MSAL - Key Persons
Andrew Cosgrove joined the University of Maryland Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering in Fall 2024 pursuing a bachelor's degree in civil engineering with an emphasis on structural engineering. He joined MSAL as an undergraduate researcher in Fall 2025. His research will focus on creating a testing environment to emulate the human GI tract.
Brian Holt received his MS in 2024 and BS in 2022 in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park. He joined the MSAL group in 2022 and his research interest was the design of an intestinal tissue impedance sensor for the integrated capsule. Brian is now working as a cyber-security engineer at Lockheed Martin.
Charlotte El-Khodary joined the University of Maryland in Fall 2024 pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering. She joined the MSAL group as an undergraduate research assistant starting in Fall 2025.
Job Titles:
- Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research
- Professor
Danielle Lim joined the University of Maryland Fischell Department of Bioengineering in Fall 2023 pursuing a bachelor's degree in Bioengineering. She will be joining the MSAL group as an undergraduate research assistant starting in Summer 2025. Her work will focus on in vitro platforms to study serotonin dynamics in the GI tract.
Dr. Joshua Levy received his Ph.D. in December 2024. Dr. Levy received his Bachelor of Science degree from Binghamton University in Engineering Physics and Chemistry in May 2020. His PhD research focus was on the development of actuation devices and associated microsystems for direct intervention of gastrointestinal disorders. He is currently an NRC Postdoctoral Associate at the US Naval Research Laboratory.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona / Department of Internal Medicine
Recruited from Stanford University, where he was chief of gastroenterology for five years, Dr. Pasricha is leading the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology. Patients with motility disorders as well as diseases ranging from Parkinsons to Autism, and diabetes to obesity, stand to benefit from his research, which focuses on clinical disorders associated with gastroenterological motility, the biology of the enteric nervous system and visceral pain, neural stem cells and technology development associated with endoscopic research and advancements.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Pasricha has been credited with more than 30 patents for novel gastrointestinal diagnosis and treatment methods. His extensive publications on the enteric nervous system and gut-brain axis have garnered global attention.
Dr. Pasricha practices at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He is also Professor of Innovation Management at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.
Dr. Pasricha is now the Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Eric Huang joined the University of Maryland Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Fall 2024, pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering. He joined the MSAL group as an undergraduate researcher starting in the Fall of 2025. His research will focus on developing meso-scale robotic systems for deploying and measuring serotonin within the GI tract.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Chair in Engineering
Jinjing Han joined MSAL in August, 2017 and graduated in August 2023 with his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He is currently working as a Research & Development Engineer in the Meta Reality Lab in Seattle, Washington.
Jude Stephen joined the University of Maryland Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in Fall 2023 pursuing a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. He joined the MSAL group as an undergraduate research assistant in Spring 2024.
Julie Karasik joined the University of Maryland Fischell Department of Bioengineering in Fall 2023 pursuing a bachelor's degree in Bioengineering. She will be joining the MSAL group as an undergraduate research assistant starting in Spring 2025.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Research Scientist
Dr. Stine received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2023 from the University of Maryland, College Park from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). He received his B.A. degrees in Physics and Mathematics in 2014 from St. Mary's College of Maryland in St. Mary's City, MD, and received his M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2019 from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Justin Stine is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Clark School of Engineering at USMSM MATRIX Lab.
Daniel graduated with his MS in June, 2005 and is an Engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Dr. Li's work has focused on defining broadly neutralizing antibody responses elicited by HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins during natural infections and in animal models. These findings contributed substantially to the in-depth understanding of HIV broadly neutralizing antibody response and the subsequent discovery of broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies targeting the HIV envelope glycoprotein receptor binding site, and have important implications for vaccine and immunotherapeutics development
Job Titles:
- Professor & Assoc. Dean / Department of Physics
Dr. Maisel joined the University of Maryland in January 2019. Her interdisciplinary training combines nanotechnology, mucosal immunology, lymphatic immunology, and immunoengineering. The Maisel Lab uses in vitro modeling, nanotechnology, and immunoengineering approaches to study and develop treatments for diseases at mucosal surfaces. We are particularly interested in studying the lymphatics' and interstitial tissue's roles in disease pathology at mucosal surfaces and how the stromal compartment can be targeted for novel treatment strategies. This work creates not only crucial fundamental knowledge about stromal cell involvement in disease pathology, but also leads to novel targets and design criteria for therapeutics.
pronouns: she/her/hers
Job Titles:
- Director of Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Malik was named a "Top Doctor" in the specialty of Urogynecology and Urology by Baltimore magazine in 2020.
Dr. Malik is a urologist who specializes in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. She joined as Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Urology at the University of Maryland in 2018. She previously completing training at the University of Chicago and the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center. She specializes in reconstructive urology including the management of female and male voiding dysfunction (or problems urinating), urinary incontinence (leakage of urine), vaginal and robotic surgery for pelvic organ prolapse including cystocele (bladder), vaginal vault/enterocele (uterus or bowel), and rectocele (rectum), overactive bladder, neurogenic bladder, urodynamic evaluation (test to evaluate bladder function), male and female urethral stricture, vesicovaginal fistula, urethral diverticulum, and mesh-related complications.
She is currently a member of the American Urological Association and the Society of Women in Urology. She is also a member and participant in the social media committee for the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction as well as the Association of Women Surgeons. She has published over 20 peer-review articles and book chapters. Her current research interests include gender disparity, health literacy, and health care outcomes.
