

Manideep Reddy is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He joined the Rinvay Research Lab because of the versatility of bioelectronics in therapeutics and patient care. His research interests include biodegradable polymers for bioelectronics and the use of polymers for generating tissue. In his spare time, he enjoys running, playing soccer, and watching movies.

Chris is a fourth-year BS/MS student studying Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering, respectively. He is passionate about developing bioelectronic sensors that can improve preventive health diagnositcs and monitoring in both clinical and at-home settings, and his background includes electronic design, signal processing, biosensors, and more. Current research involves developing novel OECT biochemical sensors under the mentorship of Xudong Ji, eventually to complete a BS Honor’s Thesis by the end of Spring 2024. Outside of research, Chris is very active in the Northwestern and Chicago dance communities and enjoys exploring the city.