Artzi Lab | From Bench to Bedside
Principal Investigator
Natalie Artzi is a HansjÓ§rg Wyss Associate Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School, Head of Structural Nanomedicine at Mass General Brigham's Gene and Cell Therapy Institute, Associate Institute Director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and Visiting Scientist at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT. Dr. Artzi is a biomedical scientist-engineer renowned for transformative contributions to structural nanomedicine and pioneering work on tissue- and cell-responsive materials. Dr. Artzi developed materials that activate based on chemical cues, enabling targeted drug delivery, and creating a novel "depot effect" where nanotherapeutics are released to neighboring cells to enhance immune therapy.
​
Dr. Artzi's program in tissue- and cell-responsive materials understands that personalized medicine can be applied to biomaterial design. Dr. Artzi has developed platforms that sense biological environments, enhance tissue repair, and report on tissue state. Her work has shown that material performance is contextual and that healing via implanted polymeric biomaterials is affected by inflammation or disease. Her lab has developed stable and potent immune modulatory nanostructures that activate target immune cells, enhance specificity and efficacy, shuttle drugs to specific organs, and interact with cancer and immune cells to modulate their phenotype. She also developed methodologies to track material erosion, drug distribution, and cell fate noninvasively.
​
Dr. Artzi has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the 2024 Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, the 2024 Clemson Award for Applied Research, and the mid-career award from the Society for Biomaterials. She was the inaugural recipient of the Kabiller Rising Star Award in Nanomedicine. Artzi is a Fellow of both the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Controlled Release Society, reflecting peer recognition of significant contributions to biomedical engineering and drug delivery technologies.
The Team
Instructors
Alexander Cryer, PhD
"Nanotechnology and drug delivery"
Alex is an instructor in cancer immunoengineering. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry (2014) and Masters in Biomedical Research (2015) prior to obtaining a Ph.D. from Imperial College London, U.K. (2019), focused on the development of nanoparticle drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. His current work centralizes around engineering therapeutic cancer vaccines and improving immunotherapy delivery using biomaterials and nanotechnology.
Postdoctoral fellows
Michelle Dion, PhD
"Immune Engineering and drug delivery"
Michelle received her PhD from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program. Her research interests are in nanotechnology, immune engineering, and drug delivery. Prior to graduate school, she worked at Genentech developing long-acting ocular drug delivery technologies and applying antibody engineering techniques for the optimization of ocular therapeutics. She received her S.B. in Chemical-Biological Engineering from MIT.
Eliz Amar-Lewis, PhD
"Biomaterials and drug delivery"
Eliz Amar-Lewis is a postdoctoral research fellow in drug delivery, gene therapy and biomaterials. She received her B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University (BGU) and completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D at BGU under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Kost. In her research she studied polysaccharides for the delivery of nucleic acids (siRNA and pDNA) as a platform for cancer gene therapy and the application of therapeutic ultrasound as a means to overcome delivery barriers. In addition, studied and developed biomaterials for controlled release of drugs for several therapeutic applications. Her current focus is on the development of biomaterials-based nanoparticles for gene editing applications and cancer immunotherapy.
Tengyu He, PhD
"Nanomedicine and cancer immunotherapy"
Tengyu is a postdoctoral research fellow in nanomedicine for cancer immunotherapy. He received his Master of Science in Materials Science from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (2018) and Ph.D. in Materials Science from University of California San Diego, US (2023). His research centers on innovating nanomaterials and self-assembling peptides-based compounds for cancer immunotherapy. He currently focuses on amplifying cancer immunotherapies with immunogenic tumor cell death.
​
Namrata Ramani, PhD
"Biomaterials and cancer immunotherapy"
Namrata is a postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute with a focus on biomaterials and cancer immunotherapy. She received her B.S. in Materials Engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University under the supervision of Professor Chad Mirkin. Her PhD research was focused on using programable DNA interactions to control the chemical and mechanical cell signaling environment of hydrogels. Her current research interests include designing new nanostructures that exhibit tissue tropism and using materials to understand and treat complex disease.
​
Erin O'Brien, PhD
"Cell therapy and cancer immunotherapy"
After graduating from Drexel University with a BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering, Erin worked as a research assistant at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. She returned to Drexel for her PhD, during which time she also conducted research at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Her PhD work sought to understand macrophage phenotype transitions and to leverage them in a cell therapy to promote tissue regeneration. Her primary research interests are biomaterials, immune engineering, and cancer immunotherapy.
​
Yongkuk Park, PhD
"Bone regeneration and cancer immunotherapy"
Yongkuk is a postdoctoral research fellow with a focus on biomaterials, tissue engineering, and cancer immunotherapy. He earned his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Seoul, where he developed nucleic acid-based nanodrugs and hydrogels for cancer therapy. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His Ph.D. work centered on bone organoid models to study localized bone remodeling and osteoporosis treatments. Currently in the Artzi Lab, he researches drug delivery systems for bone regeneration and immunotherapy.
