MPL

Jessica C. Ramella-Roman

PI

Jessica holds an Electrical Engineering degree (Laurea) from the University of Pavia, Italy and a MS and Ph.D. degree in EE from OHSU in Portland, Oregon. She did her postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins before joining CUA as an Assistant Professor in 2005. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2010.

She joined FIU in 2013 as an Associate Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department and an Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology.

Her research focuses on the development of imaging modalities based on spectroscopy and polarization including multimodal applications of nonlinear microscopy.

Andres Rodriguez

Postdoctoral Fellow

Andres earned a degree as Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering from FIU and currently is a Postdoctoral Associate at MPL. As a former PATHS-UP Fellow, he used spectroscopic imaging and biophotonic modeling to improve current access of healthcare among underserved via wearable and point-of-care technologies. He has demonstrated leadership throughout active participation in the executive boards of professional and collegiate societies, including Alpha Eta Mu Beta Honor Society, SPIE FIU Student Chapter, and the Student Leadership Council of an NSF-funded engineering research center— PATHS-UP. Andres is interested in start-ups and R&D jobs with higher independence and creative roles to improve human health with medical devices.

JunZhu (Jenny) Pei

Paths Up Fellow

JunZhu Pei is currently a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at FIU. Currently, she is a recipient of the NSF PATHS-UP Fellowship. Under the guidence of Dr.Jessica Ramella Roman she is working on using biophotonic modeling to optimize wearable devices. Additionally she is also working to implement polarized light imaging modalities to explore the cervix during preterm labor via mouse models.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her background in biology allows her to have an enhanced understanding the pathologies and cellular tissue characteristics that are vital for the interpretation of the imaging data under analysis.

Ajmal

Paths Up Fellow

Ajmal obtained his integrated BS and MS in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata. He joined the Biomedical Engineering Department at FIU in 2019 and is pursuing his PhD under Dr. Ramella-Roman. At MPL, Ajmal uses his expertise in optics to develop polarization imaging microscopes to explore the interaction of polarized light with biological samples, with the aim of developing noninvasive and quantitative tissue diagnosis techniques. Using various methods of polarization measurements, he is specifically interested in investigating the morphological and functional characteristics of biological tissues that exhibit mechanical functions.

Amanda Sanchez

Research Assistant

Amanda recently graduated from Florida International University in 2023 with a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering. Amanda is currently a graduate student in the Biomedical Engineering department. She initially joined the Medical Photonics Laboratory as an undergraduate research assistant and eventually became a STOBE REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) scholar. After graduation, she gained experience as an intern at BioTissue, a regenerative medicine company. Throughout her time in the lab, Amanda discovered a passion for medical photonics, particularly its ability to enhance, diagnose, and understand various pathologies while remaining minimally invasive.

Tananant (Mel) Boonya-ananta

Research Assistant

Mel Boonya-ananta is a mechanical engineer and PhD student in Biomedical Engineering. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 2017. Currently, he is a recipient of the NSF PATHS-UP Fellowship and is conducting research under the guidance of Dr. Jessica Ramella-Roman. Mel's research focuses on developing wearable technologies and devices utilizing optical technology to assist in the monitoring and management of cardiovascular disease in obese individuals. He is actively involved in system design, prototyping, and manufacturing processes, bridging theoretical models with practical applications to advance healthcare technology.

Ernesto Rodriguez

PathsUP REM

Ernesto is currently pursuing his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at Florida International University. In July of 2023, he interned as a student research assistant at the MPL labb through the Summer Youth Internship Program. He worked closely with Mel Boonya-ananta helping create silicon casted phantoms that were used to evaluate the performance of optical sensors when combined with a pulsatile flow system. After arriving at FIU, he joined the MPL team as an Undergraduate research assistant in the hopes of learning more about photonics and its applications in medical grade wearable technologies

Alumni

Students and Postodocs

Over the years, we have worked with many bright young scientists

Collaborators

Present and past