Principal Investigator

Ramya Kumar Bio2

Ramya Kumar, PhD

Colorado School of Mines
Office: 443 Alderson Hall

B.E. (Hons.) Chemical Engineering
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, 2009

ramyakumar@mines.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Ramya’s academic tree.

Ramya Kumar was born in Madurai, India and raised in the coastal city of Chennai (Madras), where she completed her schooling.

Education and training

  • Postdoc, Dept of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, 2021
  • PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2018
  • B.E. (Hons.) Chemical Engineering, 2009

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Jan 2022 onwards)

Awards & Honors

Ramya was fortunate to be awarded the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship through a university-level competition, which allowed her to chart an independent and ambitious course of research in her final year. She also received a Procter & Gamble Team Innovation Award, the Towner Prize for Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor and several poster prizes.

  • PMSE Future Faculty Scholar, 2019 [PMSE]
  • Spring career development award, 2019 [UMN Postdoctoral Association]
  • Finalist, AIChE graduate student awards, Biomaterials, 2017 [AIChE]
  • Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, 2017-18, University of Michigan [Rackham]
  • Departmental nominee, 2018, Richard & Eleanor Towner Prize for Outstanding PhD research, College of Engineering, University of Michigan
  • Poster award, Second Place, Material Science & Engineering session, Engineering Graduate Symposium, 2016, University of Michigan [EGS UMICH]
  • Procter & Gamble Team Innovation Award, 2016, 40th Annual Macro Symposium, Department of Macromolecular Science & Engineering, University of Michigan. Presented a poster that was recognized for innovative and collaborative research.
  • Richard & Eleanor Towner Prize for outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), 2016, University of Michigan. For exceptional & innovative teaching. [UMich Engineering]
  • Poster award, First Place, Material & Chemical Technology session,Engineering Graduate Symposium, 2014, University of Michigan [EGS UMICH]
  • College of Engineering fellowship for incoming students from Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, September-December 2012.
  • Monali Dey Memorial Award, BITS Pilani, December 2008, alumni memorial award for the most outstanding chemical engineering undergraduate in a graduating class

Current Lab Members

Alyson Camacho
Alyson Camacho
PhD Student

alyson_camacho@mines.edu  

Alyson completed her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in April 2024 at Brigham Young University.  There, she worked in Dr. William Pitt’s lab developing methods for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing and designing magnetic nanoparticles for bacterial capture. She also participated in an REU at the University of Kansas where she worked on hyaluronic acid hydrogels for drug delivery. Alyson is currently pursuing her PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering, and she’s passionate in developing affordable drug delivery systems to make gene therapies more accessible. Outside of research, Alyson enjoys running, hiking, and reading. 


Caitlyn Castellion
Caitlyn Castellion
Undergraduate Student

ccastellion@mines.edu  
Caitlyn is an undergraduate student majoring in biochemistry, with interests in polymer chemistry. Outside of academics, Caitlyn is a member of Sigma Kappa, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Society of Women in Chemistry. She enjoys knitting and skiing in her free time.

Alex Dhupar
Alex Dhupar
Undergraduate Student

alex_dhupar@mines.edu  
Alex is an undergraduate at Mines studying Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering. Current research interests include learning more about polymerization techniques and investigating biomedical applications of nanoparticles. In the future, he hopes to pursue a PhD in neuroscience or cognitive sciences. Outside of the lab, Alex enjoys playing tennis and soccer, working out, and hanging out with friends.

Thya Galindo
Thya Galindo
Undergraduate Student

thya_galindo@mines.edu  

Thya is an undergraduate student studying Chemical Engineering with a Biology track. Thya is part of Kappa Alpha Theta, Melodic Miners, and the Pre-Med Club outside of class. Thya is originally from France and likes to visit her family often. She also loves crocheting, reading, and martial arts.


