The Bhamla Lab
The Bhamla Lab
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Dr. Saad Bhamla

Curiosity-driven scientist

Saad studies biomechanics across species to engineer knowledge and tools that inspire curiosity.

A self-proclaimed "tinkerer," his lab is a trove of discoveries and inventions that span biology, physics and engineering. His current projects include studying the hydrodynamics of insect urine, worm blob locomotion and ultra-low-cost devices for global health. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Economist, CNN, Wired, NPR, the Wall Street Journal and more. Saad is an assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at Georgia Tech.

Saad is also a prolific inventor. His most notable inventions include a 20-cent paper centrifuge, a 23-cent electroporator, and the $1 hearing aid. Saad's work is recognized by numerous awards including a NIH R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, and INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award. Saad is a National Geographic Explorer and TED speaker. His dedication to making science accessible has been honored with the National Academies' Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communication.

In 2023, Newsweek recognized Saad as 1 of 10 Innovators disrupting healthcare. Saad is a co-founder of Piezo Therapeutics. Outside of the lab, Saad loves to go hiking with his partner and two dogs (Ollie and Bella).

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 Lab mascots

Ollie & Bella

 
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Current lab members 

Research Scientists & POstdocs

Featured
Prathyusha K. R.
Prathyusha K. R.

Research Scientist

Prathyusha focuses on driven soft matter systems and active matter systems. Using various computational tools and principles of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, she studies dynamics, collective effects and pattern formation in soft and active matter systems.

pramankutty3@gatech.edu

Laura Casas Ferrer
Laura Casas Ferrer

Postdoctoral Fellow

Laura focuses on understanding the force generation mechanisms in the Spirostomum ambiguum cytoskeleton by using synthetic biology techniques.

lferrer6@gatech.edu

Tuhin Chakrabortty
Tuhin Chakrabortty

Postdoctoral Fellow

Tuhin’s research focuses on theoretical study of collective dynamics and active flows controlled by external forces. Currently, he is working on two projects, namely dynamics of light-controlled contractile protein networks and collective dynamics of animals.

tchakrabortty3@gatech.edu

Google Scholar

Sunny Kumar
Sunny Kumar

Postdoctoral Fellow

Sunny's research aim is to understand the movement and leaping of organisms and also developing biohybrid robots.

skumar710@gatech.edu

Google Scholar

Jacob Harrison
Jacob Harrison

Postdoctoral Fellow

Jacob's research focuses on the development of ultrafast movement in biology. He seeks to use the emergence of morphology and behavior to establish unifying principles that constrain or promote biomechanical systems.

jharrison304@gatech.edu

Google Scholar

Ishant Tiwari
Ishant Tiwari

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ishant has previously worked on the ensemble dynamics of active particles. His current fascination is the locomotion of worms in various environments.

ishant@gatech.edu
Google Scholar | Twitter | Website

Pankaj Rohilla
Pankaj Rohilla

Eckert Postdoctoral Fellow

Pankaj's research is focused on the development of medical devices (for diagnostics and drug delivery) and hydrodynamics of (semi) aquatic organisms!

When he is not exploring the curious realms of science, he loves to spend his time on photography and hiking.

pankajrohilla@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Twitter | Website

Daehyun (Joshua) Choi
Daehyun (Joshua) Choi

Postdoctoral Fellow

Daehyun integrates principles from fluid mechanics and micro-robotics to uncover mechanisms behind animal behavior, which holds potential benefits for humanity. He currently studies the multi-terrestrial locomotion mechanisms of mudskippers and aquatic bugs.

dchoi319@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Website

Nitesh Arora
Nitesh Arora

Postdoctoral Fellow

Nitesh studies the collective dynamics of living systems at the air-water interface. He combines biophysical experiments, quantitative analysis, and theoretical modeling to uncover the emergent dynamics in ultrafast organismal collectives.

Atanu Chatterjee
Atanu Chatterjee

Atanu investigates the dynamics of complex systems by integrating experiments and theory. His research focuses on collective behavior in biological groups and the principles behind emergent phenomena.

Grad students

Featured
Xiangting (Ray) Lei
Xiangting (Ray) Lei

ChBE PhD Candidate

Ray is working on building cyborg synthetic cells!

xlei45@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Twitter

Johnathan O'Neil
Johnathan O'Neil

ChBE PhD Candidate

1st generation Trinidadian American from Baltimore. Johnny is studying the biomechanics and interfacial fluid dynamics of water walking insects for possible applications in robotics.

joneil8@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Twitter

Benjamin Seleb
Benjamin Seleb

QBioS PhD Student

Ben's research combines the study of biology and technology. Currently, he's studying the social dynamics of dogs using drones and computer vision, and developing a low cost camera trap platform to increase accessibility to animal data collection.

