Lab Members

Professor Shriya Srinivasan, PhD

Mali Halac

Mali is a Ph.D. student in bioengineering at Harvard SEAS. He received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Drexel University, focusing on wireless electronics and digital signal processing. His previous research involves non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) design, machine learning methods for neural signal processing, and algorithm development for molecular biology applications. At BIONICs Lab, he designs peripheral nerve interfaces with the goal of establishing functional recovery.

Patrick Pariseau

Patrick is a Ph.D. student in bioengineering at Harvard SEAS. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biomedical and electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, focusing on biomechanics and solid state electronic devices. His previous research entailed clinical experiments for improved motor control of upper limb prostheses, computational modeling of peripheral nerves, and development of bioresorbable electrodes. As a BIONICs Lab member, Patrick is interested in reconstructive surgeries and implantable electronics for treatment of neurological disorders.

Zixi (Zeo) Liu

Zixi (Zeo) Liu is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard Biorobotics Group, focusing on robotic grasping and tactile sensing, specifically on grasp stability estimation and prediction using physical models as well as machine learning. She earned her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. Her Master’s thesis work was with the Biomechatronics Group at MIT Media Lab on ultrasound-based apparatus for custom prosthetic sockets. At the Harvard BIONICs Lab, she works on using functional electrical stimulation to help patients with paralysis regain hand functions via intuitive control.

Emma Farina

Emma is a masters student from EPFL, Switzerland, specializing in neuroengineering. She is focused on neuroprosthetics in the field of sensorimotor restoration.

Lillian Zhu

Lillian Zhu is a medical student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. She previously worked in bacterial biophysics and genetic assay development, and she is currently interested in reconstructive surgery addressing functional deficits and pain after injury.

Anni Liu

Anni is currently a master’s student in Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zurich with a focus on Medical Physics. Her research interest lies in exploring the potential of data-driven technologies to contribute to various biomedical fields, including imaging, biomechatronics and radiotherapy.

Deepika Gopalakrishnan

Deepika Gopalakrishnan is a master’s student in design engineering at Harvard GSD and SEAS. She is passionate about designing interventions to tackle unmet healthcare needs in developing countries. She co-founded a healthcare innovation startup, dVerse Labs, and launched a certified device across hospitals in India before joining Harvard. She is interested in developing human-centered medical devices that reduce healthcare expenses while overall improving the patient or clinician experience. In addition to her healthcare work, Deepika has a passion for STEM and design education and she enjoys mentoring students in creating impactful interventions. She also enjoys illustrating and is a freelance children’s book illustrator.

Lisa Gferer, MD, PhD

Lisa Gfrerer is Assistant Professor in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM). She received her MD degree at the Medical School of Vienna prior to completing a PhD in Genetics at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She graduated from the Harvard Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program, and completed the Advanced Peripheral Nerve and Microsurgery at the  Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Clinically, her focus is peripheral nerve surgery including headache surgery, breast reinnervation, as well as advanced nerve reconstruction for restoration of motor and sensory function after iatrogenic and accidental injury. She has built a multi- institutional research program for headache surgery, breast/chest reinnervation, as well as functional nerve disorders and nerve pain. As an affiliate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) she has further focused on innovation and device development to enhance peripheral nerve regeneration.

Avik Som, MD, PhD

Avik Som, MD, PhD is an interventional radiology resident at MGH specializing on the minimally invasive applications of biomaterials using image guidance.  He helps lead the IR Device lab at MGH, irlab.mgh.harvard.edu, and works as a visiting scientist in the Langer/Traverso labs, as well as in the Mahmood/ Wehrenberg-Klee labs at MGH.  He completed his MD/PhD at Washington University in St. Louis with Dr. Samuel Achilefu.

Joshua D. Bernstock MD, PhD, MPH

Joshua is a resident physician (Neurosurgery) at Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s Hospitals who intends to specialize in in pediatric neurosurgical oncology. Joshua has diverse medical/surgical knowledge with unique expertise in the repositioning of approved drugs and the development/characterization of novel/experimental immunotherapeutics. Joshua works on basic and translational immunotherapy projects related to pediatric neuro-oncology and participated in the first-in-children trial of intratumoral oHSV (G207) in recurrent supratentorial malignant brain tumors (NCT02457845) and first-in-human trial of G207 in recurrent cerebellar tumors (NCT03911388).

Vlad Tereshenko, MD, PhD

Vlad is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He graduated from the MD-PhD program at the Medical University of Vienna and the Clinical Laboratory for Bionic Extremity Reconstruction in Austria, where he focused his research on restoring sensory feedback in bionic reconstruction. Vlad has acquired diverse clinical and fundamental scientific expertise in peripheral nerve research, experimental microsurgery, and peripheral neural interfaces. Currently, he is engaged in biomedical and translational projects related to identifying the nociceptive origin of occipital neuralgia and painful neuroma. As an affiliated researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, he continues his pursuit of restoring sensory and proprioceptive feedback in bionic hands. He also works on device development to optimize peripheral nerve surgery.

Alexander Madinger

Alexander is a Technical Associate in the Langer Lab at MIT. Alexander received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia. During his undergrad, Alexander developed a novel surgical device alongside an ENT surgeon. Alexander works on fabrication of implantable electrophysiology devices and designs experiments for their quantification and qualification. Alexander has an extensive history in additive manufacturing and digital fabrication, ranging from aerospace nickel superalloy heat exchangers to medical titanium implants. Alexander is currently taking classes and writing a thesis towards a masters while working in the lab.