People

Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering

Dr. Xu joined Professor Chakrabarty’s lab in 2024 as a Senior Staff Scientist. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from the University of Arkansas. Since then, he has been working in the field of electrochemical biosensor development for almost 10 years, particularly in the detection of pathogens and biomarkers. His work also involves the application of novel bio-derived materials and the design of micro-scale bioelectronic devices. He is especially interested in developing integrated systems for air quality monitoring.

Shrabani joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Associate in May 2024. She got her PhD in Climate Science from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India, in 2022. Her research focuses on risk and hazard assessment of natural disasters and extreme events. Her current project focuses on assessing vulnerability and risk for Influenza and Alzheimer’s disease, as a result of PM2.5 exposure.

Ben joined the Chakrabarty lab as a postdoctoral scholar in 2020 after receiving his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, and after this appointment he remained as a Senior Staff Scientist. His focus is on novel optical instrumentation to measure the radiative impacts of biomass burning emissions, particularly brown carbon aerosol as it evolves in the atmosphere. He also contributes expertise in two-phase flow and instrumentation design to develop real-time virus detection systems for indoor spaces and at patient point-of-care.

Joseph is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering and holds a joint appointment as an Instructor of Research in the Department of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine. He studies the health impacts of exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and develops lab-based protocols to quantify these effects. Joseph focuses on designing and developing real-time automated instruments to sample and analyze aerosols from ambient air. His analyses cover toxicity, virus detection, and optical properties of aerosols. He is particularly interested in understanding the interaction between air pollution exposure and its link to toxicity in cellular, acellular, and  Alzheimer’s disease animal models.

Taveen joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher in 2023 after getting his PhD from IIT Bombay, India. He studies aerosol emissions and optical properties using measurement and physics-based modeling techniques. His present research is on understanding the optical properties of candidate aerosol particles for stratospheric aerosol injection geoengineering.

Joshin embarked on his doctoral journey with the Chakrabarty research lab in Fall 2020. His research focuses on understanding the optical properties of atmospheric aerosols and their interplay with solar radiation. Leveraging modeling, simulations, and machine learning, the ultimate objective of his work is to gain deeper insights into how these aerosols influence our climate.

Ganesh Srinivas Chelluboyina aspires to improve understanding of wildfire driven glacier melt. After graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay with a Bachelor of Technology in 2020, he joined the PhD program in Aerosol Science and Technology at Washington University in St. Louis. Ganesh is a recipient of the Quad Fellowship and the McDonnell International graduate fellowship.

Dishit joined the Chakrabarty Group as a PhD student in Fall 2021. His research is centered around the design of novel diagnostic tools tailored for the rapid and point-of-care detection of respiratory viruses, including but not limited to SARS-CoV-2. He is currently working on in-lab fabrication of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) as an alternative to commercial electrodes for potential applications in electrochemical biosensing.

Joining Dr. Rajan Chakrabarty’s lab in Fall 2021, August initially worked on intercomparing the absorption coefficient measurements between filter-based and particles-phase instruments on biomass burning aerosols. He also participated in the TRACER field campaign during summer of 2022, investigating the physical, chemical, and optical properties of ambient aerosols in La Porte, Texas. His current research focuses on understanding the health effects of different aerosol particles through exposure studies.

Shu-Wen joined the Chakrabarty Group as a PhD student in Fall 2022. His research interest involves dark brown carbon (d-BrC) tar balls generation and the effects of atmospheric aging on their optical properties.

Prabhav joined the Chakrabarty Group as a PhD student in Fall 2022. His current research  focuses on modelling the photoacoustic design to optimize the geometry and maximising acoustic amplification.

Navinya Chimurkar, a Fulbright visiting research scholar, has joined our team since September 2023. At WashU, he dedicates his research efforts to comprehending the climate impact of brown carbon particles stemming from various sources. Alongside his work with us, Navinya is a full-time PhD student in Climate Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, where he focuses on characterizing aerosol emissions from the non-cooking residential sector in India.

Keyao Song joined the Chakrabarty group as an undergraduate researcher in Spring 2024 to seek her passion for air quality and pollution. She is a class of 2026 student who majors in Chemical Engineering. Her current focus is on building a multiplexing potentiostat. During her free time, she likes to go rock climbing and swimming.

Valerie Viteri joined the Chakrabarty group in Spring 2023 seeking to explore her passion for sustainability through the lenses of research. She is an undergraduate student majoring in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Energy Engineering. Initially, she was learning about current research projects and working on HYSPLIT imaging. Now, she is investigating aerosol pollution through the SPARTAN database.