Professor Ali K. Yetisen PhD MEd
Ali Yetisen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He has a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering (Biotechnology) from the University of Cambridge. He went on to work as a Tosteson Fellow at Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology.
e-mail: Ali Yetisen / a.yetisen@imperial.ac.uk
Sarah Payne (Administrator)
Sarah joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as an Academic Administrator 38 years ago. Since then, Sarah has witnessed constant change at Imperial and in the technology we use.
e-mail: Sarah Payne / s.everall@imperial.ac.uk
Eleni Chatzilakou (PhD Student)
Eleni Chatzilakou is developing biosensing technologies for point-of-care diagnosis of skin cancer. She holds a MEng in Chemical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, during which she developed biopolymer based scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. She has worked for the Spanish National Research Council, the National Centre of Scientific Research of Greece "Demokritos", as well as for the pharmaceutical company “Pharmathen S.A.”.
e-mail: Eleni Chatzilakou / e.chatzilakou22@imperial.ac.uk
Lin Wang (PhD Student)
Lin Wang obtained her MRes degree at Imperial, which focused on characterizing a reusable fluorescent sensor for detecting ascorbic acid in tears. Previously, she completed her double BSc (Hons) degree in chemistry (2020) at University of Edinburgh and East China University of Science and Technology. Now, her research interest focuses on developing fluorescent biosensors for point-of-care diagnostics.
e-mail: Lin Wang / lin.wang21@imperial.ac.uk
Xiaoye Xia (PhD Student)
Xiaoye Xia obtained his MRes degree in Department of Molecular Engineering at Imperial concentration on the automatic isolation of cancer cells in microfluidic environment. Now, his research interest focuses on integrating wearable biosensors and intelligent interaction.
e-mail: Xiaoye Xia / x.xia20@imperial.ac.uk
Wenhao Le (PhD Student)
Wenhao focuses on the development of optical fiber sensors for continuous monitoring of spinal cord injuries. During his MEng studies, he primarily focused on biosensors used for ascorbic acid detection.
e-mail: Wenhao Le / wenhao.le19@imperial.ac.uk
Tong Huang (PhD Student)
Mr. Tong Huang completed his Master of Medicine degree with a major in Ophthalmology. His research focuses on tear-based contact lens biosensors for diabetic retinopathy detection. Co-supervisor: Prof. Francesca Cordeiro.
email: Tong Huang / t.huang24@imperial.ac.uk
Sum Lau (PhD student)
Sum focuses his research in neurodegenerative disease monitoring, with a particular interest in Parkinson's disease. He also specialises in microneedle sensors, optimising their mechanical performance with innovative material design. Sum double-majored in material science and biomedical engineering during his bachelor's at the University of Hong Kong, and studied MSc biomedical engineering (biomaterials stream) at Imperial.
e-mail: Sum Lau / sum.lau22@imperial.ac.uk
Clara Kim (PhD student)
Clara Kim obtained a MRes degree at Imperial for Machine Learning at Imperial, building on a BSc in Applied Medical Sciences from UCL. Her research interest focuses on developing intelligent, data-driven systems for healthcare applications, with particular interests in wearable diagnostics, medical devices, and human–technology interaction. Clara is passionate about translating advanced AI/ML methods into practical tools through using biochemical sensors that improve patient monitoring and enable more personalized, accessible healthcare.
e-mail: Clara Kim / t.kim24@imperial.ac.uk
Shuyi Zhang (PhD Student)

Shuyi Zhang majored in polymer materials and technology, he has obtained his BEng degrees from both Northwestern Polytechnical University and Queen Mary University of London. Now, his research interest is focusing on implantable biosensors for real-time diagnostics.
e-mail: Shuyi Zhang / shuyi.zhang23@imperial.ac.uk
Leena Khelifa (PhD Student)
Leena is working under the supervision of Dr Ali Yetisen and Dr Louis Chesler in the South Kensington campus and Royal Marsden Hospital. Her thesis focuses on lateral-flow assays as a point-of-care diagnostic device for early neuroblastoma detection.
e-mail: Leena Khelifa / leena.khelifa17@imperial.ac.uk
Yihan Zhang (PhD Student)
Yihan Zhang's research interest is the corporation of machine learning and wearable biosensors. During his MEng study, he worked on applying genome-scale metabolic model for IgG production.
e-mail: Yihan Zhang / yihan.zhang17@imperial.ac.uk
Nina Petrovičová (Visiting PhD Student)
Nina Petrovičová is currently a PhD student at the Slovak University of Technology, with a research focus on biosensors. Her interests include the development of tattoo biosensors for innovative and non-invasive health monitoring. She collaborates on the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London project . Her academic background bridges biosensor technology and environmental engineering, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to sensor development.
