Valdimir Talley III (2017-2019)

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Valdimir Talley III (JT)
Masters student
Biomedical Engineering
talleyv3@ufl.edu
Neural Integration and Drug Delivery

[expand title=”Read more”] Valdimir Talley received his bachelors of science through the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University in 2015. His undergraduate capstone work was the result of a Weldon School and Global Engineering Program (GEP) supported independent study abroad and site visit to a clinic in Guatemala under the organization Range of Motion Project (R.O.M.P). The capstone project focused on improving mechanical prosthetic-patient interactions, specifically in rural settings. He is currently pursuing his masters in biomedical engineering (BME) at the University of Florida with an interest in improving prosthetic-patient interactions through neural integration and drug delivery. [/expand]

Min Yusufali (2018)

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Minhal Yusufali (Min)
Masters Student
Biomedical Engineering
muhammady@ufl.edu

[expand title=”Read more”]Minhal Yusufali received his B.S. in Chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from the University of Florida in 2016. During his undergraduate program, he worked on neuroscience research under Drs. Kenneth Heilman and John Williamson. Later he joined Dr. Carlos Rinaldi’s lab to work on magnetically triggered drug release with magnetic composite nanocarriers (MCNCs) and completed his honors thesis.

Currently, Min is a graduate assistant for the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University and is pursuing a master’s in biomedical engineering. He works with both invasive and noninvasive neural interfaces under Drs. Kevin Otto and Janis Daly. Within NPR lab, he is interested in peripheral nerve regeneration, growth, and stimulation with the use of tissue-electrode interfaces. His individual work focuses on dip coating methods for polyimide with the goal of in vivo drug delivery to promote biocompatibility and axonal regeneration.

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Savannah Dewberry (2017-2023)

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Savannah Dewberry
Ph.D. student
Biomedical Engineering
ls.dewberry@ufl.edu
Neurostimulation and chronic pain

Savannah received her B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2016. Her undergraduate research under Dr. Robert Sorge focused on the behavioral psychology of nociception, with a paper establishing a novel zebrafish model for chronic pain. She worked at a start-up developing a diagnostic device for a year before coming to UF. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida with the support of the NSF graduate research fellowship. She is studying neuromodulation of chronic pain syndromes and plans to look for a post-doc position starting spring 2023. Her CV can be found here.

Ian Malone (2017-2022)

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Ian Malone
Ph.D. student
Electrical Engineering
malonei@ufl.edu
LinkedIn Profile

GitHub Profile

Spinal cord interfaces and machine learning

Ian completed his BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Florida in 2016. He is now pursuing a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, researching neuroprostheses to facilitate respiratory recovery after spinal cord injury and applying machine learning methodologies to answer associated questions.

Ray Ward

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Ray Ward
Biomedical Engineering
wr4yflorida@ufl.edu

Ray Ward is a fourth year biomedical engineering student, most interested in the implications of long-term foreign body response on the application of neural implants in modern medicine. He plans on pursuing a PhD and hopes to contribute to the development of novel treatment options for patients with neurological disorder and neuropathic pain.

Morgan Urdaneta (2016-2020)

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Morgan Urdaneta
Ph.D. student
Interdisciplinary Science with specialization in Neuroscience
morgan.urdaneta@ufl.edu
Neural Interfaces and Neurostimulation

After a brief period of Medical School at the Universidad de Carabobo (Venezuela), Morgan received his B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from The University of North Florida in 2015. For more than three years, he worked with Dr. Amy L. Lane where he finished his Undergraduate Honors thesis on Natural Products from Marine Bacteria as Inhibitors of Fungal Biofilms. Upon graduation he worked on drug pharmacodynamics in the laboratory of Dr. Alan P. Fields at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. Morgan is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Science with a specialization in Neuroscience at the University of Florida. He’s currently interested in chronically-stable intracortical microstimulation devices and technologies, such as Micromagnetic stimulation, for closed-loop Brain Machine Interfaces.

Elliott Dirr (2016-2021)

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Elliott Dirr
Ph.D. student
Biomedical Engineering
edirr@ufl.edu
LinkedIn Profile
Neural interfaces and neural stimulation

Elliott received his B.S. in biomedical engineering with a minor in entrepreneurship from The Ohio State University in 2014. His undergraduate research focused on the effect of intrastriatal injection of alpha-synuclein fibrils on ultrasonic vocalizations in rats under Dr. Shelia Fleming. Elliott is interested in the use of peripheral neuromodulation to treat diseases by utilizing the body’s own ability to respond chemically to neural stimuli. He is currently examining the efficacy of using targeted neurostimulation techniques to chronically control blood glucose.

Melissa Franklin

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Melissa Franklin
Biomedical Engineering
melfrank7@ufl.edu
Neural interfaces and immunohistochemistry
[expand title=”Read more”]Melissa is a fourth-year biomedical engineering major at the University of Florida with a specialization in Biomaterials. She is interested in novel biomaterials used for neural interfaces and techniques to regenerate neural tissue. After her bachelor’s degree, she plans to pursue a PhD in Biomedical Engineering. [/expand]

Lauren Lester

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Lauren Lester
Mechanical Engineering
laurenlester@ufl.edu
Neural interfaces and drug delivery

Lauren is a first year mechanical engineering undergrad at the University of Florida with a focus on bio-mechanics. This is Lauren’s first lab setting and is very enthusiastic to get involved with research.

Alexis Brake

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Alexis Brake
Biomedical Engineering / Dance
abrake@ufl.edu
Neural interfaces and immunohistochemistry

Alexis is currently in her third year as a biomedical engineering major at the University of Florida. Her current research interests are in investigating the Foreign Body Response in the African Spiny Mouse . After graduating, Alexis looks forward to attending a Ph.D./M.D. combined program and becoming a physician scientist.

Jamie Murbach (2016-2021)

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Jamie Murbach
Ph.D. Student
Materials Science and Engineering
jam8744@ufl.edu
Neural interfaces and drug delivery

Jamie completed her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering with a concentration in polymeric materials and a minor in chemistry from Clemson University in 2016. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida.