meet the team

Get to know a little about the people behind the research.

Group photo with collaborators on July 28, 2024

Current team

Christopher COntag
Principal Investigator

A pioneer in molecular imaging, Dr. Contag also serves as the Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research at MSU will change the way the world thinks about biomedicine through developing new technologies and approaches for precision health and medicine to change how healthcare can be delivered to patients. Dr. Contag graduated from the University of Minnesota with both an undergraduate degree in biology and a Ph.D. in microbiology.

Roksana riddle
graduate student

Roksana is a PhD student in the Contag Lab, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Michigan State University. She specializes in engineering minimal genome bacteria as an endosymbiont chassis and plans to use this technology in treating liver cirrhosis. She enjoys foraging, brewing, and Dungeons and Dragons.

Ahmed Zarea
graduate student

Ahmed joined Michigan State University as a Ph.D. graduate student in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2022. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Biochemistry from Mansoura University in Egypt. Before starting graduate school, Ahmed worked as a research assistant at Michigan State University. His research focuses on engineering bacteria to serve as endosymbionts capable of delivering proteins and transcription factors to eukaryotic cells for therapeutic applications. Outside the lab, Ahmed enjoys soccer, snorkeling, hiking, and video games.

Tiffany rennells
undergraduate student

Tiffany is an undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Data Science. She is passionate about science and medicine and hopes to pursue a career in healthcare in the future. In her free time, she enjoys playing the flute in the school orchestra, reading and traveling.

xuan xie
graduate student

Xuan is a PhD candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology Program at MSU. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Sun Yat-sen University and an M.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from University of Southern California. In the lab, Xuan focuses on investigating the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 infection induces and exacerbates clotting disorders in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Outside of her research, Xuan enjoys reading, birdwatching and solving jigsaw puzzles.

Satyajit Hari Kulkarni
graduate student

Satya is a DVM-PhD student in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State. Originally from India, he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry with honors from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). In the lab, Satya engineers bacteria to function as quasiorganelles towards an in vivo tissue engineering platform. Outside of research, he enjoys basketball, running, watching movies, and baking sourdough bread.

Shakhlo Aminova
graduate student

Shakhlo is a graduate student in the Contag and Aguirre labs in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the role of extracellular vesicles in heart development, utilizing the heart organoid model pioneered in the Aguirre Lab. Previously, she worked in the Harada Lab, where she helped develop targeted extracellular vesicles for therapeutic applications. Outside the lab, Shakhlo enjoys traveling and hiking with her puppy.

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