People

Principal Investigator

Jai Rudra

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is rudra-adjusted.pngDr. Jai Rudra’s current research interests include harnessing of molecular and structural chirality in biomaterials and understanding the influence of chirality on immune cell behavior for applications in vaccine development and regenerative immunology.

Postdoctoral Researchers

Paresh Shrimali, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Paresh joined the Rudra Lab as a postdoctoral research associate in October 2019. He completed his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India in 2019. His research interests include Biomaterial based Immunoengineering. In the Rudra Lab, his focus is to understand the mechanism of self-assembled peptide nanofiber uptake by immune cells and underlying innate immune mechanisms in order to maximize their translation potential for Immunotherapies and Vaccines. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and exploring new places.

Doctoral Candidates

Conor O’Neill

Doctoral Candidate

Conor graduated from Northwestern University in 2018, majoring in biomedical engineering and mathematics, and now investigates how applying block heterochirality patterns to self-assembling peptides impacts supramolecular assembly and vaccine efficacy. In his free time Conor enjoys playing rugby, running with his dog (Charlie), and watching baseball, football, and old movies with his cat (Cloud) and rabbit (Nibbler).

Zain Clapacs

Doctoral Candidate

Zain completed his BS in biomedical engineering at Purdue University in 2019 and now investigates supramolecular interactions in biomaterial scaffolds for regenerative medicine & drug delivery. In his free time Zain enjoys gardening and cooking.

Technicians

Jeremy Buck

Lab Manager

Jeremy Buck graduated from University of Missouri-Columbia in 2010 with a B.S. in Biology. He worked at Monsanto running PCR on corn and soybean to confirm the desired traits. After working at the McDonnell Genome Institute, where he performed next gen sequencing on DNA samples, he joined the Rudra lab in 2018. He assists other lab members in their research as well as oversees the day-to-day operations. In his free time he enjoys baking, video games, and lounging with his two cats Asa and Squiggles.

Darren Kim

Lab Technician

Darren has been a part of Rudra Lab since his undergraduate years and is continuing to work with Dr. Rudra after completing his Bachelors to prepare himself for further academic career. He is a big fan of gaming and often participates in tournaments when he is not doing research. If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it?

Undergraduate Researchers

Kadin Kristjansson

Visiting Undergraduate Scholar

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is kadin-adjusted.pngKadin Kristjansson is St. Louis native completing summer research at WashU while attending Smith College as an undergraduate.  She expects to graduate in 2024 with a double major in chemistry and Spanish.

Nakaja Weaver

MOLSAMP Undergraduate Researcher

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is nakaja-adjusted.pngNakaja is from New Jersey and part of MOLSAMP doing research at WashU for the summer. She attends Missouri State University and expects to graduate in 2024 with a degree in biochemistry.

Amanda Winkler

Undergraduate Researcher

  Amanda is a senior undergraduate biomedical engineering student at WashU. In her free time, Amanda enjoys cooking and running.

Cameron Bleem

Undergraduate Researcher

Senior undergraduate biomedical engineering student at Washington University. Appreciates both the arts and the sciences and is soon to pursue a Masters in biomedical engineering. If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it? If I add more text does that fix it?