​
Zohar Pode, PhD
"Drug development and immune engineering"
Zohar is an experienced organic chemist specializing in therapeutic oligonucleotide development and production. She served as Head of CMC and GMP Production Site Manager at Aummune, leading the development and clinical manufacturing of therapeutic oligonucleotides. Prior to that, she was Head of Chemistry at Aummune, managing preclinical development of DNA-based immune-oncology therapies. Zohar also worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Protekt Therapeutics, developing small-molecule drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. She holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science, where her research focused on organic synthesis, biomolecule sensing, and bioconjugation.
Zhenyu Han, PhD
"Nanomedicine and immune engineering"
Zhenyu Han is a postdoctoral fellow working at the interface of chemistry and biologically inspired engineering. His research focuses on developing and applying biochemical tools to study chemical modifications of biomolecules such as DNA and proteins involved in immune pathways. In parallel, he aims to translate our molecular-level understanding into the design of next-generation cancer immunotherapies by expanding the chemical, structural, and topological toolbox of biomaterials. Zhenyu received his B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William & Mary, and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University. During his doctoral research, he developed strategies to chemically modify proteins with nucleic acids, enabling DNA-directed assembly of protein polymers and 3D single crystals, intracellular delivery of CRISPR/Cas genome editors, and biomineralization of abiotic nanoparticles using protein cages.
Graduate Students
Arbri Kopliku
​
Arbri is a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program. He is excited about combining machine learning with drug delivery to develop novel biomaterial platforms for cancer immunoengineering. Arbri earned his B.Sc. in Biological Engineering from MIT, during which he worked at the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation (Sinskey Lab), the Koch Institute (Hemann Lab), Moderna (Novel Biotherapeutics), and Eli Lilly (Delivery, Device, and Connected Systems). His previous experiences span biomanufacturing, combination chemotherapy, protein engineering, and medical devices.
Shashaank Venkatesh
​
Shashaank is a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program with a concentration in Biological Engineering. He is interested in studying the progression of cancer and the tumor microenvironment from the perspective of mechanobiology and statistical physics, and developing techniques to arrest and reverse cancer progression. He earned his BEng in biomedical engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). During his undergraduate degree, he worked in the Computational Biology Lab, Advanced Robotics Center, Institute for Health Innovation & Technology, and Soft Nanobiomaterials Lab at NUS, as well as at the Medical Microsystems Lab at ETH Züric and the Biomanufacturing Technology Lab at A*STAR in Singapore.
Logan Beatty​
Logan is a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics program with a concentration in biological engineering, and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow. He is interested in exploring how biomaterials can be engineered to regulate the immune system on a localized scale in autoimmune disease contexts. He earned his B.S. in biomedical engineering at the University of Miami, where he worked in the Mechanobiology Lab, the Islet Immunoengineering Lab, and for Akron Biotechnology.
Jacqueline Li​
Jacqueline is a PhD student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Program, concentrating in biological engineering. As an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, she is interested in investigating the stem cell-regulated immunological mechanisms that drive glioblastoma initiation and recurrence. Her work aims to leverage these insights to develop targeted therapies for durable remission. Jacqueline earned her B.S.E. in Bioengineering with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she conducted research on lipid nanoparticle design in the Mitchell Lab and studied the gut-brain axis at the National Cancer Institute
Undergraduates
Sofia Isunza
Sofia is a Biotechnology Engineering student at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. She is passionate about understanding biological systems to develop translational and pharmaceutical technologies that improve human health. Her experience includes working on an aptamer-based biosensor with a synthetic biology team, where she focused on educational outreach to make science more accessible. She has also contributed to bioplastic production at Biointellectus and completed a medical affairs internship at Grünenthal, where she gained experience in pharmaceutical operations and regulatory affairs. Her interests include nanomedicine, immunotherapy, and biomaterials for targeted drug delivery.
Pablo Hernan Espinosa Mino
Pablo is an undergraduate student at Tecnológico de Monterrey, majoring in Nanotechnology Engineering. He has experience in synthesizing biomaterials with nanoparticles for medical applications. His interests include regenerative medicine, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and the development of advanced biomaterials to enhance healthcare outcomes. He seeks to contribute to the advancement of science through research that bridges innovation and real-world medical solutions to improve people’s quality of life
Cassandra Gaxiola
Cassandra is an undergraduate Biotechnology Engineering student at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Toluca, with practical experience in genetic engineering, molecular biology, and cell culture. She is deeply interested in early disease detection, therapeutic development, cancer immunotherapy, drug delivery, and neurological disorders. Her drive for innovation and curiosity has led her to contribute to research projects in cancer immunotherapy with NK cells and biomolecule characterization. Cassandra firmly believes in the transformative power of science to advance knowledge and deepen our understanding of human diseases, and is convinced that passionate, purpose-driven research holds the key to meaningful solutions
Mariana Selgado Huerta
Mariana is an undergraduate student majoring in Biotechnology Engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. She is passionate about understanding the interconnected systems that shape who we are, with a particular interest in the brain, memory, and the human microbiota and chronic diseases. Driven by a desire to improve human health, she aims to contribute to these fields through the development of innovative drug delivery systems. Her research experience includes studying the role of the human microbiota in autoimmune diseases and analyzing antibacterial drug resistance in drug development.
