Next-Gen Healthcare Innovators Symposium 2025

Friday, September 19, 2025 - 12 pm to 5 pm
University Center Complex, TechFlex Auditorium

Join our interdisciplinary student-run event focusing on innovative healthcare research.

• Share your research and test your presentation skills via a video or poster presentation competition – while learning more about your colleagues’ research

• Hear from our alumni keynote speakers in the healthcare field

• Explore the impact of AI across industries

• Receive hands-on project management coaching

• Pick the brains of professionals who have been there and done that in the healthcare industry and academia

• Connect with peers, faculty, and professionals at the networking reception

• Who is presenting research?
  Stevens Master's Students, Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers. Aug 1 was our deadline to submit abstracts – thank you to all who submitted!!

• What is being presented?
  This symposium will highlight research efforts performed by students at various Stevens Departments related to healthcare innovation.

• What is the format?
  - 5-minute video presentations
  - Poster presentations

• Who else can attend?
  All Stevens-affiliated students, faculty and industry professionals are welcome. Registration for this event has now closed following our September 5 deadline.

If you are interested in presenting or attending the 2025 Next-Gen Healthcare Innovators Student Symposium, please be mindful of these upcoming important dates:

• June 9: Abstract submissions open

• August 1: Abstract submissions close (updated)

• August 4: Open registration for Symposium attendees begins (including presenters)

• August 14: All acceptance notifications for abstracts sent

• September 5: Attendance registration deadline

• September 19: 2025 Next-Gen Healthcare Innovators Student Symposium

Michael Mitchell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania 

Dr. Michael J. Mitchell '09 M.Eng, a distinguished alumnus of Stevens Institute of Technology, is currently an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He leads the Mitchell Lab, which focuses on developing innovative drug delivery technologies that overcome complex biological barriers. His research spans a wide range of applications, including cancer metastasis, immunotherapy, genome editing, cardiovascular disease, and regenerative medicine.

Dr. Mitchell earned both his B.E. and M.E. degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science from Stevens before pursuing his Ph.D. at Cornell University and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT’s Koch Institute under the mentorship of Prof. Robert Langer. His lab at Penn is particularly recognized for its pioneering work in lipid and polymer nanoparticle systems for nucleic acid delivery, such as siRNA, mRNA, and CRISPR-Cas9.

Dr. Mitchell’s contributions to the field have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and distinction as a Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher. We are proud to welcome him back to Stevens as a keynote speaker at this year’s symposium.

Randall Ribaudo, Ph.D., President, CEO, Human Workflows, LLC, and Co-founder, SciPhD.com

SciPhD co-founder Dr. Randall Ribaudo has over twenty years of experience in the Scientific Research and biotechnology field, in both technical as well as management, leadership, and strategic roles.

Dr. Ribaudo has successfully made the transition from academia to industry to entrepreneur. These experiences form the foundation of the SciPhD training programs that are now offered at institutions across the US.

After receiving a Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Connecticut, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH before becoming a Principal Investigator at the National Cancer Institute, leading a team of postdocs, technicians, and students, resulting in patents and numerous publications.

In 1997, Dr. Ribaudo left academia to pursue opportunities in the biotech industry that culminated at Celera Genomics during the Human Genome revolution. At Celera, Dr. Ribaudo was a liaison to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic communities, served as a product manager for proteomics, and led a task force to define strategic direction.

Dr. Ribaudo’s experience as an academic and industry scientist, coupled with his experience consulting with industry scientists, provides unique insight into the critical skills necessary to promote success in academic and industry settings and forms the basis for the SciPhD training programs.

Jia-Min Chu, Ph.D. '23, Catalyst Simulation Postdoctoral Fellow, SandboxAQ

Jia-Min Chu, Ph.D., is a Catalyst Simulation Postdoctoral Fellow at SandboxAQ, where she works on developing computational modeling workflows to accelerate the discovery and design of next-generation catalysts. Her research bridges quantum chemistry, molecular simulations, and AI/ML, with a focus on understanding transition-metal catalysis problems.