E-mail: Nina Petrovičová / n.petrovicova24@imperial.ac.uk
Yuqi Shi (PhD Student)
Yuqi Shi is working on fluorescent contact lens sensors for ocular disease diagnosis. She holds an M.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College London (2019-2020). Previously, she worked on organic synthesis and completed her B.Sc. in Chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 2019. Her research interests are biochemical engineering, drug delivery, and personalized treatments.
e-mail: Yuqi Shi / yuqi.shi19@imperial.ac.uk
Yue Wu (PhD Student)
Mr. Yue Wu obtained his bachelor’s degree of clinical medicine in Nanchang University and bachelor’s degree of biomedical science in Queen Mary University of London. His research interest is glaucoma, including early diagnosis of glaucoma and new treatment methods. Co-supervisor: Prof Francesca Cordeiro
e-mail: Yue Wu / y.wu20@imperial.ac.uk
Talia Somen (MRes Student)
Talia obtained her BSc in Chemistry from the University of Bristol. She is now pursuing an MRes in Chemical Biology and Bio-Entrepreneurship. As part of this MRes, she will be taking part in research related to 3D printed lateral flow assays for Glaucoma.
e-mail: Talia Somen / t.somen25@imperial.ac.uk
Yunke Liu (MSc Student)
Yunke is currently an MSc student in Advanced Chemical Engineering with Biotechnology at Imperial College London, with a research focus in optical biosensing, aptamer–nanoparticle systems, and point-of-care diagnostics. He is currently working on Aptamer-Based Optical Detection of LCN1 Using AuNPs with Tong Huang (PhD student). Previously he studied his bachelor's in chemical engineering at the University of Edinburgh.
e-mail: Yunke Liu / yunke.liu25@imperial.ac.uk
Hannah Hawkins (MSc Student)
Hannah Hawkins is currently an MSc student in Advanced Chemical Engineering with Biotechnology at Imperial College London in the Department of Chemical Engineering. She previously completed her undergraduate degree in Genetics at the University of Leeds. Her current research focuses on the development of wearable biosensors for monitoring Parkinson’s disease biomarkers.
e-mail: Hannah Hawkins / hannah.hawkins25@imperial.ac.uk
Brenda Li (MSc Student)
Brenda is currently an MSc student in Genes, Drugs and Stem Cells at Imperial College London. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Medical Biosciences, also at Imperial College London. Her current research focuses on microneedle-based optical biosensors for real-time lactate monitoring.
e-mail: Brenda Li / brenda.li22@imperial.ac.uk
Ivan Chan (MSc Student)
Ivan is an MSc student in Genes, Drugs and Stem Cells at Imperial College London. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on developing a skin-worn optical biosensor for continuous sepsis monitoring using hydrogel-based sensing matrices and fluorescence characterisation.
e-mail: Ivan Chan / ivan.chan25@imperial.ac.uk
Michelle Maria (MSc Student)
Michelle Maria is currently pursuing an MSc in Novel Therapies at the Department of National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Sathyabama University, India. Her current research focuses on developing minimally invasive optical microneedle sensors for tracking Parkinson’s disease with Sum Lau (PhD student).
e-mail: Michelle Maria / michelle.maria25@imperial.ac.uk
Zhaojia Wang (MSc Student)
Zhaojia Wang is currently an MSc student in Genes, Drugs, and Stem Cells - Novel Therapies at Imperial College London. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences at King’s College London. Her current research focuses on wearable biosensors for neurodegenerative diseases.
e-mail: Zhaojia Wang / zhaojia.wang25@imperial.ac.uk
Yunkang Xu (MSc Student)
Yunkang studied chemical engineering and obtained his bachelor’s degree from Swansea University. Now he is taking part in research on hydrogel optical fiber biosensors for brain monitoring.
e-mail: Yunkang Xu / yunkang.xu24@imperial.ac.uk
Selin Basol (MSc Student)
Selin Basol is currently a MSc student in the Department of National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London. She obtained her Bachelors degree in Neuroscience and Psychology at Kings College London. Her latest research interest is wearable ocular biosensors for the detection of neurodegenerative diseases.
