Members (Innovative Genomics Institute)

Principal Investigator

Niren Murthy
nmurthy@berkeley.edu

Dr. Niren Murthy is a professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Murthy received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle in Bioengineering in 2001, and then did Postdoctoral research at U.C. Berkeley in Chemistry from 2001-2003. He started his academic career at Georgia Tech in 2003 and in 2012 moved back to U.C. Berkeley. Dr. Murthy’s laboratory is an interdisciplinary laboratory that focuses on the development of new materials for drug delivery and molecular imaging. Murthy laboratory has developed several new biomaterials and imaging agents, such as the maltodextrin based imaging agents, which are focused on improving the treatment and diagnosis of infectious diseases. In addition, Murthy laboratory has developed numerous reagents for detecting radical oxidants, such as the hydrocyanines.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dengpan Liang
liangdengpan@berkeley.edu

PhD: Biopharmaceutics, University of the Pacific

Research focus:My current research focuses on developing the carrier-free siRNA delivery systems with organ specificity, controlled release, and lower side effects. Discovering technology that stabilizes mRNA and improves the protein expression.

Rohit Sharma

rohit.sharma@berkeley.edu

PhD: University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, San Juan, PR. 2018 (PI, Kai Griebenow)

Postdoctoral Researcher: Comprehensive Cancer Center San Juan, PR. 2019-2021 (PI, Pablo Vivas-Mejia)

Research focus:My research focuses on the in vivo use of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for nucleic acid delivery, with a specific emphasis on the delivery of genome editors. My goal is to optimize the LNP formulations to improve their stability, biodistribution, and target specificity.  I am interested in developing strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of LNP to make them easier to use in gene therapy.

Hema Choudhary
hema994@berkeley.edu

PhD: University of Maryland College Park, USA
Joined Murthy group: August 2022

Research focus: I am developing polymer nanoparticles for mRNA delivery. I am also fabricating new microfluidic devices to make smaller lipid nanoparticles and microgels for encapsulating and delivering large biomolecules.

Hesong Han
hanhesong@berkeley.edu

PhD: Molecular and Genetics biology, 2017            

Research focus: My research aims to address challenges in delivering therapeutic and genetic materials more effectively by leveraging lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology. By advancing LNP design, formulation techniques, and integrating AI and machine learning, my goal is to enhance the safe and efficient delivery of drugs, DNA, RNA, and gene editing tools.

Kundansingh Pardeshi

kapardeshi@berkeley.edu

PhD: Medicinal Chemistry, (PI. Prof. Harinath Chakrapani), IISER Pune

Research focus: My current research work in Prof. Murthy’s lab is focused on development of efficient and promising methods for the delivery of mRNA, siRNA, Antisense oligonucleotides and Proteins. Also, I have keen interest in developing the therapeutics for infectious diseases.

Sheng Zhao

sheng-zhao@berkeley.edu

PhD:Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University

Research focus: My current research focuses on developing new molecules and materials for mRNA stabilization and drug delivery overcoming anti-infectious or anti-viral.

 Yalin Qi

yalinqi@berkeley.edu

PhD: School of life science, Nanjing University 2022, China

Research focus: My main emphasis is on advancing the field of mRNA delivery through the development of polymer and polypeptide nanoparticles. Additionally, I am actively investigating RNA ligations to enhance our understanding in this area.

  Babak Mosavati                                       

 Mechanical Engineer, bmosavati@berkeley.edu, 

 PhD: Florida Atlantic University

  Research focus: Design, fabrication, and optimization of microfluidic systems for controlled drug delivery, integrating mechanical engineering principles such as fluid dynamics, microscale fabrication, and materials engineering. Application of deep learning/AI for predictive modeling in drug transport and delivery efficiency.

  Frank HP Truong

hptruong@berkeley.edu

Ruxing Fu

ruxingfu24@berkeley.edu

PhD: Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles.

Research focus: My research focuses on the development of bio responsive drug delivery systems, including nano/microparticles and devices, based on macromolecules. These systems can be activated by physiological stimuli and release drugs with higher spatial-temporal precision.

Srijani Sarkar
sarkarsrijani@berkeley.edu

Graduate Students

Undergraduate student

Stacy Widyono

Alumni