People

Yajushi Khurana

Graduate Student

Yajushi is a PhD student in the Carnegie Mellon–University of Pittsburgh Computational Biology program. She holds a bachelor's degree in Physics with a minor in Biology from Ashoka University. Her research focuses on developing interpretable, topology-aware descriptors and combining them with machine learning methods for quantitative analysis of 3D morphology. Outside of research, she enjoys cinema and astrophotography.

Luisa Escobar-Robledo, MD

Graduate Student

Luisa is a general physician from Colombia with a master's degree in Data Science and Analytics. She is a PhD student in the Carnegie Mellon–University of Pittsburgh Computational Biology program. Her research focuses on developing physiological assays to study cardiac organoid function, building high-throughput experimental models for drug discovery applications.

Elijah Vangura

Undergraduate Student

Elijah is a second-year undergraduate pursuing a BS in Chemistry with a Mathematics minor. His research studies how cells spatially arrange themselves under osmotic pressure from osmolytes of varying sizes, probing the biophysical mechanisms cells use to sense mechanical cues and guide tissue formation. Outside the lab, his interests include fitness, gardening, and cooking.

Megan Shi, MS

Lab Manager

Megan keeps the lab running smoothly, overseeing day-to-day wet lab operations and ensuring our science can move forward. She also leads her own research project investigating how hyaluronic acid, a key component of the extracellular matrix, drives tissue morphogenesis.