Kim Lab News
Amy Mahawanniarachchi joins the Kim Lab as a new Undergraduate Research Assistant. Welcome, Amy!
John Kim presented “Exogenous matrix-free biomanufacturing of glioblastoma organoids promotes autonomous assembly of the neurovascular unit and pathological extracellular matrix” at ESACT 2026.
John Kim directs the PURE BLISS NSF IRES program in Portugal that allows several UA ChBE students to conduct research at iBET in Portugal. Kim Lab participants included Cassidy Griffith and Mason Pentes. Many thanks to the mentors at iBET for their hospitality!
Kim Lab is pleased to welcome Maya Saint-Vil (Tuskegee University) as an REU student and Logan Rawson as an intern for 2026 Summer. Welcome, Maya and Logan!
Congratulations and farewell to our graduating students: Alexandra Avera (PhD), Isabella Mejia (BS), Amiya Ford (BS), Taylor Schnorbus (MBA), and Carly Schultz (MBA)!
Catly Nguyen joins the Kim Lab as a new PhD student. Welcome, Catly!
Kim Lab group dinner.
Alex Avera was recognized as a winner in the ALDAG pitch competition, representing Vera Biotech, LLC.
Kim Lab is pleased to welcome new Undergraduate Research Assistants: Paul Davis, Derek Gust, Duong (Sofia) Phan, and Taylor Turpin. Welcome, Paul, Derek, Sofia, and Taylor!
Alex Avera successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation, “Biomanufactured Glioblastoma Organoids: A Scalable Platform for Modeling the Native Glioblastoma Environment.” Congratulations, Alex!
Mario Oswaldo Camilo Lizardo joins the Kim Lab as a new PhD student. Welcome, Mario!
Wilmer Andújar and Isabella Mejia’s collaboration project with Dr. Liz Papish (Chemistry) on ruthenium complexes was accepted for publication in Organometallics. Congratulations, Wil and Bella!
Cassidy Griffith, Alex Guirgues, and Mason Pentes presented at the 2025 RRS Live.
Lab Christmas party at John Kim’s home.
We gratefully acknowledge new award from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA). Through this funding, we will study the type VI collagen axis in a triple-negative breast cancer organoid model.
We’re thrilled that Alex Avera’s review on bioengineering of glioblastoma organoids was accepted for publication in Pharmaceuticals. Congratulations, Alex!
Alexandra Avera was awarded the best graduate student oral presentation award by Area 15D/E of AIChE Food, Pharmaceutical & Bioengineering Division. Congratulations, Alex!
John Kim was awarded a new UA-BGU Joint Seed Funding to study nanobodies as novel theranostics for glioblastoma organoids with collaborator Niv Papo (Ben Gurion University).
Alexandra Avera was awarded the W.H. Peterson Award by ACS BIOT. She was selected for giving the best student poster presentation at the ACS BIOT 2025 national conference. Congratulations, Alex!
Adam Melvin (Clemson) and John Kim were awarded a new National Science Foundation funding (NSF CBET/EBMS #2523475) to study how biophysical stress of cell deformation affects cell proliferation and motility.
We gratefully acknowledge new $1.59M funding from NSF (PI: Gregory Thompson; Co-PIs: P. LeClair, Y. Kim, M. Kasemeer, X. Wang) that will provide graduate fellowships to advance STEM workforce development in materials research.
Lab alumna Jules Bates ‘23 received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations, Jules!
John Kim and Shreyas Rao visit Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), Oeiras, Portugal, with six ChBE students for the 2025 PURE BLISS Program. The students will participate in a two-month bioengineering and biotechnology research internship at iBET, funded by NSF IRES.
Yuping Bao (PI), John Kim, and Steven Weinman were awarded a new National Science Foundation funding (NSF-CBET #2427919) to research on advanced biomanufacturing of extracellular vesicles.
John Kim was named as Interim Head for the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Congratulations and farewell to Bella Concannon and Taylor Schnorbus for their graduation!
Alex Guirgues and Mason Pentes presented at the 2025 Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity Conference.
John Kim and Alex Avera attended and presented at the annual national ACS BIOT 2025 annual meeting.
Alex Avera, together with co-authors Daniel Gibson, Macy Birge, Taylor Schnorbus, and Bella Concannon, published their project on the characterization of native extracellular matrix of patient-derived glioblastoma organoids in Tissue Engineering Part A. Congratulations!
Amiya Ford, Cassidy Griffith, and Ella McCarthy join the Kim Lab as new undergraduate research assistants. Welcome, Amiya, Cassidy, and Ella!
Brown et al. (2024) was selected as an Editor’s Choice Article in Biomolecules.
Last updated: 2026-09-09