Meet the Team

Richard KP Benninger, PhD
Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Pediatrics
PhD, Physics, Imperial College London (2006)
MSci, Physics, Imperial College London (2002)
richard.benninger@cuanschutz.edu

Mark Ciccaglione 
PhD student: Bioengineering program
BS, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (2019)
​mark.ciccaglione@cuanschutz.edu

Evelyn Ibarra
​PhD student: Bioengineering program
MS, Bioengineering, University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus (2023)
BS, Microbiology, Texas state San Marcos (2018) 
evelyn.ibarra@cuanschutz.edu

Kelly J Vazquez PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin Madison (2022)
BA, Physics, North Central College (2016)
kelly.vazquez@cuanschutz.edu

Jennifer K Briggs
​PhD student: Bioengineering program
BS, Sports Medicine and Physics, Pepperdine University (2020)
​jennifer.briggs@cuanschutz.edu

Daniel J Bell
Professional Research Assistant
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts (2019)
daniel.j.bell@cuanschutz.edu

Anne Gresch, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
PhD, Pharmacology , Westfalische Wilhelms Universitat Munster (2020)
MS, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tubingen (2016)
​anne.gresch@cuanschutz.edu

Claire Levitt
PhD student: Bioengineering program
BS, Biochemistry, Ithaca College (2019)
claire.levitt@cuanschutz.edu

Andrea Laurin 
MS student: Bioengineering program
BS, Biomedical science, University of Western Michigan (2021)
andrea.laurin@cuanschutz.edu

Alumni
Jose Miranda, PhD (2016-2022)
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Research Instructor, University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus.

​Vira Kravets, PhD (2018-2022)
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), University of California  San Diego.

JaeAnn Dwulet, PhD (2017-2022)
Former PhD Student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, Technical University of Munch.​
​
David Ramirez, PhD (2016-2021)
Former PhD Student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus.​

Anna Davis, MS (2018-2021)
Former MS student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Research Associate, City of Hope

​Dominic Isaacs, MS (2018-2021)
Former BS/MS student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: PhD Student, University of Maryland School of Medicine 
​
Vinh Pham, MS (2018-2021)
Former BS/MS student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Training to be an Emergency Medical Technician

Wolfgang Schleicher, BS (2017-2020)
Former Professional Research Assistant
Currently: PhD Student, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical campus
​
Maria Esmeria Corezola do Amaral, PhD (2018-2019)
Former Visiting Professor 
Currently: Professor, Fundação Hermínio Ometto (University of Araras), Brazil

Nikki Farnsworth, PhD (2013-2019)
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Colorado School of Mines

Robert Piscopio, BS (2016-2019)
Former Professional Research Assistant
Currently: PhD Student, University of California Santa Barbara

Lucine Papazian, MS MD (2017-2019)
Former MS Student: Modern Human Anatomy
Currently: Resident, University of Colorado School of Medicine
​
Ong Moua, BS (2017-2018)
Former Senior Professional Research Assistant
Currently: Professional Research Assistant, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado

Samantha Passman, BS (2016-2018)
Former BS Student: Bioengineering Program
Currently: Clinical Trial Coordinator, Jaeb Center for Health Research

Rachelle Walter, BS (2014-2017)
Former Undergraduate Researcher
Currently: MS Student, Bioengineering Program, University of Colorado

Nurin Ludin, MS (2015-2017)
Former MS Student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Intern, Islet Sciences Inc.

Matthew Westacott, PhD (2012-2017)
Former PhD Student, Bioengineering Program
Currently: Scientist, SomaLogic Inc.​

Joshua St. Clair, PhD (2015-2017)
Former Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Director of Medical affairs, AstraZeneca/MedImmune.

Audrey Heintz (2015-2017)
Former Professional Research Associate
Currently: Professional Research Assistant, Aaron Michels Lab, University of Colorado Anschutz

Dallas Henderson (2016-2017)
Former Professional Research Associate
Currently: Biologist, Algae Barn LLC

Aleena Notary (2014-2016)
Former MS Student (Bioengineering Program)
Currently: Research Software Engineer at National Jewish Health, Quantitative Imaging Laboratory

Chris Wilson (2013-2015)
Former MS Student (Bioengineering Program)
Currently: Application Engineer at Ametek Engineered Medical Components

Thomas Hraha (2012-2014)
Former MS Student (Bioengineering Program)
Currently: Staff Scientist, SomaLogic Inc.

Marina Pozzoli (2012-2014)
Former Professional Research Associate
Currently: Research Technician, University of Bremen Center for Molecular Interactions

Linda Nguyen (2011-2012)
Former Professional Research Associate
Currently: DDS Student, University of Colorado - School of Dental Surgery

Contact us with any questions you have about Diabetes, Bioengineering or Biophysics