e-mail: Selin Basol / selin.basol24@imperial.ac.uk
Caitlin Mohseni-Downing (MRes Student)

Caitlin Mohseni-Downing is an MRes student in Biomedical Science Research at Imperial College London. She graduated from Queen’s University in Canada with a bachelor’s degree in Health Science. During her undergraduate degree, she completed research in the department of Urology at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada.
e-mail: Caitlin Mohseni-Downing / c.mohseni-downing24@imperial.ac.uk
Nicola Lam (MSc Student)
Nicola is a master's student in the Genes, Drugs, and Stem Cells, Novel Therapies program in Imperial College London. She previously obtained her bachelor's degree in Medical Biosciences, also at Imperial.
e-mail: Nicola Lam / nicola.lam21@imperial.ac.uk
Yingran Jin Fu (MSc Student)
Yingran Jin Fu is currently pursuing her degree at Imperial College London within the Department of the National Heart and Lung Institute. She previously graduated from University of Sussex with her undergraduate degree on Biomedical Sciences. Her current research focuses on the development of a blister skin model.
Name: Yingran Jin Fu / yingran.fu24@imperial.ac.uk
Noah Hillier (MSc Student)
Noah is a MSc Genes, Drugs and Stem Cells student at Imperial College London. He holds a Bachelors degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Kent. His current research is on developing a wearable biosensor for mental health.
e-mail: Noah Hillier / noah.hillier24@imperial.ac.uk
Taha Yildirim Yildirim (MSc Student)
Taha Yildirim is currently an MSc student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Manchester, and later transitioned into the field of engineering and biotechnology. His latest research interest focuses on wearable biosensors for mental health monitoring, specifically the integration of aptasensors into microneedle-based patches for real-time biomarker detection
e-mail: Taha Yildirim Yildirim / taha.yildirim24@imperial.ac.uk
Shai Lemer (MSc Student)
Shai is an MSc student in Genes, Drugs, and Stem Cells - Novel Therapies at Imperial College London. He earned his bachelor's degree in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol. His research interests include wearable biosensors for mental health.
e-mail: Shai Lemer / shai.lemer24@imperial.ac.uk
Zhihan Duan (MSc Student)
Zhihan Duan is currently an MSc student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology from Dalian University of Technology. Her current research focuses on microneedle materials for biosensing applications, particularly in the detection of melanoma-related biomarkers.
e-mail: Zhihan Duan / duan.zhihan24@imperial.ac.uk
Xiaoxiao Shen (MSc Student)
Xiaoxiao Shen is currently pursuing an MSc degree in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Her current research focuses on developing a wearable biosensor for real-time monitoring of mental health by detecting dopamine levels.
e-mail: Xiaoxiao Shen / xiaoxiao.shen24@imperial.ac.uk
Chrysostomos Kkamaris (BSc Student)
Chrysostomos is a medical student from King’s College London currently completing his intercalated BSc in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Imperial College London. His research focuses on wearable optical biosensors for the continuous monitoring of biomarkers in interstitial fluid, aiming to develop a novel optical method to enable non-invasive, real-time lactate monitoring for use in ICU settings, including shock, sepsis, and trauma.
e-mail: Chrysostomos Kkamaris / chrysostomos.kkamaris25@imperial.ac.uk
William W Chan
William is currently pursuing master’s degree in Genes, Drugs and Stem Cells – Novel Therapies at Imperial. With a strong interest in regenerative medicine, particularly in the context of the central nervous system, he is dedicated to exploring innovative approaches for neurological repair and recovery.
e-mail: William W Chan / william.chan24@imperial.ac.uk
Gabriel Pradadeville (MEng Student)

Callum Tung (MEng Student)

Alice Kisala (MRes Student)
Sophie Richter (Research Assistant)
Sophie is a designer and researcher, and recently graduated with a MRes in Healthcare & Design from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. She is a MedTech SuperConnector Fellow at the Yetisen Research Group to develop programmable medical devices that change the way we treat and heal musculoskeletal diseases.
e-mail: Sophie Richter / s.richter20@imperial.ac.uk
Wendy Ren (iBSc Student)
Wendy is a medical student from Imperial College School of Medicine currently completing her intercalated BSc in Pharmacology. Her research focuses on biosensors and their use in spinal cord injury.
e-mail: Wendy Ren / wendy.ren21@imperial.ac.uk
Yubing Hu (Research Associate)
Dr. Yubing Hu received her bachelor's degree from Zhejiang University (2016) and earned her Ph.D. degree from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2020). During her PhD, she developed of fluorescent polymeric materials for sensing and imaging applications.
