Team

Caroline N. Jones, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Assistant Professor of Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health

Email: Caroline.Jones@UTDallas.edu 
Phone: 972-883-7279
Office: BSB 12.806,
800 W Campbell Rd,
Richardson, TX 75080, USA.

Affiliations:
Biological Sciences, Microbiology
Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health
Genetics, Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

Caroline N. Jones received her B.S. in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in 2002. She received an M.Eng. in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in 2003 working in the Bioanaytical Microsystems & Biosensors laboratory with Antje Baeumner to develop universal pathogen biosensors. She did her graduate work on engineering cellular microenvironments with Alexander Revzin in the Laboratory of Microfabrication and Nanotechnology for Manipulation and Analysis of Cellular Systems, receiving a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from University of California, Davis in 2010. Her postdoctoral training in BioMEMS and immune cell migration was with Mehmet Toner and Daniel Irimia at the Center for Engineering in Medicine and BioMEMS Resource Center of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School from 2010-2015. She joined Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as assistant professor of Biological Sciences in August 2015.

Postdoctoral Scholars & Graduate Students

Nidhi Menon

TBMH Ph.D. Candidate (2015-2020)

Research interests: Engineering 3D tumor models, Tissue engineering, Computational modeling, Quantifying cancer-immune cell interactions on-chip, Developing novel bio-sensing techniques.

Nidhi is a PhD candidate in the Translational Biology, Medicine and Health program at Virginia Tech, with a background in biological systems engineering and biotechnology (Purdue University). The primary objective of her research is to develop biomedical devices to quantify interactions and molecular profiles of primary cancer cells and immune cells for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Specific studies in the Jones lab include 1) Engineering and characterizing 3D tumor microenvironments for cell culture, 2) Designing microfluidic chips to study tumor and immune cell interactions in vitro, and 3) Developing novel analytical methods for on-chip, real-time biosensing. Aside from these, Nidhi has also collaborated on projects looking into 1) The influence of low-intensity electric fields for iontophoretic delivery of carboplatin in 3D tumor models, 2) Quantifying host-pathogen interactions on-chip, 3) Screening novel fungal extracts for anticancer properties, and 4) Innate immune function of airway epithelial cells in response to fungal exposure.

Udaya Sree Datla

TBMH Ph.D. Candidate (2015-2020)

Research Interests: Host-pathogen interactions, Infection-on-chipCurrently a doctorate student in the TBMH program at Virginia Tech, Udaya’s research is highly interdisciplinary, with an emphasis on translating discoveries from bench-to-bedside. It involves aspects of microbial ecology, synthetic biology, computational modeling, host-pathogen dynamics, and microfabrication, mainly focused on 1) studying the acquired resistance in an engineered E. coli killer-prey microecology, and 2) measuring the innate immune cell decision-making in pathogen killing, in engineered 3D microenvironments.

https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/udayasreedatla/

Hossein Razmi Bagtash 

UTD BME Ph.D. Candidate

Research Interests: Microfluidics, Innate immunity, Stem cells, Sepsis, Tumor Immunology, Medical Diagnosis, Host–pathogen interaction, Clinical Research.

Hossein is currently a PhD candidate at Dr. Caroline N. Jones lab in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his master’s in biomedical engineering from Tarbiat Modares University in Iran. For his master research he designed and developed multi shear-stress generator microchip to study the effect of interstitial flow on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) alignment and proliferation. For his PhD research, the main goal is studying the host–pathogen interaction, finding out how immune cells migratory decision-making can regulate immune diseases like sepsis. In his spare time, Hossein enjoys music, films, and playing soccer.

Shuai Shao

UTD BME Ph.D. Candidate

Research interests: microfluidics, immunology, cancer immunotherapy, tissue engineering, bioinformatics and machine learning, translational research

Shuai obtained a B.A. degree in Biological Sciences and Southeast Asian Studies from Cornell University and a M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University before joining the Department of Bioengineering at UT Dallas as a PhD student in the summer of 2021. His master’s research project was on T cell immunoengineering, where he fabricated micropatterned devices to study dysfunctional T cell behavior in chronic lymphocyte leukemia (CLL) and used machine learning algorithms to predict T cell proliferative potential for CLL patients, ultimately in an effort to improve the expansion stage of CAR-T cell therapy. For his PhD research, he builds 3D biomimetic microfluidic platforms to further elucidate the undeciphered role of neutrophils in the solid tumor microenvironment and to develop novel cancer immunotherapy strategies targeting neutrophils and other innate immune cells alike. Outside of research, his interests include music, films, South/Southeast Asian arts, and cooking.

