People

Danielle Benoit

Lorry Lokey Chair of the Department of Bioengineering, Knight Campus

Danielle Benoit is the inaugural Lorry Lokey Chair of the Department of Bioengineering. Her research specializes in the rational design of polymeric materials for regenerative medicine and drug delivery applications. Dr. Benoit’s work has provided insights into the translation of tissue engineering strategies for bone allograft repair, development of pH-responsive nanoparticles for nucleic acid and small molecule delivery, and novel targeting strategies for bone-specific delivery of therapeutics.

Benoit received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington in the Department of Bioengineering. She holds a B.S. from the University of Maine, Orono, in Biological Engineering.

Before joining the Knight Campus, Benoit served as the University of Rochester’s William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Materials Science Program. An award-winning researcher, teacher, and mentor, she is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society, as well as an Associate Editor for Science Advances and the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B.

As chair, Benoit plays an instrumental role in continued development of the Department of Bioengineering, including shaping and maturing the research and educational portfolio, coordinating fundraising, outreach, and alumni and industry relations, and hiring of approximately 15 new faculty as Phase 2 of the Knight Campus is completed. These efforts will be critical to advancing the Knight Campus mission of translating research discoveries into innovations to improve the human condition.

Postdoctoral Scholars and Research Staff

 

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Tayler Hebner

Tayler Hebner joined the Benoit Lab at the Knight Campus in January of 2022 as a postdoctoral scholar. Her research is focused on using active polymeric materials for regenerative tendon healing. Hebner earned her Ph.D. as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2022 under advisement of Prof. Christopher Bowman and Prof. Timothy White. Her Ph.D. work focused on the connecting fundamental structure-property relationships to targeted functional design of liquid crystalline elastomers.

Guilherme Rocha

Ph.D. from São Paulo State University (Brazil). Currently: Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester. Research Interests: Development of polymeric drug delivery systems for applications in dentistry.

Jared Mereness

Jared Mereness is a senior scientist at the University of Rochester.  He joined the Benoit lab in April of 2019 as a postdoctoral associate.  His research focuses on the development and utilization of a salivary gland microphysiological system for radioprotective drug discovery.  Mereness earned his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 2019, and his M.S. in Bioinformatics from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2013 under the advisement of Prof. Thomas Mariani.  His work included identification of novel biomarkers for bronchopulmonary dysplasia and identifying the role of collagen 6 in lung development and function.

Vigneshkumar Rangasami

Vigneshkumar Rangasami joined the Benoit lab for therapeutic biomaterials in April 2023. Vignesh completed his M.S. in Medical Sciences (Molecular Medicine major) from Uppsala University, Sweden in 2015 and PhD in Biomedical engineering and sciences from Tampere University, Finland in 2022. His research work in the Benoit lab focuses on developing polymer-based drug delivery systems for bone healing.

Nate Fox

Nate joined the Benoit and Willett labs as a research assistant in August of 2023. Nate received his Bachelor’s degree in in Biology from DePauw University and his Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Immunology from Ball State University. After graduation, Nate worked as a Research Assistant studying T cell & cancer immunotherapies in the Tumor Microenvironment Lab at the Earle A. Chiles Cancer Research Institute at Providence Portland. Nate also has experience in industry as a Product Development Scientist for Flow Cytometry antibodies and reagents for Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Graduate Students

 

Ella Adjei-Sowah

Ella Adjei-Sowah joined the Benoit lab in June 2021 as a PhD Student. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, after which she earned a masters degree is biomedical engineering as a Mastercard scholar from Arizona State University in 2020. Her research is focused on using peptide-functionalized nanoparticles as a drug delivery system to target musculoskeletal tissues like the tendon.

Kevin Ling

Kevin Ling, Ph.D. Candidate, joined the Benoit Lab in July 2021. He completed his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida in 2020, and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester in 2022. His research is focused on leveraging the advantages of engineered biomaterials and microfluidic devices to develop in vitro models of the outer retinal blood barrier.

Alyson March

Alyson March, Ph.D. Candidate, joined the Benoit Lab in June 2020. She completed her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut in 2019, and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester in 2021. Aly received an honorable mention for the 2021 NSF GRFP and was a Chemistry and Biology Interface T32 fellow from 2020-2022. Her research investigates biochemical cues in poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels to promote host tissue integration within the tissue-engineered periosteum to improve bone allograft healing. Aly is an active member in the graduate community, and has received the Donald M. and Janet C. Barnard Fellowship, BME Graduate Student Service award, and BME Graduate Student Diversity and Inclusion award.

Emily Murphy

Emily Murphy joined the Benoit lab in May 2023 as a PhD Student.  She completed her BA in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at University of Colorado Boulder in 2016.

Cameron Moore

Cameron Moore joined the Benoit Lab in March of 2023 as a research assistant and will pursue their Ph.D. at the Knight Campus starting in the fall of 2023. Their research interests include designing responsive polymeric nanoparticles as drug-delivery systems and applying the principles of green chemistry in developing future therapeutic biomaterials. Cameron earned their B.S. and B.A. at The Evergreen State College in June 2022 with an interdisciplinary education in both biochemistry and physical chemistry.

 

Undergraduate Researchers

 

Alexandra Aeschliman

Alexandra Aeschliman joined the Benoit lab in February 2023. Her research focus is developing polymeric drug delivery systems for bone healing. She is an undergraduate at the University of Oregon and the Clark Honors College studying Biochemistry and Bioengineering.

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Marcus Mullen

Marcus is an undergraduate researcher studying Biochemistry and researching materials design for regenerative tendon healing.