e-mail: Yubing Hu / yubing.hu@imperial.ac.uk
Yunuen Montelongo (Visiting Research Fellow)
Dr. Montelongo completed his PhD studies in photonics at the University of Cambridge and received the prestigious scholarships from Cambridge Trust and Fitzwilliam College. In 2014 he finished, his PhD studies and began a post-doctoral position at Imperial Collage London where he continued studying photonic materials.
e-mail: Yunuen Montelongo / yunuen.montelongo@eng.ox.ac.uk
Jeff Blyth (Research Associate)
Jeff Blyth has worked as a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge over two decades. He has pioneered methods of processing holograms and simultaneously did an M.Phil. degree on developing photopolymers to record holograms with laser light. In 1992, with a grant from the Leverhulme Trust he joined the University of Cambridge to develop holographic biosensors.
e-mail: Jeff Blyth / jeffinbath@ntlworld.com
Nan Jiang (Research Associate)
Dr Nan Jiang earned her M.S. and Ph.D. degree from Wuhan University of Technology. After her PhD study, she worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. Her research is aimed at nanostructured biomaterials, biosensors, microfluidic chips and cell surface engineering.
e-mail: Nan Jiang
Rosalia Moreddu (Research Associate)
Ms. Moreddu received her B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Cagliari and her M.Sc. in Nanotechnology from Polytechnic of Turin. She completed her PhD in Imperial College and University of Birmingham in 2021, followed by a postdoctoral position in the Italian Institute of Technology. Her research interests are in lab-on-a-chip devices.
e-mail: Rosalia Moreddu
Alumni
Postdoctoral fellows
Dr. Yubing Hu (Assistant Professor, Shenzhen University)
Dr. Aydan Agan (Assistant Professor, Duzce University)
Dr. Nan Jiang (Professor, Sichuan University)
Dr. Guoliang Ying (Professor, Sichuan University)
PhD Students
Dr. Aditi Gupta (Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University)
Dr. Rajib Ahmed (Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University)
Dr. Rosalia Moreddu (Postdoctoral Fellow, Italian Institute of Technology)
Dr. Nicholas Farandos (Chief Technology Officer, Utility Global)
Dr. Xingchen Dong (Research Scientist, Tsinghua University)
Dr. Bader A. AlQattan (Postdoctoral Fellow, Khalifa University)
Dr. Mohamed Elsherif (Postdoctoral Fellow, Khalifa University)
Dr. Angie Davina Tjandra (Senior Scientist, AB Mauri)
Dr. Sam Davies (Research And Development Scientist, Thermulon)
MSc/MRes Students
Zhenkang Zhu (PhD Student, University of Oxford)
Karthikeya Deshmukh (PhD Student, University of Cambridge)
Wolfgang Kurz (PhD Student, Technical University of Munich)
Marta Lucía Domínguez Pazos (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology)
Sarah Saadouni (Materials Scientist, Biophilica)
Julia Mueck (Manufacturing Technology Centre - MTC)
Ziyi Yu (Sinopec)
Xinge Shao (BASF)
Yuxiao Yang (Medical Device Division, Mindray)
Shuhan Wang (Dow Chemical Company)
Dasan Guo (Alibaba)
Zhisheng Pan (Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company)
Zhenkang Zhu (Taier Wisdom Laser Technology Co Ltd, Shanghai)
Undergraduate Students
Marieke De Bock (PhD student, MIT)
Arbri Kopliku (PhD student, MIT)
Yimeng Jiao (PhD student, University of the Arts London)
Andreas Richardson (Business Analyst, McKinsey)
Rebecca Clancy (Consultant, Appian Corporation)
Yunzheng Liu (Department of Physics, University of Chicago)
Sergey Flyax (MSc Student, Technical University of Munich)
Sarah Seifi (MSc student, Technical University of Munich)
Carmen Castañeda Gonzalez (MSc student, Technical University of Munich)
Simon Stößer (MSc student, Technical University of Munich)
Bugra Soylemezoglu (Qualcomm)
Izlen Erenoglu (Max Planck Institute)
Samira Balbach (MSc Student, Technical University of Munich)
Su A Yang (Scientific Researcher, Tomocube)
Sofia Medina Pando (Clinical Account Specialist, Johnson & Johnson)
Joshua Scherrer (Team Leader, AmeriCorps)
Wenhao Le (PhD student, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College)
Guohui Liu (BASF)