Adam Heritier Shebindu

UTD BME Ph.D. Candidate

Research Interests: Microfluidics and Neuroimmunology, Chronic Pain, Sepsis, Single cell biophysics, Neuroinflammation.

Adam is currently a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at UT Dallas where he specializes in the development of Micro and nano-fluidic devices for the single cell study of the interface and communication between nervous and immune system in the case of sepsis-induced chronic pain. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in Mechanical Engineering, Adam worked in various industries, including HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and food processing. Later, he returned to Texas Tech where he earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a thesis on “Integration and Optimization of Isotachophoresis on a Programmable Microfluidics Automaton”. In 2020, Adam founded Bora Technology in Goma, DRC, where they are developing different technologies to solve local problems. These technologies include mechanical ventilators, automated handwashing stations, smart electricity meters, water filtration systems, etc. Adam is also director and founder of the East African Multidisciplinary Research Center in Goma, where they work on multiple computational engineering solutions to complex engineering problems.

Taylor Hinchliffe

UTD BME Ph.D. Candidate

Taylor Hinchliffe is currently a biomedical engineering PhD student in the laboratories of Dr. Caroline Jones and Dr. Girgis Obaid at the University of Texas at Dallas where he focuses on immunoengineering and nanomedicine for sepsis and cancer. Previously, he worked as a research assistant at Columbia University for several years in a synthetic biology lab focused on programming probiotics as anti-cancer therapeutics. He graduated with honors with degrees in biology (B.S.) and Chinese studies (B.A.) from the University of Houston in 2015. In his free time, he enjoys writing and creating visual art.

www.taylorhinchliffe.com

Taylor (Alex) Carlile Beach

UTD BME MS Candidate and Lab Manager

Alex is a Lab Manager and BME Master’s candidate in the Jones Lab at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his bachelor’s in biomedical engineering from UTD in 2020. His focus has been on helping facilitate the lab’s research and setup.

Purvi Chetan Desai

Research Assistant

Purvi Desai graduated with her BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2022. She is currently a Research Assistant in Dr. Caroline Jones Laboratory mentoring under Taylor Hinchliffe to study sepsis and potential therapeutic methods which involves studying neutrophils and microparticles. She will also be working on a project in a collaboration with Dr. David Schmidtke. In her free time, she loves to bake and read (Favorite Series: Harry Potter).

Postbaccalaureate & Undergraduate Students

Ritika Nayak

UTD BME Undergraduate Researcher

Research Interests: Microfluidics, Immunology, Chronic pain/Sepsis, Neuroimmunology, Neuroinflammation.

Ritika Nayak is currently an undergraduate pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering (B.S) at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also a research assistant in Dr. Caroline Jones Labratory mentoring under Adam Shebindu on the development of an automated microfluidic platform to study neuroimmune interaction with focus on furthing the study of pain in sepsis. In her free time she loves to play the piano as well as practicing graphic design.

Lab Mascot

Edwin

Lab Alumni

Brittany Boribong (Ph.D. student, 2015-2020)

Maryam Moarefian (Ph.D. student, 2015-2020)

Mark Lenzi (Research specialist, 2015-2017)

Ben Heithoff (Graduate rotation student, 2016)

Naya Eady (Postbac researcher, 2016-2017)

Craig McKenzie (Undergraduate researcher, 2016-2017)

Amina Rahimi (Undergraduate researcher, 2016-2018)

Katie Lee (Undergraduate researcher, 2017-2020)

Surya Gara (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2019)

Marilyn Steinbach (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2019)

Michael Santos (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2019)

Nicholas Nguyen (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2020)

Kyle Anderson (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2020)

Trisha Deshmukh (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2020)

Krissy East (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2020)

Ling Liu (Undergraduate researcher, 2018-2020)