Principal investigator

Dr. Amy J. Karlsson
Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Fischell Department of Bioengineering

BS, Chemical Engineering, Iowa State University, 2003
PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 2009
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University, 2009-2012

Dr. Karlsson is originally from Rush City, Minnesota, a very small town north of the Twin Cities. Although she misses the snow, she loves being so close to all the great restaurants and museums found in the DC area. When she's not busy with research or teaching, Dr. Karlsson likes to travel with her husband, read, make pottery, and attempt to keep her yard from getting overrun by ivy.
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Graduate students


​Sayanee Adhikari 
PhD Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
MS, Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland, 2017
BTech, Petrochemical Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology - Pune, 2010

Sayanee arrived at the University of Maryland after working at a petroleum company in India and enjoying a short layover in the Windy City of Chicago. She's now left the world of petrochemicals behind to become a protein engineer.
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Jesse Leissa
MS Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, The Ohio State University, 2017

Originally from Maryland, Jesse is (sort of) back at home in College Park after his undergraduate stint in the Midwest. He's been proclaimed the official lab extrovert and is helping us all stay in touch with our social side.

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Mahdi Ghorbani
PhD Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Tehran, 2017

Co-advised by Jeff Klauda, Mahdi is our bridge between the computational and experimental realms. We're hoping he'll hold our hands and walk us to the other side of the bridge once in a while!

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Undergraduate students


Neha Kalla
BS Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Neha first joined our lab in spring of 2016. She is one of our resident protein immobilization gurus, and we're looking forward to her exciting new results.




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​Thomas Matherly
BS Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Thomas was first introduced to protein engineering during a guest lecture in BIOE120, and he was hooked! He joined the lab in the summer of 2018 and is putting his excitement about protein engineering into his lab work.
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​Katherine Duda
​BS Candidate, Bioengineering

Katherine joined the lab in summer of 2018 after impressing us with her interest in our work. She's already on her way to becoming an expert in protein production.

High school student


​Vanessa Aguocha-Sam
Science and Technology Intern, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
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We are thrilled to have Vanessa join us in the lab this year! She is working on a collaborative project with Akua Asa-Awuku's lab to detect indoor mold.

Interested in the amazing people that previously were members of our lab?
Find them on the ALUMNI page.