YOUSEFPOUR LAB |
Parisa Yousefpour
​Principal Investigator
​Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Affiliate: Department of Systems Biology
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Two truths and one lie:​
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I grew up near the Caspian Sea, so swimming comes naturally to me.
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Sci-fi is my least favorite book genre. I prefer my sci real.
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I won my first personal laptop in a lottery.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: Playing board games
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​Hometown: Babol, Iran​​​
Arshveer Sachdeva
MS/PhD Student
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Before Columbia: Arshveer received his BS in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2025. During his undergrad, his research focused on characterizing the epigenetic and cytotoxic effects of various pollutants commonly found in the environment, and using CRISPR/Cas9 derived systems to reverse these effects. This work led him to pursue a PhD, where his research interests lie in developing new platforms for drug and vaccine delivery to improve specificity and efficacy.
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Two Truths and One Lie:
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I know how to play trombone.
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I hate horror movies.
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I first became interested in biomedical engineering because of Star Wars.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: Trying out new restaurants around NYC
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Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Ruxi Xia
MS/PhD Student
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Before Columbia: Ruxi is from Wuhan, China, and she graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Biochemistry. During her undergraduate research, Ruxi utilized peptides to deliver siRNA to ovarian cancer cells and led many projects highlighting cellular structures through immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy. She also gained experience in analytical chemistry as a manufacturing and quality intern. In the future, Ruxi is passionate about continuing conducting clinically translatable research.
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Two Truths and One Lie:
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I came to the US alone.
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I had a leopard gecko as a pet.
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I mastered the piano and the flute as a child.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: exploring restaurants in the city or baking!
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Hometown: Wuhan, China
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Bryan Zhou
MS Student
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Before Columbia: Bryan attended Johns Hopkins University and graduated in May 2025 with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChemBE). During all four years of his undergrad, he conducted research in Dr. Denis Wirtz's lab, focusing mainly on using 3D spheroid co-cultures to investigate the effects monocytes in the TME have on the invasiveness of TNBC tumor cells (MDA-MB-231) and uncovering the underlying mechanisms. Going forward, his primary research interests involve investigating how the immunosuppressive mechanisms of the TME can be exploited when paired with engineered biomaterials to improve delivery, efficacy, and safety of anticancer immunotherapies and gene therapies.
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Two Truths and One Lie:
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The porterhouse is my favorite cut of steak and I prefer it cooked medium rare.
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I skipped 5th grade.
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I once walked on the roof of a 300 m+ unfinished skyscraper.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: in the gym training for an upcoming powerlifting meet.
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Hometown: Shanghai, China
Luke Pauli
MS Student​
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Before Columbia: Luke earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Oklahoma. At OU, he was the President of the BMES chapter and directed the 2025 National Medical Device Make-A-Thon. He was also an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Wei Chen's lab, where he studied various synergistic immunotherapy treatments for highly metastatic cancers. He worked on a variety of projects, studying immune responses and doing in vivo mouse work to test the efficacy of new treatments. He is excited to continue his work in the therapeutic space as a master’s student, studying new ways to improve RNA vaccine efficacy.
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Two Truths and One Lie:
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I have a twin brother.
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I have moved over ten times in the 4 years before coming to Columbia.
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I have been skydiving.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: Watching my favorite sports teams (OU football and OKC Thunder) or travelling.
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Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Ricardo Sanchez Cortes
​.Undergraduate Student
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Two truths and one lie:
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I have reread the Harry Potter series four times.
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I have a pet cat named Crystal.
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My favorite dessert is chocolate cake.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: On a walk listening to music
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​Hometown: Middleton, Wisconsin
YuriHana Sasamoto
Undergraduate Student
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Two truths and one lie:
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The beach is a 5-minute walk from my house.
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I collect retro video games.
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I have never been to Japan, but I'd love to go.
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​Outside of science, most likely found: Reading a good book in the park
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​Hometown: Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands