The Dennis Lab

Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
Affiliated Faculty, Bioengineering

a.dennis@northeastern.edu

Prof. Dennis earned a BS in Bioengineering and BA in German from Rice University before spending 15 months with the Pharmaceutical Technology Group at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany, as a Fulbright Scholar. She earned her PhD in Bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and conducted postdoctoral research in nanomaterials chemistry at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Los Alamos National Laboratory before starting her independent career at Boston University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Division of Materials Science and Engineering. In 2022 the Dennis Lab moved to Northeastern University.

Graduate Student

Mallory graduated in 2022 from Ole Miss with a bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering. She joined the lab in 2023. She will be using quantum dots to image and track the progression of Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease. In Mallory's free time she likes to read and cook with friends.

Email: moffett.m@northeastern.edu

Graduate Student

Amish joined the lab in 2021 as a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering (Boston University). He completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University (Research Advisor: Dr. Joachim Kohn). His research interests are in inorganic and organic nanoparticle design for imaging and drug delivery applications. Outside of research, Amish can be found playing on local club sports teams and walking around Boston.

Email: a.patel@northeastern.edu

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yidan joined the lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral research fellow in Chemical Engineering. She earned her Bachelor and Doctoral degrees in Chemistry from Nanjing University and has published 17 journal papers. Her current research interests include the synthesis of biodegradable fluorescent nanocrystals for SWIR imaging. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading fiction and traveling.

Email: yi.sun@northeastern.edu

Graduate Student

Warisha graduated from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan in 2022 with a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering. She joined the Dennis Lab in 2023 and is working on the development of multiplexed fluorescent sensors for small molecule analytes. Her hobbies include photo journalism and travelling.

Email: tahir.w@northeastern.edu

Graduate Student

Xingjian joined in 2020 as a Biomedical Engineering PhD student (Boston University). He graduated from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2019. His research focuses on synthesizing shortwave infrared (SWIR) emitting QDs for in vivo imaging and exploring biodegradation of inorganic nanomaterials and their toxicity. When not in the lab, Xingjian enjoys swimming, hiking, travel, and playing Pokemon.

Email: x.zhong@northeastern.edu

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, 2019

Materials Engineering of Semiconductor Quantum Dots for Biosensing Applications
Outstanding Dissertation of the Year in Materials Science and Engineering, May 2019

Claire Booth Luce Graduate Fellow (2017-2019)

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 2022

Towards the clinical translation of quantum dots: current preclinical barriers and future strategies
Outstanding Dissertation of the Year in Biomedical Engineering, May 2022

Teaching Assistant of the Year (BU BME 2019)
NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2018-2021)
T32 Training Fellow (2016-2018)

M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 2019

Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) as an Optical Readout for Transcription Factor-DNA Binding in Biosensing Applications

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, 2021

Development of Near Infrared Semiconductor Quantum Dots for In Vivo Imaging

BUnano Graduate Fellowship (2017-2018)

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, 2020

Synthesis and Characterization of Indium Phosphide-Based Quantum Dot Heterostructures
Outstanding Dissertation of the Year in Materials Science and Engineering, May 2021

Research Assistant

Ke graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering combined with Biochemistry in December 2022. She joined the lab as a Research Assistant to work on QD polymer coating modification and characterization. She enjoys running and baking in her free time. Starting Fall 2023, Ke is pursuing her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Stanford University.