Dr. Malik is dedicated to providing the highest quality care to improve her patients' quality of life. Her goal is to ensure that her patients are listened to and feel confident in their treatment plan
Mateo Lim received his Bachelor of Science degree from University of Maryland in Electrical Engineering in 2024. He joined the MSAL group in the Spring of 2024 as an undergraduate research assistant. He continued his study to pursue a M.S. degree at University of Maryland in Electrical Engineering. His current research interest is in the integration of an intestinal tissue impedance sensor for feedback driven drug delivery.
Michael Straker received his Bachelor of Science degree from Temple University in Bioengineering in 2016 and his Master of Science degree from Morgan State University in Science - Physics in 2020. His previous research experience involved evaluating the mechanical integrity of nano- diamond infused ACL grafts and the growth and characterization of boron carbide single crystals. He joined the University of Maryland Fischell Department of Bioengineering in Fall of 2020 to pursue his PhD in Bioengineering and joined MSAL in Spring of 2021. His current research interests are the development of MEMS based drug delivery systems and sensor integrated in vitro platforms.
Lance graduated with his MS in July, 2008 and is an Electronics Engineer at the Lockheed Martin Company in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer
Pamela Abshire is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her areas of specialty are in the fields of VLSI circuit design and bioengineering. Dr. Abshire's research focuses on better understanding the tradeoffs between performance and resources in natural and engineered systems.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished University Professor
Reza Ghodssi is a Distinguished University Professor, the Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering, and a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland (UMD). Dr. Ghodssi is the Director of the MEMS Sensors and Actuators Lab (MSAL) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) at the UMD. He is the Inaugural Executive Director of Research and Innovation for the Clark School of Engineering at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland (USMSM), MATRIX Lab (MATRIX). He is also affiliated with the Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE), the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices (Fischell Institute), the Maryland NanoCenter, the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEII), and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at UMD. Dr. Ghodssi's research interests are in the design and development of micro/nano/bio devices and systems for chemical and biological sensing, small-scale energy conversion, and harvesting for healthcare applications. Dr. Ghodssi also served as the director of the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) for eight years (2009-2017). During this time, he launched several interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Maryland Robotics Center (MRC) and the Brain and Behavior Initiative (BBI) -- now an institute at UMD -- aimed at enhancing the impact of ISR research efforts on society while building a more interactive faculty, staff, and student community across different disciplines in the institute. Dr. Ghodssi served as the founding co-director of BBI for six years (2015-2021). Dr, Ghodssi is a Fellow of IEEE, AVS, and ASME, has 177 journal publications and 376 refereed conference papers/abstracts, and is the co-editor of the MEMS Materials and Processes Handbook published in 2011. He served as an associate editor for the Biomedical Microdevices (BMMD) for 13 years (2008-2021) and served as an associate editor for the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) for twelve years (2008-2020). Dr. Ghodssi is President of the Transducer Research Foundation (TRF). TRF is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to stimulate research in science and engineering, with emphasis on technologies related to transducers, microsystems, and nanosystems, and to foster the exchange of ideas and information between academic, industrial, and government researchers. Dr. Ghodssi served as chair and technical program chair of several national and international MEMS conferences, including the 2022 and 2020 Hilton Head Workshop s. Dr. Ghodssi was the lead organizer and chair of the inaugural Denice Denton Emerging Leaders Workshop 2016 held in Madison, Wisconsin, which focused on helping mid-career faculty (women and men) develop knowledge, skills, strategies, and critical networks. He has ten U.S. patents issued, nine U.S. patents published, and another seven pending.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Chair of Engineering
Job Titles:
- Professor, Director of Maryland NanoCenter
Job Titles:
- Assistant Research Scientist at MATRIX / Director of Remote Sensing and Microsystems, a. James Clark School of Engineering, MATRIX Lab
Sydney Overton received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in May 2019. Her previous research experience involves using microfluidics to characterize the impedance of endothelial cells. She joined MSAL in Fall 2022 and has advanced to candidacy in April, 2025. Her current research interests are the development of micro devices for studying the gut-microbiome-brain axis.
Job Titles:
- Professor, Vice Chair Department of Neural and Pain Sciences / Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, University of Maryland School of Dentistry
Dr. Traub has served as a regular and Ad Hoc member of several NIH study sections as well as a grant reviewer for Canada and Israel. He is on the editorial board of several journals. His research focuses on the role of gonadal hormones underlying sex differences in visceral pain and the circuitry and mechanisms involved in the transition from transient to chronic visceral pain.
Wolfgang Losert obtained his PhD from City College of the City University of New York. His research is centered on dynamical properties of Complex Systems at the convergence of physics and biology. A special focus is on applications to cancer biology. Examples of dynamical processes that are often found in complex systems are pattern formation and dynamical phase transitions. The main thrust of his work on living systems is to assess how cell motion and collective behavior are affected by physical cues, in particular the topography of the surface, surface adhesivity, and cell-cell adhesion. We discovered that cell migration can be guided by nanotopography via control of the dynamics of actin waves and that cell-surface adhesion can significantly alter the intracellular and collective cell dynamics. We also developed new tools to integrate measurements of the physical properties of living systems with biomedical phenotypes, via advanced statistical and machine learning analysis of multiple types of information, most at the single cell level.