The Kamei Laboratory
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    • Daniel Kamei
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  • Research
    • On-Demand Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein
    • Automated Preconcentration, Capture, and Nanozyme Enhancement
    • One-pot DNA Concentration and Amplification
    • Point-of-Care Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak Detection
  • Publications
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Alumni

DOCTORATE

Bert Lao
Thesis: Diversified Approach to the Mathematical and Computational Modeling of Biological Systems (2008)
Next stop: Law student, UC Berkeley
Currently at: Senior Associate, Hogan Lovells 
Victor Sun
Thesis: Investigation of Amino Acid-Based Drug Delivery Vehicles (2009)
Next stop: 
Post-doctoral researcher, The Jackson Laboratory, Roopenian Lab
Currently at: 
Senior Scientist, AbbVie
Foad Mashayekhi
Thesis: Enhancing the Detection of Biomolecules Using Aqueous Two-Phase Micellar Systems (2011)
Next stop: Post-doctoral researcher, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering, Kamei Lab
Currently at: Senior Scientist at Illumina
Dennis Yoon
Thesis: Engineering Transferrin for Targeted-Drug Delivery (2011)
Next stop: Manager of Downstream Purification, Samsung
Currently at: Senior Quality Engineer, Illumina

Uh-Joo (Mike) Choe
Thesis: Investigating Novel Block Copolypeptide Vesicles for the Enhanced Delivery of Therapeutics (2013)
Next stop: Research Associate, Baxter Healthcare Corp
Ricky (Yin To) Chiu
Thesis: Nanoparticles for Therapeutic and Diagnostics Applications (2014)
Next stop: Post-doctoral researcher, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering, Kamei Lab
Currently at:​ CEO and Co-Founder, Phase Diagnostics
Kristine Mayle
Thesis: Novel Polypeptide-Based Biomaterials for Prostate Cancer Therapies (2015)
Next stop: Consultant, Deallus Strategic Intelligence Consulting
Currently at: Head of Corporate Strategy, Bench International  
Garrett Mosley​
Thesis: Enhancing Paper-Based Diagnostics through Quantitative Experimentation, Modeling, and Design (2016)
Next stop: Post-doctoral researcher, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering, Kamei Lab
Currently at: COO and Co-Founder, Phase Diagnostics
David Pereira​
Thesis: Enhancing the Phase Separation Rate of Aqueous Two-Phase Systems for Applications in Point-of-Care Diagnostics (2017)
Currently at: Research Scientist, Phase Diagnostics
Sherine Cheung​
Thesis: Development of Point-of-Care Diagnostic Technologies Utilizing Aqueous Two-Phase Systems​ (2019)
Next stop: Post-doctoral researcher, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering, Kamei Lab
Currently at: Scientist 1, Singular Genomics
Daniel Bradbury
Thesis: Nanotechnology for Improving Sensitivity and Quantitative Capabilities of Paper-Based Diagnostic Devices (2020)
Next Stop: ​Research Scientist, Phase Diagnostics

MASTERS

Wen-Lin Tsai
Thesis: Engineering transferrin to increase cellular association (2006)
Next stop: Associate engineer, Genentech, Process Research and Development
Currently at: Associate Scientist II, Gilead Sciences
Tracy Ying
Thesis: A Transferrin Variant Conjugated to Polyethylenimine Improves Transfection Efficiency (2012)
Next stop: Staff Research Associate, UCLA, Department of Biological Chemistry, Johnson Lab
Currently at: Senior Research Associate, Grail
Alec Le
Thesis: Improving the Lateral-Flow Immunoassay Using Aqueous Two-Phase Systems (2012)
Next stop: Medical student, New York University School of Medicine
Brian Lee
Thesis: Glutamate-Leucine Block Copolypeptides for Drug Delivery (2014)
Next stop: Engineer I, Baxter Healthcare Corp
Currently at: ​Research Associate, Phase Diagnostics
Allison Yip
Thesis: Fundamental Investigation of Triton Surfactant-Containing Aqueous Two-Phase Systems (2016)
Next stop: Medical student, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine
​Kevin Chen
Thesis: Development of Mutant Transferrin-Based Molecular Conjugates and Polypeptide-Based Gold Nanoshells as Targeted Drug Carriers for Cancer Therapy (2016)
Next stop: PhD student, Michigan State University, Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
Alison Thach
Thesis: Investigation of Gold Nanoprobe Extraction from Various Aqueous Two-Phase System Regions to Improve Lateral-Flow Immunoassay Detection of Protein and Bacterial Targets (2016)
Next stop: Quality Control Associate, ProZyme
Currently at: Research Associate, Grail

