Mehrdad Alinaghian

Mehrdad Alinaghian received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Mechanical Engineering from IA University, Iran. His master thesis was on numerical buckling analysis of functionally graded sectorial disks using a generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method.

Mehrdad has started his PhD in Prof. Jan. Korvink’s group at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He is working on pulse program customization of magnetic resonance velocimetry (so-called flow MRI) in order to evaluate flow behavior in microfluidic networks. His research interests are Phase Contrast MRI (PC-MRI), Contrast Enhancement MRA (CEMRA), Time-Of-Flight (TOF) Angiography and pulse programming.

Using his expertise in flow MRI, Mehrdad will be supporting the TISuMR project by observing the liquid processes in and around the perfusion chamber containing the liver.

Nikolaas Krijnen

Nikolaas is a student at the University of Groningen, currently completing his MSc in Medical Pharmaceutical Sciences. Previously, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (2017) from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Nikolaas’ master research project involves investigating and characterizing the precision-cut liver slice model for use within microfluidic systems. His research is conducted under the supervision of Ruby Karsten, Prof. Sabeth Verpoorte and Prof. Peter Olinga.

Lorenzo Bordonali

Lorenzo Bordonali is a Postdoctoral research fellow at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). After a master diploma in Condensed Matter Physics obtained in 2009 at the University of Pavia, Italy, he continued his studies within the graduate program at the same university. In 2012 he received a PhD in Physical Sciences of Matter on the topic “Spin Dynamics of Superparmagnetic nanoparticles investigated by solid state NMR”.

In 2014 he joins the group of Prof. Jan. G. Korvink at the University of Freiburg (IMTEK), where he develops hardware for miniaturized NMR hyperpolarization with para-hydrogen. He is currently in Prof. Korvink’s group and part of the TisuMR research team at the Institute of Microstructure Technology (KIT-IMT) working on micro-NMR hardware design and integration of MEMS technology and NMR.

Ruby Karsten

Ruby Karsten received her BSc degree (2015) in Life Science and Technology and her MSc degree (2017) in Medical Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Groningen. Her first master project at the University of Groningen was dedicated to precision-cut liver slicing technique as a model to study drug-induced cholestasis. The second master project was about the incubation of cell spheroids in a liver bioreactor and was performed at ScitoVation, North Carolina, USA. In November, 2017 she began her graduate studies under the supervision of Prof. Sabeth Verpoorte and Prof. Peter Olinga. Her contribution to the TISuMR project will be the development of a microfluidic device for the incubation of precision-cut liver slices to study drug-induced cholestasis.

Research Fellow moves to Assistant Professorship position from TISuMR

Dr. Gert Salentijn (30) obtained his PhD degree in analytical chemistry with distinction at the University of Groningen. His work focused on the development of functionalized 3D-printed cartridges for ambient ionization MS (including paper spray) and paper microfluidics. Furthermore, he co-founded a spin-off company based on a patent application that resulted from his PhD work. Gert then worked in the TisuMR project as postdoc and developed lab-on-a-chip solutions for liquid-gas equilibration and real-time microscopy of liver tissue. Recently, he was appointed as assistant professor at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is especially interested in the use of surface chemistry to increase the functionality and selectivity of paper-based or membrane-based devices for analytical chemistry, as well as their combination with ambient MS.

Manvendra Sharma

Manvendra Sharma is a senior research fellow in Chemistry at the University of Southampton .  From 2012 to 2016 he was a PhD student at Radboud University, Nijmegen in Prof. Arno Kentgens group. Manvendra’s PhD research was based on Dynamic nuclear polarisation to increase the sensitivity of NMR. In his current project Manvendra will be mainly focusing on development of microfluidic NMR devices for biological samples. His research interests are microfluidics, NMR, NMR hardware, and dynamic nuclear polarisation.

Anna Zakhurdaeva

Anna Zakhurdaeva received her BSc degree (2014) in Applied Mathematics and Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia, and her MSc degree (2017) in Optics and Photonics from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. Her MSc thesis was dedicated to the fabrication and characterization of custom made carbon tips for atomic force microscopy.  In June, 2017 she began her graduate studies under the supervision of Prof. Jan Korvink. Her contribution to the TISuMR project will be the design and fabrication of Lab-On-a-Disc system compatible with NMR/MRI measurements.

Erwin Fuhrer

Erwin Fuhrer received his BSc degree (2010) in Physical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Ravensburg-Weingarten, Germany and his MSc degree (2012) in Microsystems Engineering from the University of Freiburg, Germany. His MSc thesis focused on the development of a miniaturized parahydrogen converter for applications towards in situ NMR hyperpolarization. In 2013 he began his graduate studies under the guidance of Prof. Jan Korvink in the field of novel sensor developments for NMR/MRI applications. In 2015, he joined the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe. His current research interests lay in the domain of customized, application specific NMR/MRI hardware, with a particular focus on sensor interface technology. Erwin Fuhrer’s contribution to the TISuMR project will be the design and fabrication of the custom interface technology including integrated sample handling for NMR/MRI measurements.