Before joining SandboxAQ, Dr. Chu completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Stevens Institute of Technology under supervision of Dr. Yong Zhang, where she investigated biocatalysis and HNO sensor using computational approaches. During her doctoral studies, she has also completed a summer internship at AstraZeneca under co-mentorship of Dr. Pin-Kuang Lai from Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, where AI/ML was combined with molecular dynamics simulation to predict antibody properties.

Beyond research, Dr. Chu is passionate about scientific communication, mentorship, and fostering collaboration between academia and industry. She also serves as co-chair of the ACS Computers in Chemistry Topical Group in New York, helping to connect scientists and aspiring researchers in the field of computational chemistry

Lyndon J. Mitnaul, Ph.D. , Executive Director, RGC Research Initiatives, Regeneron Genetics Center, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Dr. Lyndon J. Mitnaul serves as an Executive Director at the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC), part of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., headquartered in Tarrytown, NY. In this role, he collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive human genetics research initiatives and establish impactful collaborations across the globe.

Dr. Mitnaul earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, followed by a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He further honed his expertise during a Postdoctoral Fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1997, he joined Merck & Co., where he contributed to HIV pathogenesis research within the Department of Inflammation Research. Over his tenure at Merck, he advanced to roles including Research Fellow, Biology Program Team Lead, and Principal Scientist in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, where his work focused on lipid metabolism, arteriosclerosis, and thrombotic diseases.

In 2013, Dr. Mitnaul transitioned to Regeneron, joining the Research Program Management team and playing a pivotal role in establishing the Regeneron Genetics Center. This state-of-the-art human genetics research hub now collaborates with over 150 organizations worldwide. By 2016, he expanded his leadership scope as the Technologies and Platform Operations Team Lead, overseeing Regeneron’s major external Therapeutic Discovery collaborations. In 2021, Dr. Mitnaul shifted his focus exclusively to human genomics research, where he now spearheads new Research Initiatives at the RGC.

Beyond his scientific and operational contributions, Dr. Mitnaul is deeply committed to fostering diversity in research science and the pharmaceutical industry. He actively mentors emerging scientists and leaders, serves on multiple inclusion councils and committees, and has been honored with numerous awards for his advocacy. In 2023, he spearheaded the creation of Together for CHANGE™, a groundbreaking multi-million-dollar initiative uniting Biopharma companies, Meharry Medical College, and the Diaspora Human Genomics Institute. This initiative aims to increase the representation of underrepresented students in STEM fields and enrich the study of African ancestry genetic data.

Below are all presentation posters and video rapid fire submissions, grouped by research cluster and poster number.

Posters

Presenter: Yunhua Guo, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Creating Self-Defensive Antimicrobial Surface By Introducing Polyanionic Microgels Complexed With Cationic Peptide
Research cluster: Multifunctional Multiscale Biomaterials and Biofabrication
Department: Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Advisor: Matthew Libera

Presenter: Zahava Hirsch, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Older Adult Frontal Plane Balance During Pre-Planned And Late-Cued Turns
Research cluster: Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Engineering
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Antonia Zaferiou

Presenter: Erin Kreis, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Turning Joint Kinetics of Older Adults
Research cluster: Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Engineering
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Antonia Zaferiou

Presenter: Aiswarya Mini, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Development Of Novel CDK 4/6 Degraders
Research cluster: Drug Discovery, Development and Delivery (4D)
Department: Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Advisor: Abhishek Sharma

Presenter: Mohamed Mogahed, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Addressing Healthcare Fragmentation Through an Interdependence Taxonomy–Driven SoS Architecture and Computational Simulation
Research cluster: Machine Learning + AI Technologies for Healthcare
Department: Systems Engineering
Advisor: Mo Mansouri

Presenter: Anandha Ragaven Ravi, Master's student
Project name: Comparative Study Of Transformer Architectures For Pneumonia Detection In Chest X-Rays
Research cluster: Biomedical Sensing and Imaging, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Healthcare
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor: None

Presenter: Erfan Sarhaadei, Ph.D. Student/Candidate
Project name: Fabrication Of 3D Printed Polycaprolactone-Based Composite Scaffold Containing High Laponite
Research cluster: Multifunctional Multiscale Biomaterials and Biofabrication
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Hongjun Wang