April Pan
Thesis:  Investigating Controlled Delivery of Biomolecules for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications (2017)
Currently at: PhD student, Northwestern University, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Matthew Yee
Thesis:  Ionic Liquid Aqueous Two-Phase Systems for Diagnostic Use in Point-of-Care Settings (2018)
Currently at: Life Science Research Assistant, The Glenn Lab, Stanford University
Nguyen Le
Thesis:  Developing Different Formats for Combining Aqueous Two-Phase Systems with Isothermal DNA Amplification (2019)
Currently at: ​Medical student, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
​Milad Azimi
Thesis: ​Automation of Nucleic Acid Amplification-based Diagnostic Assays for Point-of-care Use (2020)
Currently at: PhD student, Georgia Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Jasmine Trinh
Thesis: Metallic Nanoparticles for Expanding the Point-of-Care Applications of Paper-Based Diagnostic Devices (2022)
Currently at: Research Associate, Nautilus Biotechnology
Alexia Diaz
Thesis: ​Developing a Paper-Based Diagnostic Kit for the Detection of a Malaria Biomarker in Serum (2022)
Currently at: Research Associate, Cedars-Sinai
Paula Pandolfi
Thesis: Hydrogel Beads for the Detection of Disease Biomarkers in Resource-Limited Settings (2022)
Milo Ryan
Thesis: Incorporating Enzymatic Nanoparticles with the Lateral-Flow Immunoassay for Improved Diagnostic Capabilities (2022)
Currently at: Research Associate III, AltPep
Hanxu (Cecilia) Zhang
Thesis:  Rapid Detection of Disease Biomarkers Using Novel Hydrogel Beads (2022)
Currently at: Research Associate, Quantapore Inc.

VISITING SCIENTISTS

Takuma Tsuji
Project: Transferrin (2010)
Home: Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Japan
Currently at: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Molecular Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Japan
André Moreni Lopes
​
Project: Transferrin (2016)
Home: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Kensuke Hirota​
Project: Diagnostics (2019)
Home: Japan Patent Office, Japan
Currently at: Patent Examiner, Patent and Design Examination Department, Japan Patent Office, Japan

BACHELOR

Vu Nguyen
Project: Diagnostics (2007)
Next stop: Medical student, UC Davis
Currently at: Anesthesiologist, Private practice (after residency at Loma Linda University)

Xun Gong
Project: Vesicle (2008)
Next stop: 
MD/PhD student, Mayo Medical School
Christopher Ng
Project: Transferrin (2008)
Next stop: PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Currently at:​ Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MIT

Edward Pham
Project: Transferrin (2008)
Next stop: MD/PhD student, Stanford
Currently at: Internal medicine residency, Harrington Discovery Physician Scientist Pathway, Case Western Reserve University

Dahlia Siegel
Project: Vesicle (2008)
Next stop: Southern California Edison 
Currently at: Sourcing Manager, Microsoft (after MBA from Harvard)

Sergey Boyarskiy
Project: Vesicle (2009)
Next stop: PhD student, UC Berkeley, Bioengineering 
Currently at: Scientist, Intrexon, Department of Biochemistry, Bioassays and Screening

David Chu
Project: Transferrin (2009)
Next stop: PhD student, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering
Currently at​:
Senior Scientist, Avidity Biosciences
Aaron Meyer
Project: Diagnostics (2009)
Next stop: PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Currently at: Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, UCLA
Brian Pham
Project: Transferrin (2009)
Next stop: Morgan Stanley
Currently at:​ Principal, Sherpa Capital

Stacey Shiigi
Project: Diagnostics (2009)
Next stop: PhD student, Stanford University, Bioengineering
Currently at: Scientist, Intrexon, Department of Metabolic Engineering and Systems Biology

Felix Chao
Project: Transferrin (2010)
Next stop: Intern, Genentech
Currently at: Director of Business Development, Phase Diagnostics (after being Project Manager at SciClone)
Howard Dai
Project: Vesicle (2010)
Next stop: MD student, Texas A&M University
Currently at: Radiology residency, Baylor Scott & White Hospital
Byron Kwan
Project: Transferrin (2010)
Next stop: PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Currently at: Scientist, Seattle Genetics
Sophia Lin
Project: Vesicle (2010)
Next stop: PhD student, UC Irvine, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Currently at:​ Postdoctoral Fellow, Allergan

Gretchen Lam
Project: Transferrin (2011)
Next stop: MS student, Stanford University, Bioengineering
Currently at:​ Senior Research Associate, Becton Dickinson
Alec Le
Project: Diagnostics (2011)
Next stop: Masters student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering, Kamei Lab
Currently at: Medical student, New York University School of Medicine
William Lou
Project: Vesicle (2011)
Next stop: Medical student, Cornell Medical College
Currently at: Neurology residency, University of Washington