Dr Dario Mager

Dario Mager studied MicroElectroMechanicalSystems (MEMS) at the University of Freiburg, where in 2004 he did his diploma thesis about the simulation of Geometry Dependent Sensitivity of Piezoresistive Stress Sensors in the group of Oliver Paul. He then joined the Group of Jan Korvink to build up an inkjet manufacturing lab. In 2010 he received his PhD in the Topic of Microstructuring using Inkjet Printing, were among other applications he showed the advantages of inkjet printing for manufacturing of geometrically precise complex shaped MR coils.
As a Postdoctoral Research Associate he stayed in the Group of Jan Kovink at the University of Freiburg which moved in 2015 to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since obtaining his PhD he build up a lowcost-MEMS Group that that focuses on MEMS that is fabricated without a conventional cleanroom. His research interests include inkjet based micromanufacturing of MR sensors, intelligent system design based on embedded electronics with a focus on Lab-on-a-Disk based point of care diagnostics.
5 most relevant publications:

1. S. M. Torres Delgado, D. Kinahan, F. S. Sandoval, L. A. Julius, N. A. Kilcawley, J. Ducrée, and D. Mager, “Fully automated chemiluminescence detection using the electrified-Lab-on-a-Disc (eLoaD) platform,” Lab Chip, vol. 16, no. 20, pp. 4002–4011, 2016.
2. J. Höfflin, S.M. Torres Delgado, F. Suarez Sandoval, J.G. Korvink, D. Mager. Electrifying the disk. Lab on a Chip 15, 2584 (2015).
3. D. Mager, A. Peter, L. Del Tin, E. Fischer, P.J. Smith, J. Hennig, J.G. Korvink. An MRI Receiver Coil Produced by Inkjet Printing Directly on to a Flexible Substrate. Medical Imaging, EEE Trans Med Imaging 29, 2, 482 (2010).
4. D. StĂĽwe, D. Mager, D. Biro, J.G. Korvink. Inkjet Technology for Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaics. Advanced Materials 27, 4, 599 (2014).
5. N. Spengler, J. Höfflin, A. Moazenzadeh, D. Mager, N. MacKinnon, V. Badilita, U. Wallrabe, and J. G. Korvink, Heteronuclear Micro-Helmholtz Coil Facilitates μm-Range Spatial and Sub-Hz Spectral Resolution NMR of nL-Volume Samples on Customisable Microfluidic Chips, PLoS ONE, e0146384, 2016.

Dr Vlad Badilita

Vlad Badilita has received his BSc (1997) and MSc (1999) degrees in Solid State Physics from the University of Bucharest, Romania. In 2004 he obtained the PhD degree in the field of Semiconductor Photonics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) with the thesis “Study of Vertical Coupled-Cavity Laser Structures” under the guidance of Prof. Marc Ilegems.

In 2005, Dr. Badilita joined the MEMS Sensors and Actuators Lab (MSAL) at the Univ. of Maryland at College Park as a postdoctoral research associate until 2007. Between 2007 and 2015, Dr. Badilita was with the Laboratory for Microactuators at IMTEK, Univ. of Freiburg as a Group Leader for Magnetic Microsystems.

In 2015, he moved to KIT at the Institute of Microstructure Technology as the group leader of the Spin & Photon Applications (SPA-) Laboratory. His research interests cover the broad area of MEMS with a focus on miniaturized detectors for magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging applications, as well as electromagnetic microactuators. In the framework of the TisuMR project, Dr. Badilita will be involved in the micro-MR detector design and subsequent integration with microfluidics for liver samples handling.

Related publications:

  1. V. Poletkin, Z. Lu, A. Moazenzadeh, S.G. Mariappan, J.G. Korvink, U. Wallrabe, V. Badilita, “Polymer Magnetic Composite Core Boosts Performance of Three-Dimensional Micromachined Inductive Contactless Suspension”, IEEE Magn. Lett., Vol. 7 (2016), 1307604 (4pp). (PDF)
  2. Poletkin, Z. Lu, U. Wallrabe, V. Badilita, “A New Hybrid Micromachined Contactless Suspension With Linear and Angular Positioning and Adjustable Dynamics”, IEEE J Microelectromechanical Systems, Vol. 24, No. 5, Oct. 2015. (PDF)
  3. Badilita, R.Ch. Meier, N. Spengler, U. Wallrabe, M. Utz, J.G. Korvink, “Microscale nuclear magnetic resonance: a tool for soft matter research”, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 10583. (PDF)
  4. Badilita, B. Fassbender, K. Kratt, A. Wong, C. Bonhomme, D. Sakellariou, J.G. Korvink, U. Wallrabe (2012) “Microfabricated Inserts for Magic Angle Coil Spinning (MACS) Wireless NMR Spectroscopy”, PLoS ONE 7(8): e42848. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042848. (PDF)
  5. Badilita, K. Kratt, N. Baxan, M. Mohmmadzadeh, T. Burger, H. Weber, D. v. Elverfeldt, J. Hennig, J.G. Korvink, and U. Wallrabe, On-chip three dimensional microcoils for MRI at the microscale, Lab Chip, 2010, 10, 1387–1390. (PDF)