Aggelos has joined the Au Sam lab, where he will be investigating biophysical traits of cancer cell clusters on 3D microfluidic transit chips. He is particularly interested in the metastasis principles during the blood transit, vasculature adherence and extravasation, which are the hallmark of metastatic disease and augmented mortality. Previously, he has joined a Chemical Engineering School and performed a Biomedical Engineering master, where he engaged on several organic chemistry and bioengineering-driven projects. His master thesis culminated with the development of a therapeutic interventional strategy to inhibit the effects of the pancreatic tumour microenvironment on cancer progression.

Rachel joined the Au Lab as a PhD candidate in October 2020. She is co-supervised by Dr Sam Au (Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London) and Dr Vania Braga (National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London) and is sponsored by Cancer research UK. Her research focuses on using organ-on-chip devices to investigate the biomechanics of tumour cell extrusion and migration leading to metastasis. She will explore how cell-cell and cell-ECM adhesions, intrinsic and extrinsic forces contribute to cell extrusion and migration in three dimensions. Rachel completed her MSc in molecular medicine at Imperial College in 2020 where she was introduced to organ-on-chip devices. As part of her research she was involved in the microfabrication of a pulmonary artery-on-a-chip-microfluidic device to model inflammatory responses of pulmonary arterial hypertension. She intends to use her knowledge of cancer biology and microfluidics to understand the fundamental mechanisms that drive tumour cell extrusion and migration.

Shusei has joined Au’s lab as an MRes student in 2019 and pursuing PhD from 2020 following the completion of his master's work. He is co-supervised by Dr James J. Choi (Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London) and funded by Rotary International Foundation. His research is focused on the development of ultrasound-mediated non-invasive brain surgery with acoustically-active microbubbles to treat Alzheimer’s disease and DIPG safely and effectively. As an in vitro part of his study, he is making a capillary-sized microfluidic device made of hydrogel with endothelial cells to understand microbubble physics and physiological effects under ultrasound sonication. During his undergraduate, Shusei worked on microfluidic manipulation of muscular proteins, actin and myosin, to assemble a microscale contractile bundle. As a master research student, he joined Imperial College to make use of his microfluidic background in the non-invasive surgical technique.

Neelima joined the department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London in 2020 as a PhD candidate. Her project focuses on investigating the biomechanical factors involved in the activation and differentiation of fibroblasts and their role in metastasis by using microfluidic models to mimic tumor microenvironments. Prior to joining Au’s lab, Neelima worked at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for cancer research, Harvard Medical School in Boston USA - isolating and identifying circulating tumor cells using microfluidics devices. Neelima completed her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University, in Boston USA.

Jingqi is developing a microfluidic chip to study the how specific extracellular matrix components affect tumour cell behaviour during metastatic colonisation in the lung. She is co-supervised by Dr Paul Huang at the Institute of Cancer Research, where she will be characterising the extracellular matrix of secondary tumours and their microenvironment through proteomic analysis. Prior to this, Jingqi completed 3 years of medical school, inclusive of a BSc research year at Imperial College London, and will return to her medical degree upon completion of the PhD.

Brian joined the Au Lab as an MRes Cancer Technology candidate in January 2022. He will be investigating how immune cells recognise and interact with circulating tumour cells (CTCs) trapped within capillary beds. Specifically, exploring how PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitors influence the ability of immune cells to recognise and destroy CTCs, within an organ-on-chip microfluidic device. Before coming to Imperial College, Brian studied Biomedical Engineering at the University of Limerick, where he undertook industry placement at BD Research Centre Ireland, developing a whole blood enrichment instrument to be used in series with flow cytometry systems. During his undergraduate degree, Brian’s final year project involved designing, manufacturing, and testing a PDMS point-of-care microfluidic diagnostic device. The device used the principles of impedance spectroscopy to rapidly evaluate microfluidic droplets of bacterial samples both quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, reducing the time of species identification compared to traditional clinical plating approaches.

Nader joined the Au Lab Bioengineering Group as a PhD Candidate in October, 2024, funded by a fellowship from the Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre. He is co-supervised by Prof. George Hanna (Surgery and Cancer Department, Imperial College London) and Prof. Jessica Strid (Immunology, Imperial College London). His research focuses on optimising a microfluidic platform for two-dimensional cultures derived from three-dimensional patient-derived organoids to select and sort cancer-reactive immune cells for subsequent immune-3D organoid coculture. This system will be used to investigate the volatilome of the cancer-immune interaction, with the aim of refining and optimising a breath test for the early detection of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and understanding immune-derived volatile biomarkers. As an upper GI surgical trainee, Nader brings a clinical perspective to this interdisciplinary project. His work seeks to contribute to the development of innovative diagnostic approaches for oesophageal cancer.

Gauhar is a PhD student focusing on extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their applications as delivery agents. She holds a bachelor's and master’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology from TU Munich, with research experience in AI-driven protein engineering, and a thesis project at Harvard Medical School and Wyss Institute focused on microbial engineering. Gauhar is also passionate about biotech innovation, bio-entrepreneuship and enjoys tennis in her free time