Current Members

Chang Liu, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Chang Liu, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, 2013

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, China, 2007

Dr. Liu joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as an Associate Professor in 2024. Before this, he started in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina as an Assistant Professor in 2018 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023.

In his early career, he worked as a Research Scientist at Arizona State University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Dr. Liu’s research interests include in vitro diagnostics, point-of-care devices, and translational biomarkers for improving healthcare. Dr. Liu received the NIH MIRA award, the NSF CAREER award, and the USC Breakthrough Stars award.

He is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Biophysical Society.

Email: chang@umass.edu

Rajiv Ranjan Thakur, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Rajiv Ranjan Thakur, Ph.D.

Ph.D., Engineering Sciences, CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, 2024

M.Tech., Microelectronics & VLSI System Design, National Institute of Technology, Mizoram, 2018

B.Tech., Electronics & Communication Engineering, Mizoram University (A Central University), 2015

Email: rajivranjant@umass.edu

Pengyi Wang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Pengyi Wang, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Labby Inc., 2024

Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, 2023

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2016

Email: pengyiwang@umass.edu

Anna Su

PhD Candidate

Anna Su

B.Eng., Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, China, 2022

Email: ansu@umass.edu

Jaeon Cho, Esq.

PhD Candidate

Jaeon Cho, Esq.

M.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2024

B.S., Biomolecular Science, New York University, 2021

LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center, 2016

J.D., University of Minnesota Law School, 2015

LL.B., Yonsei University, South Korea, 2011

Email: jaeoncho@umass.edu

Yujie Zhang

PhD Student

Yujie Zhang

M.Med., Basic Medicine, Peking University, 2025

B.S., Medical Laboratory Technology, Dalian University, 2022

Email: yujiez@umass.edu

Matthew Xia

Undergraduate Student

Matthew Xia

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Minor in Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Expected 2027

Email: matthewxia@umass.edu

Nika Chmigelski

Undergraduate Student

Nika Chmigelski

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Expected 2027

Email: vchmigelski@umass.edu

Alumni

  • Kara McClung (Undergraduate, 2018)
  • Rachel Teague (Undergraduate, 2018-2019)
  • Jonathan Gray (Undergraduate, 2018-2019)
  • Roberto Gambarini (Undergraduate, 2018-2019)
  • Leon Wang (High School, 2019-2021)
  • Gabriela Lozada Calle (REU, 2022)
  • Nyasia Brown (High School, 2022)
  • Leighton Buckner (Undergraduate, 2023-2024)
  • Xiaoqin Wang (Ph.D., 2019-2024)
  • Zehui Zhang (Ph.D., 2019-2024)
  • Sasha Buford (Undergraduate, 2023-2024)
  • Xiaojun Wei (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-2025)
  • Sanjayan C. G. (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-2025)
  • Ankur Ruhela (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2024-2026)
  • Andrew Hines (Master's Student, 2025-2026)