kasinski

Andrea Kasinski 

2013-pres. William and Patty Miller Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University

2021-pres. Chair, Graduate Program in Biological Sciences

2022-pres. Program Leader, Purdue Institute for Cancer Research

2009-2013 Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University

2009 Ph.D, Emory University

Click for recent CV

akasinski@purdue.edu

Graduate Students  

  

POD

Humna Hasan (2017 - present)

Humna Hasan, originally from Pakistan, received her Masters degree in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from Quaid-I-Azam University Pakistan and is pursuing her doctorate degree in Biological Sciences on the Fulbright scholarship. She has been actively involved in scientific Journalism and academia and is keen to pursue her research in the domain of noncoding RNAs. Her current focus is in the study of exosomal RNAs 

hasanh@purdue.edu

      

 

 

Ahmed

Ahmed Abdelaal (2017 - present)

Originally from Egypt, Ahmed did his undergraduate work in Zoology and Chemistry at Zagazig University, Egypt in 2012.  He completed his Master’s studies in Cell, Molecular Biology, and Physiology from Georgia State University in 2017. Currently, Ahmed is a PhD. student in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University.

aabdelaa@purdue.edu

 

 

Alejandra

Alejandra Agredo Montealegre (2017 - present)

Alejandra, originally from Colombia received her bachelor's degree in Biology at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in 2017. She was selected for a six-month research internship at Purdue University as an undergraduate student where she worked in Kasinski Lab. She is a PhD student of the Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Program and is part of the molecular signaling and cancer biology training group.

aagredom@purdue.edu

  

Alejandra

Zulaida Soto (2017 - present)

Zulaida Soto is originally from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in Aguadilla with a bachelors’ degree in Biology in May 2017. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in a summer research about the role of long non-coding RNAs in adipogenesis in Dr. Shihuan Kuang’ s Lab at Purdue University. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at Purdue University.

zsotovar@purdue.edu

  

 

  

Julie

Julie (Jihye) Son (2020 - present)

Julie is from South Korea. She graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 2020. Her current interests include epigenetic mechanisms of drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer.

son36@purdue.edu

 

 

Shreyas

Shreyas Iyer (2021 - present)

Shreyas, originally from India, is a PhD student currently enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences program at Purdue University (PULSe). Prior to his doctoral studies, he earned his Master's degree from NYU in 2019 and worked in the industry for a period of time. His experience in RNA therapeutics during this time sparked a keen interest in contributing to the field of RNA delivery. His current research focuses on ligand-mediated RNA delivery to cancer cells. Outside of academia, Shreyas enjoys photography and hiking 

iyer101@purdue.edu

 

Kenan

Kenan Ozcan (2022 - present)

Kenan, who is originally from Virginia, started his PhD in Biological Sciences at Purdue in 2022. Before coming to Indiana, he completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degree at James Madison University where he worked on protein kinetics and plant genetics. Kenan’s ongoing research focuses on micro-RNA based therapeutics and their use to treat cancers

ozcank@purdue.edu

 

 

Samira

Samira Piltan (2022 - present)

Samira is originally from Iran. She earned a bachelor's degree in medical laboratory sciences from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and a master's degree in human genetics from Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. She is pursuing a PhD in biological sciences with a passion for cancer research and cellular molecular biology. 

spiltan@purdue.edu

 

 

 

 

Postdocs

Ikjot

Ikjot Sohal (2018 - present)

Ikjot is interested in studying the biogenesis of exosomes and their utilization as diagnostics and therapeutics in lung cancer. He joined Dr. Kasinski’s lab as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in June 2018. During his Ph.D., Ikjot was a primary contributor to an internal seed grant award, in which he studied utilization of urinary extracellular vesicles and their content for diagnosing occupational exposure to isocyanates. He completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering & Biotechnology program in May 2018 at University of Massachusetts in Lowell, MA under the supervision of Dr. Dhimiter Bello. His thesis elaborated the presence of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) as food additives in food products, methodological challenges associated with ingested ENM toxicity research, transformations they undergo in gastrointestinal (GI) environment, and their effects on the GI epithelium. He comes from the vibrant state of Punjab in India.

isohal@purdue.edu

  

 

Undergraduate Students

- Ana Betustak (expected graduation, Spring 2025) 
- Ally Glaws (expected graduation, Spring 2025)
- Sydney Shaw (expected graduation, Spring 2024)
- David Arteage (expected graduation, Spring 2024)
- Max Hellburn (expected graduation, Spring 2024) 
- Jeremiah Jauch (expected graduation, Spring 2023)

 

Previous Lab Members 

- Jeremiah Jauch (2021 - 2023), Currently in medical school at Indiana University

- Noor Abdullah (2020 - 2022), Currently in medical school at Indiana University

- Sudarsan Reddy, Potdoc (2019 - 2022), Currently conducting a postdoc at Purdue University (Low lab)

- Chennal Li, PhD candidate (2015 - 2022), Currently conducting a postdoc at the NIH

- Sander Myoung, PhD candidate (2015 - 2021), Currently employed as a Research Scientist at BridGene

- Asmi Mukherjee (2022)

- Anjali Byappanahalli, Undergraduate (2019 - 2021), Currently conducting a postbac at the NIH in preparation for MD/PhD

- Manvir Bains, Undergraduate (2018 - 2021), Currently conducting a postback at Mayo Clinic

- Arpita Pal, PhD candidate (2013 - 2020), Currently a Scientist at Synthego 

- Kristen Blackenberger, Undergraduate (2019)

- Alexa Lisevick, Undergraduate (2015 - 2018), Currently a medical student at Quinnipiac University

- Hana Kubo, Undergraduate (2015 - 2018), Currently a graduate student at Northwestern

- Feng Tian, Undergraduate (2017 - 2018), Currently a graduate student at MD Anderson

- Esteban Orellana, PhD candidate (2013 - 2018), Currently a postdoc at Harvard Medical School

- Sarunya Kitdumrongthum, Visiting Scholar (2017 - 2018), currently a Lecturer at Thammasat University

- Sean Humphrey, Postdoc (2013-2017), Currently faculty at Purdue University

- James Welch, Undergraduate (2014-2017), Currently in biotech

- Kayla Gates, Undergraduate (2016-2017), Currently a medical student at Indiana University

- Phil McCown, Postdoc (2015-2016), Currently at Notre Dame

- Sarah Allen, Undergraduate (2016-2017), Currently a graduate student at Wisconsin

- Alejandra Agredo Montealegre,  Undergraduate from Nat. Univ. of Columbia (2016), Currently a PhD student at Purdue  

- Patrick Backman, Masters Student (2013-2016)

- Quinn Schroder, Undergraduate (2013-2015)