Maria Herrera Leon De La Barra
Maria is an undergrad biotechnology engineer at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City. She is passionate about fusing biomaterials, immunology and innovation to translate research into clinical solutions. Her experience has been around developing novel zebrafish imaging models and immune checkpoint inhibition for enhanced cancer immunotherapies. She is thrilled to be involved in the development of targeted nanoparticle based drug delivery systems.
Hazzel Fernández Rueda
​Hazzel is an undergraduate Biomedical Engineering student at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara. Her academic and research interests lie at the intersection of tissue engineering, cancer biology, and medical device development. She has contributed to studies on collective cancer cell migration in complex curvature fields, the development of medical devices such as an EKG and EMG, an endovascular simulator for cerebral aneurysm treatment. In parallel, Hazzel is increasingly drawn to the world of nanomedicines and their transformative potential in targeted drug delivery and regenerative medicine. She served as president of the Biomedical Engineering Student Society and actively participates in global leadership programs and healthcare innovation challenges. Hazzel is driven by a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration and a strong commitment to translating scientific advances into accessible, socially impactful solutions.
Staff
Dana Vuzman, PhD
Sr Principal Scientist, Advanced Technology Team
​Dana is a Sr Principal Scientist at the Advanced Technology Team at the Wyss Institute, working closely with the lab on translational projects. Dana is a computational biology and translational data science leader who built and led multidisciplinary teams across academia, biotech, and pharma, translating large-scale biological data into actionable translational insights in oncology, neuroscience, cardiometabolic, and rare disease. Prior to joining the Wyss, Dana served as Sr. Director of Data & Analytics Engineering at Novo Nordisk, leading global teams building multimodal data platforms for target and biomarker discovery. Earlier, she was Director of Genome Platform Development and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Sr. Director of Biomedical Informatics at KEW, Inc., and co-Director at Brigham Genomic Medicine. Dana earned her PhD in Computational Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science and completed her postdoctoral training in Computational Genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Christopher DiRusso, PhD
Research Lab Manager
Chris is a Research Lab Manager in the Artzi Lab, where he supports laboratory operations across a multidisciplinary, translational research environment. In this role, he oversees day-to-day lab operations, manages research infrastructure and resources, and works closely with trainees, staff, and collaborators to enable efficient and high-quality scientific work. Prior to joining the Artzi Lab, Chris completed his doctoral research at Boston University, where his work focused on the molecular regulation of NF-κB signaling, including how protein structural organization and point mutations of the NF-κB pathway scaffold protein NEMO affect pathway activation and dysregulation in immune and inflammatory contexts. Chris is passionate about fostering an organized, inclusive, and collaborative research culture that supports scientific excellence and translational impact.
Alumni
Doctoral
Christina Arnold, PhD
Lyndon Charles, PhD
João Conde, PhD
Daniel Dahis, PhD
Pere Dosta Pons, PhD
Fiona Freeman, PhD
Gonzalo Munoz Taboada, PhD
Nuria Oliva, PhD
Maria Poley, PhD
Nuria Puigmal Dominguez, PhD
Hyun Seok Song, PhD
Sara Strecker, PhD
Shimon Unterman, PhD
Kui Wang, PhD
Yi Zhang, PhD
Graduate
Nelly Andrews Interiano​
Romy El Khoury
William Sawyer
Berta Vall Brossa
Undergraduate
Kristen Alexandra Rodrigues
Mariana Alonso Riquelme
Mariana Atilano
Santiago Barragan Hernandez
Ana Sofia Kay Carrasco Brito
Nicole Casteele Hernandez
Serly Chohmalian
Ana Paula Cosme Lozano
Diane Cruz Manjarrez
Livani Nalai Diaz Mercado
Gabriela Garcia De Leon Carmona
Shani Elgin
Alejandro A. Espinosa Perez
Amelya Fox
Orlando González Ortiz
Alexa Hinojosa Ortiz
María Alejandra Hernández Mustieles
Pau Hurtado Niubò
Dina Kaplan
Alejandra Anahi Lam Rodriguez
Ivana Ling
Ana Sofia López Rodríguez
Lavi Madjar
Nir Margalit
Kalaumari Mayoral Peña
Andrea Michasevich Soto
Claudia Andrea Morales Garay
Beatriz Nicolas Ruiz
​Diana Michelle Ocampo Alvarado
Carlos Oliva Estrada
Leonardo de la Parra Soto
Jeel Patel
Oscar Yael Perez Soria
Michaela Nicole Prado Larrea
​Natalia Ramírez
Linda Yael Ramírez González
Cynthia Ramírez Rodríguez
Cristobal Riojas Javelly
Alma Lorena Rodríguez Curiel
Diego Fernando Ruiz Aguilar
Triana Mayra Sánchez Huerta
Daniela Simental Lopez
Audrey Struzyk
Grisha Tamazyan
Silvia Vargas Franyuti
Angela Villarreal Jezzini
© 2026 Artzi Lab