Adam Humpal
Adam Humpal
PhD Student

ahumpal@mines.edu  

Adam graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in spring 2022 with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering. While there he was involved in two research projects. The first involved the fabrication of printed radio frequency identification antennas using self-aligned capillarity-assisted lithography for electronics (Prof. Lorraine Francis and Prof. Daniel Frisbie). His second undergraduate research experience focused on the identification of Frank-Kasper phases in tetrablock copolymers (Prof. Frank Bates). Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science with research interests in developing versatile polymeric drug delivery platforms. His hobbies are cross-country skiing, rock climbing, camping, and hiking. Adam is co-advised by Prof. Anuj Chauhan.


Wakana Kani
Wakana Kani
Undergraduate Student

wkani@mines.edu  

Wakana is an undergraduate student in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, minoring in Biomedical Engineering. Her research interests lie in the development of drug delivery systems and is planning on attending graduate school after graduating in 2025. In her free time, she loves to draw, bake, and play the piano.


Jessica Lawson
Jessica Lawson
PhD Student

jllawson@mines.edu  

Jessica received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Materials Science and Engineering in Spring 2022. There, she performed undergraduate research in designing polymers for 3D printing using frontal polymerization (at Prof. Nancy Sottos’ lab). She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Materials Science, focusing on developing self-assembled polymer systems for biomaterial applications. Her research interests are primarily in polymer synthesis and characterization. Some of her interests outside of research include cooking, baking, playing soccer and volleyball with friends. Jessica was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2023.


Gautier Moreau
Gautier Moreau
Undergraduate Student

gmoreau@mines.edu  

Gautier is a junior majoring in Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering and minoring in data science and eventually plans on attending graduate school for bioengineering. Outside of undergraduate research, Gautier is involved in the Mines Activities Council, Peer Mentor Program, and the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. In his free time, he enjoys skiing and running.


Ram Prasad Sekar
Ram Prasad Sekar
Postdoctoral Fellow

ramprasadsekar@mines.edu   LinkedIn  
Ram received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Madras Medical College in Chennai, India, where he worked on the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. He completed Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) (2014-2020) under the supervision of Prof.A.Jayakrishnan and Prof. T.S.Sampath Kumar. His doctoral thesis mainly focused on combinational delivery of anticancer drugs, developing bone void substitutes and multidrug encapsulated ceramic/polymer grafted nanoparticles for bone cancer therapy. He also had a brief career in the pharmaceutical sector, successfully transferring lab-scale drug formulations to pilot-scale production. He recently completed a research associate position at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology (RGCB) in India, where he worked on polymer drug conjugates for brain targeted drug delivery. Ram is more passionate about developing novel therapeutic systems for complex diseases, as well as nanoformulations, materials characterization and biomaterials. Aside from academic research, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling to new places, cooking new dishes in his own unique style, and reading fiction books.

Grant Wheeler
Grant Wheeler
Undergraduate Student

grantwheeler@mines.edu  
Grant is a junior in Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering (expected to graduate December 2025). He is a part of the MURF program and eventually wants to go to graduate school. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing basketball, and spending time in the mountains.

Jillian Yanes
Jillian Yanes
Undergraduate Student

jyanes@mines.edu  

Jillian Yanes is currently obtaining her undergraduate degree in Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering from Colorado School of Mines with two minors, one in Biomedical Engineering and one in Business and Entrepreneurship and is graduating in May 2025. She is originally from Georgia and is involved on campus with Intermural sports, Greek life, Society of Women Engineering, and Peer mentor program. In the lab she works alongside Ram Prashad to assist in the research of drug delivery through mixed micelleplexes. She loves being a part of research because it gives her the opportunity to help people and learn new things.


Lab Alumni

Name Role in the lab Where are they now?
Kindred Alvarado
Jordan Estridge
Gabriella Loi
Caleb McGrath Undergrad researcher Medical School Applicant
Claire Nelson Undergrad researcher PhD student, Materials Science, UCSB
Aryelle Wright Masters thesis student Research Associate, Abbvie Pharmaceuticals