PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Jonathan Rivnay | jrivnay@northwestern.edu
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.
Post docs
Bryan Paulsen
bryan.paulsen@northwestern.edu
Bryan received his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Minnesota, his MA in Social Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago, and BS in Chemical Engineering from Tri-State University. His doctoral research, under the supervision of Prof. C. Daniel Frisbie, focused on the electrical and electrochemical properties of pi-conjugated polymers for transistor and photovoltaic applications. In the Rivnay Lab, Bryan studies the structure-property relationships that determine ionic charge transport, electronic charge transport, and ion-electronic coupling in organic mixed conductors, leveraging the characterization resources of both Northwestern University and the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Labs. Concurrent with his work at Northwestern, Bryan is in formation to become a Roman Catholic priest as a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Reem Rashid
ReemRashid2022@u.northwestern.edu
Reem earned a B.S. in Bioengineering with a minor in Electrical Engineering in 2017 from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and is member of Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honor society. During her time as an undergraduate she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Ali Yanik’s lab in the department of Electrical Engineering focusing on microfluidics for biomedical applications. Her senior thesis had her exploring how shear stress in fluidic systems affect formation/adhesion of biofilms. She joined Northwestern as a PhD student in 2017. Her current research focuses on design and fabrication of biomedical devices that integrate novel organic electronic materials and organic electrochemical transistors. Specifically, working on devices for neurological applications. In her free time she likes to run and read.
Rebecca Keate
RebeccaKeate2025@u.northwestern.edu
Rebecca graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2019 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Physics. During her undergraduate career, Rebecca researched under Dr. Jennifer Curtis in the Physics Department. Her undergraduate project focused on understanding the physical influence of cell-bound hyaluronan polymers in regulating cellular processes such as cell adhesion and migration. Rebecca’s primary interests are cell-material interactions and regenerative medicine. In the Rivnay Lab, Rebecca’s current research focuses on understanding the potential of conducting polymers to facilitate tissue repair/regeneration. Specifically, she is currently exploring the use of conducting polymers in promoting bone regeneration. During her spare time, she likes to run and read.
Xudong Ji
xudong.ji@northwestern.edu
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.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Ruiheng Wu
ruihengwu2023@u.northwestern.edu
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. His thesis is about the laser cutting setups and its application on the restoration of skin with freckles or scars. Ruiheng joined Northwestern as a chemistry Ph.D student in 2018. Now he focuses on different kinds of spectroscopy techniques, including UV-Vis, Raman, GIWAXS, EXAFS and XRFs. Through different characterizing methods, people can get a better understanding of the structural changes between the doping and dedoping states of conducting polymers. His research is mainly focusing on PEDOT:PSS now and will move to other kinds of OECT materials in the near future. Ruiheng loves photography, world history and literature in his spare time. Especially, he is a crazy fan about classical art.
Dilara Meli
dmeli@u.northwestern.edu
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.
Joshua Tropp
Joshua.tropp@northwestern.edu
Joshua earned his PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering in 2020 from the University of Southern Mississippi. His doctoral research, under the supervision of Prof. Jason D. Azoulay, focused on the design and synthesis of pi-conjugated polymers for various sensing applications. In the Rivnay Lab, his current studies focus on the development of novel materials for biosensing, regenerative engineering, and other bioelectronic applications. In his spare time, he likes to read, drink coffee, and competitively powerlift.
Emily Schafer
EmilySchafer2023@u.northwestern.edu
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 under Dr. Dmitry Markov and Dr. Lisa McCawley. Emily's work in the lab is focused on developing biochemical sensors using organic electrochemical transistors 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 cat, Olly.
Scott Beard
scottbeard2025@u.northwestern.edu
Scott earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering in 2020 from the Iowa State University. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and is member of Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honor society. During his time as an undergraduate he worked as a research assistant in Dr. Meng Lu’s lab in the department of Electrical Engineering focusing on an integrated optical method for PCR procedure and analysis. He joined Northwestern as a PhD student in 2020. He hopes to utilize OECTs to bring electronics closer to the biological interface. His work at Northwestern focuses on closed-loop and neuromorphic systems utilizing OECTs for diagnostics and treatment. In his spare time, he enjoys getting immersed in fantasy worlds through gaming and books.