​bseleb3@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Twitter

Harry Tuazon
Harry Tuazon

BioE PhD Student

Harry is studying to understand the collective group dynamics of physically entangled biological active matter such as California Blackworms and apply that into robotics.

htuazon3@gatech.edu

Google Scholar | Twitter

Christina McDonald
Christina McDonald

BioE PhD Student

Christina is studying biomechanics of insects as well as exploring micro/nanoscale adaptations for bioinspired design.

cmcdonald45@gatech.edu

Rajas Poorna
Rajas Poorna

BioE PhD Student

Rajas is a big fan of low-tech, and is working on low-cost methods to enable diagnostic tests at the point of care that use no reagents.

rajasp@gatech.edu

Google Scholar

Cedric Kamaleson
Cedric Kamaleson

BioE PhD Student

Cedric’s research focuses on rigorously establishing how single-celled organisms exhibit memory and learning. He also has a biomimetic driven fascination for physiological phenomena that fungi express.

cedric.kamaleson@gatech.edu

Nami Ha
Nami Ha

BioE PhD Student

Nami’s research is to explore extraordinary biophysics and flow phenomena of organisms, and is working on the interaction between capillary flows and flexible structures of desert bird feathers.

nha37@gatech.edu

Google Scholar

Paulami Sarkar
Paulami Sarkar

BioE/CE PhD Student

Paul’s a first year grad student looking forward to explore the lab. She is fascinated with biomimetics and biomaterials, drawing inspiration from the natural world around her.

Sutikshan Bansal
Sutikshan Bansal

MSE MS Student

Sutikshan’s research is focused on De-entanglement of fibres with the aim to recycle non-woven textiles.

sbansal86@gatech.edu

Staff

Featured
Janet Standeven
Janet Standeven

Program Director, Frugal Science Academy

Janet oversees and coordinates the Frugal Science Academy, an NIH SEPA funded initiative to provide high school internships and K-12 teacher training to develop frugal science tools, lessons and support for the implementation of synthetic biology education.

jstandeven9@gatech.edu

Juhi Deora
Juhi Deora

Laboratory Manager/Technician

Juhi studies memory in single-celled organisms and also handles administrative duties.

jdeora3@gatech.edu

Nisha Kukreja
Nisha Kukreja

Faculty Support Coordinator (FSC)

With extensive background in finance and administration, Nisha supports the team with GT related administrative functions.

Nisha.Kukreja@gatech.edu

Hossam Ismail
Hossam Ismail

FSA Laboratory Manager/Technician

Hossam is our FSA lab manager and technician.

hismail7@gatech.edu

Kai Yung
Kai Yung

Laboratory Manager/Technician

Kai works on organisms at the interface of water and air (microvelia, mudskippers, and shallow sea urchins). He also handles administrative duties.

lyung7@gatech.edu

 

Undergraduate students

Holden Walker, ChBE

Nithil Nagappan, ChBE

Thomas Jones, ChBE

Grace Menard, ChBE

Joseph Wiltanger, ChBE

Maria Martinez, ChBE

Akber Shaikh, BME

Thu Truong, ChBE

Charles Anderson, BME

Gaetano Difini, ChBE

Radeen Dixon, ChBE

Okeoghene Ariel Emoghene, BS

Jasmine Lee, ChBE

Kendall Larson, ChBE

Michelle Jing, ChBE

Srijan Deoraj, Phys

Emre Guller, ChBE

Kenny Ma, ChBE

DavidIsaac Marple, BIO

Anthony Senft, ChBE

Ivy Li, CE

Daeun Lee, BME

Wade David, ChBE

High school student interns

Vineet Sendilraj

Manasvi Gupta

Nafiysa Sessoms

Summer Clark

Alina Soifer

Arjun Shah

Annika Joshi

Levi Philips

 The lab in action

 

Join our lab of extraordinary organisms

In our lab, we channel our curiosity, creativity and engineering skillset to understand how nature functions.

Our team is diverse in all manners of the word - from different cultures, abilities and scientific disciplines. A common theme unites us - we are passionate, caring and collaborative. From clinical evaluation of frugal devices in India to slingshot spiders in the Amazon rainforest, my main mission is to enable each student, researcher and scientist to become the best version of themselves.

If you’re interested in using a quantitative and mechanical lens to understand organisms, or using the design of hardware-based electronics for a bigger cause, please reach out to ask about opportunities in the lab.

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