Principal Investigator
Prof. Seth Fraden
Professor of Physics
Email: fraden@brandeis.edu
Phone: (781) 736-2888
Fax: (781) 736-2915
Scientist
Dr. John Berezney
Email: berezney@brandeis.edu
POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Dr. Wei-Shao Wei
Project: DNA Origami
Email: wswei@brandeis.edu
Wei-Shao is a postdoctoral associate in the Fraden Lab. Current research focuses on characterizing the kinetics of self-limited assembly of DNA origami, quantifying their block-block interactions, and exploring potential applications such as encapsulation. He holds a B.S. in Physics at National Taiwan University and earned his Ph.D. in Physics at University of Pennsylvania working with Prof. Arjun Yodh. During his doctoral work, he studied assembly and self-shaping behavior of liquid crystals (LCs) in confined environments and characterized dynamic properties of LC-mediated colloidal crystals. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, photography, and sketching.
Dr. Quang Tran
Project: Active matter
Email: quangtran@brandeis.edu
Quang joins the Fraden Group as a postdoctoral associate, working on cytoskeletal active matter. He obtained his PhD at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore with studies on biophysics of cells and tissues in vitro. He then pursued his first postdoc at multiple institutions in France including Institut de Physique de Nice, Pasteur Institute and Institut Jacques Monod, working on active soft matters and assembly of cytoskeletal proteins. Quang loves baking and hiking in his free time.
Dr. Pragya Arora
Project: Self assembly
Email: pragyaarora@brandeis.edu
Pragya did her PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, India. During her PhD, She aimed to explore the interplay of nature and the degree of activity, chirality, and deformability in glassy slowing down. The development of synthetic active matter systems that capture certain key features of living ones allows for a systematic investigation of how activity alters the transition from a fluid to a dense amorphous solid. To this end, she developed a model system of vertically vibrated granules, providing a controlled setting to explore this interplay. In my free time, Pragya likes to paint, sketch, meditate and explore new places to eat.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Rupam Saha
Project: DNA Origami
Email: rupamsaha@brandeis.edu
Rupam did his Bachelor in Physics from Scottish Church College affiliated to University of Calcutta and Master in Physics from University of Hyderabad. Currently, He is working on templated self assembly with the help of DNA origami. He is also the webmaster of Fraden Lab. Rupam loves mobile photography, exploring new places and does regular experiments with cooking.
Akshit Aggarwal
Project: Active Nematics
Email: akshitaggarwal@brandeis.edu
Akshit did his bachelor's in physics from the University of Delhi, followed by a master's from IIT Bombay. Starting with photosensitive robots as his first active matter system, now he is working on light-sensitive active nematics. Akshit loves collecting books more than reading them. He also enjoys watching anime and talking some history.
RECENTLY GRADUATED STUDENTS
- Dr. Zahra Zarei (2023)
- Dr. James Sheehy (2021)
- Dr. Maria Eleni Moustaka (2021)
- Dr. Ian Hunter (2021)
- Dr. S. Ali Aghvami (2020)
LAB ALUMNI
- Katsu Nishiyama (2023-25)
- Michael Stenach (2022-24)
- Olivia Leland
- Jonah Paasche-Orlow
- Dr. Nesrin Senbil, Postdoc
- Soshana Reich, Undergraduate student (2020-21)
- Max Cui-Stein, Undergraduate student (2020-21)
- Dr. Camille Girabawe, Grad Student (July 2011 - April 2017)
- Dr. Achini Opathalage, Grad Student (June 2010 - October 2015)
- Dr. Nate Tompkins, Grad Student (May 2010 - May 2015)
- Dr. Ning Li, Grad Student (May 2009 - February 2015)
- Dr. Sathish Akella, Grad student (June 2008 - August 2013)
- Dr. Michael Heymann, Grad Student (June 2008 - August 2013)
- Dr. Rafael A. Cabanas,Grad student (December 2008 - August 2013)
- Ruoshi Li, Undergraduate student (2017 - 2019)
- Fox Baudelaire, Undergraduate student (2019)
- Janelle Mabrey, Undergraduate student (Summer 2019)
- Aaron Jones, Undergraduate student (Summer 2019)
- Dr. Mike Norton, Postdoc (2016 - 2019)
- Chris Simonetti, Undergraduate student (2017 - 2019)
- Dr. Baptiste Blanc, Postdoc (2016 - 2019)
- Yanlin Li, Undergraduate student (2016 - 2018)
- Youssef Fahmy, Undergraduate student (2016 - 2018)
- Amanda Chisholm, Undergraduate student (2016 - 2017)
- Blake Langesley, Undergraduate student (2016 - 2018)
- Dr. Mohamed Amine Gharbi, Postdoc (2016 - 2017)
- Dr. Achini Opathalage, Grad student and postdoc (2010 - 2017)
- Rhiannon Flynn, UNC Wilmington, Undergraduate student (Summer 2017)
- Anne Okrah, Hampton Undergraduate student (Summer 2017)
- Dr. Nate Tompkins, Graduate student and Postdoctoral research fellow (May 2010 - July 2017)
- Matt Cambria, Undergraduate student (January 2013 - May 2015)
- Adam Wang, Undergraduate student (June 2013 - May 2015)
- Jacob Gold, Undergraduate student (June 2013 - May 2015)
- Chris Hong, Undergraduate student (May 2014 - May 2015)
- Dr. Dongshin Kim, Director of Microfluidics (January 2009 - February 2015)
- Dr. Ye Zhang, Postdoctoral fellow (2011 - 2014)
- Alex Mitchell, Undergraduate student (spring 2016 - May 2017)
- Remi Boros, Undergraduate student (fall 2015 - May 2017)
- Johnson Agyapong, Undergraduate student (fall 2016 - May 2017)
- Vardges Tserunyan, Undergraduate student (fall 2015 - May 2017)
- Jesse Held, Undergraduate student (fall 2015 - May 2017)
- Anna Kolstad, Princeton Undergraduate student (summer 2015)
- Austin Prince, Florida Undergraduate student (summer 2015)
- Dr. Evelyn Panagakou, Postdoctoral fellow
- Dr. Hector Octavio Gonzalez Ochoa, Postdoctoral fellow
- Dr. Frederic Gobeaux, Postdoctoral fellow
- Dr. Viatcheslav Berejnov, Postdoctoral fellow
- Dr. Eric Grelet, Postdoctoral fellow
- Dr. Emmanuel Belamie, Postdoctoral fellow
- Susan Okrah, Hampton undergrad
- Niya Wilkins, Hampton undergrad
- Ethan Chan, undergrad
- Arda Cam, undergrad
- Xiaotong Geng, undergrad
- Thomas Litschel, masters student
- Markus Ludwig, masters student
- Tianshu Liu, grad student
- Emily Peck, grad student
- Seila Selimovic, grad student
- Phil Fei Huang, grad student
- Jung Uk Shim, grad student
- Kirstin Purdy, grad student
- Ujitha Dassanayake, grad student
- Zvonimir Dogic, undergrad, grad student
- Marie Adams, grad student
- Jay Tang, grad student
- San Lin, grad student
- Mark Ospeck, grad student
- Ariel Hyre, undergrad
- Adam Ollanik, undergrad
- Flori Yellin, undergrad
- Aaron Mowitz, undergrad
- Korbinian Winkler, visitor
- Kyle Harrington, grad student