Faculty & Staff

Emmanuel Agu is currently a professor in the computer science department at WPI having received his Masters and PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His research interests are in the areas of computer graphics, mobile computing, and wireless networks. He is especially interested in research into how to use a smartphone as a platform to deliver better healthcare. In collaboration with researchers at WPI and at UMass Medical School, he is currently working on NIH-funded research project to create a mobile application for chronic wound care ...

The Bourgeois Lab strives to understand how pathogens and their hosts interact. Specifically, we leverage natural diversity (pathogen and host diversity) to understand how and why we observe variation in infection-related phenomena (e.g. inflammation, transmission, disease severity). Our work primarily involves studying the atypical Gram negative spirochete that causes Lyme disease--Borrelia burgdorferi. A B. burgdorferi infection is acquired through an infected Ixodes tick bite and can manifest in a wide range of symptoms, including erythema migrans, arthritis, carditis, or neurological ...

Defining signaling pathways that program cellular diversity is one of the foremost problems in biology and is central to my research interests.  In the lab we use molecular, genetic, and biochemical approaches to characterize the function of these pathways and to gain insight into their role in disease.  To date, the lab has focused on the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor network, a principal therapeutic target for a variety of human cancers.  This work involved the characterization of Kekkon1 (Kek1), an archetypal LIG molecule, as a novel feedback inhibitor of the EGFR network. ...

My research seeks to apply causal inference and data science methods to intensive longitudinal data while addressing issues of missingness, non-stationarity, and latent variables. This work is motivated by mobile studies that employ wearable devices or smartphones to collect data and applications to improve understanding of mental health and health disparities. I am passionate about increasing accessibility and diversity in the field of statistics. Please visit my website to learn more about my research and teaching. 

Shane McInally is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology. His research focuses on understanding the molecular and physical mechanisms that cells use to control and scale the size of their internal structures with distinct aspects of their geometry. He received a BS from the University of California, Riverside, an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from the University of California, Davis. Most recently he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Biology and Physics Departments at Brandeis University.

Aya Narunsky is a computational biochemist focusing on the molecular evolution of proteins and RNA. She completed her PhD at Tel Aviv University under the mentorship of Prof. Nir Ben-Tal, where she became fascinated with origin-of-life research through her studies on the evolution of protein-ligand interactions. She then joined the lab of Prof. Ronald Breaker at Yale University as a postdoctoral researcher, where she led the computational discovery and characterization of novel noncoding RNAs in bacteria. Her work revealed that some of these ancient RNAs may also control essential biological ...

Research in my lab is focused on investigating signaling mechanisms of neuronal development and genetic basis of rare neurodevelopmental disorders. Specifically, we are interested in studying how specialized cellular compartments called primary cilia modulate development and function of neuronal cell types. Primary cilia are found on the surface of most human cells including neurons, where they function akin to cellular antennae detecting and transmitting a myriad of signaling cues. Due to their central role in cell signaling, primary cilia are critical for normal progression of the ...

I work with Dr. Jean King, where our research is broadly focused on identifying and studying neurobehavioral mechanisms of mental and physical illness and developing and applying effective interventions.  Our current focus is a 9 million dollar NIH UG3/UH3 award to use machine learning to identify predictors of responders to mindfulness meditation based interventions for chronic low back pain using comprehensive biopsychosocial data, including Fitbit data.  This research initiative includes collaborators at Boston Medical Center and UMass Chan Medical School in addition to several WPI faculty. ...

At WPI, I enjoy teaching all courses fundamental to applied mathematics, scientific computing, and modeling. I look forward to mentoring students interested in working on areas in Mathematical Biology, Computational Biofluids, and Scientific Computing. I specialize in Mathematical Biology, understanding emergent properties of complex systems. The goals of these models are to understand the underlying biological processes and make predictions. Please visit my website to learn more about recent research projects.

My research focuses on compressed sensing, machine learning, signal processing, and the interaction between mathematics, computer science and software engineering. My interests range from theoretical results to algorithms for tackling practical applied problems, and I enjoy problems most when mathematical results lead to efficient software implementations for big data. I am looking forward to working with students at all levels and backgrounds who share an interest in mathematics, software, or data. Some problems that have captured my interest include network analysis for cyber defense, and ...

A member of the WPI faculty since 2004 and chair of the Department of Biology and Biotechnology since 2022, Reeta Rao is a leader in the field of molecular genetics and genomics. Her primary research activities are focused on emerging infectious diseases, specifically understanding and managing fungal diseases. Students and research associates in her laboratory are trained to use a variety of biochemical, molecular-genetic, and genomic tools to study host-microbe interactions to explore fungal virulence strategies and identify novel therapeutics in a high throughput fashion. ...

I have a passion for understanding how living systems work, as well as for sharing my love of biology and research with the next generation of scientists and informed citizens.The central goal of my lab is to understand the regulatory mechanisms that underlie mycobacterial stress tolerance. We combine genetics, genomics, transcriptomics and biochemistry to understand how mycobacteria respond to, and ultimately survive, stressful conditions.Our guiding principles are curiosity, respect, and scientific rigor. Together we strive to push the boundaries of knowledge and advance our field by ...

It has been my lifelong dream to become a professor in the field of Biology. Being a faculty member provides a great opportunity to teach and interact with students. Students by nature are highly inquisitive and motivated, and as teachers, we have the responsibility to guide our students to explore and think in new ways. I believe that teaching is a two-way interaction between teachers and students. I come from India and my parents, both of whom were teachers, taught me to strive for excellence in my scholarly pursuits. Science bears no geographical barriers and my academic training has taken ...

Professor Wen is an experimental biophysicist who is interested in applying physical methods to understand biological phenomena. By measuring the mechanical properties of living cells and the mechanical interaction between cells and ECM, he aims to understand how cells convert external mechanical signals to internal biochemical signals that govern cellular function, including cell morphology, migration, and differentiation. His research will help to design novel materials for wound healing, tissue engineering, and tumor treatment.Professor Wen is leading a research group with students from ...

My research involves analysing size and shape development in biological processes. The form of living systems can be affected by growth and internal force, so it is important to know how they are patterned spatial-temporally. To do this, I develop deterministic approximate inference schemes using static and live imaging data; and develop mathematical models and numerical methods to describe tissue growth and morphogenesis. My research at WPI has attracted interest from all levels of students, and they have become enthusiastic and creative contributors.

Professor Wu's research interest lies in applying the power of statistical science to promote biomedical researches. In statistical genetics, he is developing novel statistical theory and methodology to analyze genome-wide association (GWA) data and deep (re)sequencing data to hunt new genetic factors for complex human diseases. In epigenetics, he is studying gene expression regulation mechanisms through chromatin interaction, and RNA silencing pathways in the developmental stages of germ-line cells. In clinical studies, he is establishing statistical models to predict carotid atherosclerotic ...

I am an Administrative Assistant for the Computer Science Department and Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (BCB Program). My responsibility includes working with Department Heads and faculty with undergraduate administrative assistants, purchasing, hourly hiring, timesheet approval, and building/lab access. Before joining WPI, I was an independent college counselor assisting students with their undergraduate and graduate applications. I also held several software engineering positions, including 16 years as a principal software developer at Dell EMC Corporation. I obtained a ...