James-Kevin Tan
Project: Vesicle (2011)
Next stop: PhD student, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering
Currently at: Scientist, BioLegend

Christina Liu
Project: Transferrin (2012)
Next stop: Technical Communicator/Investigator, Baxter Healthcare Corp., Biosciences Division
Currently At: Supplier Quality Engineer, Medtronic Diabetes
Parsa Nafisi
Project: Diagnostics (2012)
Next stop: 
PhD student, UC Berkeley, Bioengineering
Devin Quinlan
Project: Vesicle (2012)
Next stop: 
PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Robert (Bob) Lamm
Project: Drug Delivery (2013)
Next stop:  PhD student, University of Washington, Department of Bioengineering
Cameron Yamanishi
Project:  Diagnostics (2013)
Next stop:  PhD student, University of Michigan, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Brian Lee
Project:  Vesicle (2013)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Juntian (Johnny) Wang
Project:  Transferrin (2013)
Next stop:  MD student, University of Pittsburgh
Stephanie Wang
Project:  Transferrin, Diagnostics (2014)
Next stop:  PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Allison Yip
Project:  Vesicle, Diagnostics (2014)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Erik Jue
Project: Diagnostics (2014)
Next stop:  PhD student, Caltech, Department of Bioengineering
Phuong Nguyen
Project: Diagnostics (2014)
Next stop:  DO student, Touro University Nevada
Samantha Cheng
Project: Drug Delivery, Diagnostics (2015)
Next stop:  Rotational Program, Abbott Laboratories
Currently at: ​Quality Engineer, Abbott Laboratories
Kevin Chen
Project: Drug Delivery (2015)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Kathryn Dern
Project: Drug Delivery, Diagnostics (2015)
Next stop:  MD student, UCSD
Alison Thach
Project: Drug Delivery, Diagnostics (2015)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Samantha Zhang
Project: Diagnostics (2016)
Next stop: MEng student, UCSD, Department of Bioengineering
Currently at: ​DO student, Kansas City University
Amy (Yue) Han
Project: Diagnostics (2016)
Next stop: JD student, Boston University
April Pan
Project: Diagnostics (2016)
Next stop:​ MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Chloe Wu
Project: Diagnostics (2017)
Next stop:​ PhD student, MIT, Department of Biological Engineering
Vincent Wong
Project: Drug Delivery, Diagnostics (2017)
Next stop:  Scribe, CCS Medical Group
Currently at: SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Matthew Yee
Project: Diagnostics (2017)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Christina Pearce
Project: Diagnostics (2017)
Next stop:​ Business Technology Consultant, Deloitte
Nguyen Le
Project: Diagnostics (2017)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Eumene Lee
Project: Diagnostics (2018)
Next stop:  Research associate, Truvian
Justin Paek
Project: Diagnostics (2018)
Next stop:  Research associate, System1 Biosciences
Elizabeth Gomes
Project: Diagnostics (2018)
Next stop:  MS student, UC Berkeley, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Emily Lee
Project: Diagnostics (2019)
Next stop:  PhD student, UC Davis, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Grace Emmel
Project: Diagnostics (2019)
Next stop: Research associate, Kite Pharma
Cecilie Falktoft
Project: Diagnostics (2019)
Next stop: Apeel Sciences, Inc.
Milad Azimi
Project: Diagnostics (2019)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Inga Hwang
​

Eric Yang
Project​: Diagnostics (2020)
Next Stop: Medical Assistant, Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Project​: Diagnostics (2020)
Next Stop: USC Medical School
Mariam Carson
Project​: Diagnostics (2020)
Next Stop: MS student, UCSF, Institute for Global Health Sciences
Alexia Diaz
Project: Diagnostics (2021)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering​
Jasmine Trinh
Project: Diagnostics (2021)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering​
Milo Ryan
Project: Diagnostics (2021)
Next stop:  MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering​
Pedram Heidarpour​
Project: Diagnostics (2021)
Next Stop:
Cryptocurrency and Block Chain Development, ARCrypto
Hanxu (Cecilia) Zhang​
Project: Diagnostics (2021)
Next Stop:
MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Veronica Campbell
Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Next Stop: Tufts University School of Medicine
Matthew Prasetyo
Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Next Stop: ME student, UCSD, Department of Bioengineering
Adam Toubian
Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Next Stop: MS student, UCLA, Department of Bioengineering
Cassandra Cantu
Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Iza Spaczai
​Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Next Stop: Project Manager Intern, Genentech
Xuwen (Amy) Lou
​Project: Diagnostics (2022)
Next Stop: MS student, UCSD, Department of Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering | UCLA 
420 Westwood Plaza | Los Angeles, CA 90095-1600 
kamei@seas.ucla.edu