Group Members

Interested in joining our group?. We are currently seeking a post-doctoral researcher with interests in neural imaging and the regulation of neural excitability. Contact Us to learn more.

We are always looking for hardworking undergraduate students, in many majors, including BME, BBT, CS, ECE, DS, ME, RBE, etc. This is a great way to get lab and research experience to make your resume stand out and be a part of exciting research projects! Send a resume to Prof. Albrecht.

Dirk R. Albrecht, PhD Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Department dalbrecht@wpi.edu  WPI Page Dirk Albrecht is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Biology and Biotechnology at WPI.  His research interests focus on biological microtechnology, neural dynamics and behavior, neuropeptide signaling, high-throughput genetic and chemical screening, as well as quantitative systems analysis and modeling.

 Lab manager

Position currently open. Interested parties please contact Professor Albrecht for more information.

 Graduate Students

	Vanessa Kamara, Ph.D. Student vlkamara@wpi.edu Vanessa Kamara is a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a part of the Society for Neuroscience’s  Neuroscience Scholar Associate Program (2024-2026). Vanessa received a BS in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in German from the University of Rhode Island in 2021. Before joining the lab she focused on non-invasive wearable sensors for the quantification of neurodegenerative disease progression. Her current work focuses on using electrical, chemical, and optical stimulation techniques to understand the physiological underpinnings of neurocognitive and neurological disorders using the C. elegans model system, and investigating the role of calcium in fungal-elicited stress responses using the P. patens model system. In her free time, you’ll likely find Vanessa traveling, kayaking, or doing pilates.
	Fox Avery, Ph.D. Student favery@wpi.edu Fox Avery is a current Graduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the Quantitative Neurotechnology Lab. Fox received his BS in Bioengineering from Oregon State University in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. After graduating he worked in industry, advancing high through-put screening technologies and techniques at an AI-powered drug creation company. After two years he decided to continue his education and enrolled at WPI where he studies how compounds affect neural communication and searches for potential therapeutics for neuropsychological disorders.

Undergraduate Students

MQP Teams

“Deep Brain Stimulation Device for C. elegans”

Darryl Badley ’21, Kyleigh Driscoll ’21, Kayla Krom ’21 & Despina Tomboulides ’21

“Hydrogel Microfluidic System to Control Oxygen Gradients for Breast Cancer Cells”

Michelle Henderson, BME ’17 & Franklin Alvarez, BME ’17

“Neuromodulation by Mechanical Strain in C. elegans“

Benjamin Duncan, BME ’17, Tristan Petit, BME ’17, Jacob Maalouf, BME ’17 & Alexander Noonan, BME ’17

 Previous Members

• James Teague, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’25
• Sarah Chon, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’25
• Hamilton White, Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D.
  • Thesis: “Microfluidic High-Throughput Methods for the Induction and Characterization of Repeatable, Titratable Traumatic Neural Injury in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans”
• Daniel Holtz, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’24
• Veronika Gorski, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’25
• Molly Busby, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’25
• Dan Lawler, Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D. 
  • Thesis: “Development of automated analysis methods for identifying behavioral and neural plasticity in sleep and learning in C. elegans“
• Anna Burke, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’20
• Olivia Leavitt, Undergraduate Volunteer  WPI ’19
• Caleb Mullen, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’19
• Lorenzo Dube, Undergraduate Volunteer WPI ’18
• Kyra Burnett, Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D.
• Ross Lagoy, Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D.
  • Thesis: “Automated whole-organism functional screening technologies and neurological disease models in C. elegans“
• Connor Haley, Biomedical Engineering, M.S.
• Karen Tran, Biology & Biotechnology, M.S.
  • Thesis: “A Microfluidic Platform for Exploring Learning Behavior in C. elegans” 
    
• Emily Viloudaki, Research Assistant
• Naomi Otoo, Undergraduate Volunteer and Undergraduate Research Assistant Spring 2016-Summer 2016
• Alexa Pomerleau, Undergraduate Volunteer, and Undergraduate Research Assistant, Spring 2016-Summer 2016
• Saffiyah Rafieck, Undergraduate Volunteer, Spring 2016
• Courtni Dick, Summer 2015 REU student, MIT
• Allison Marley, Summer 2015 REU student, ASU
• Craig Teed, Undergraduate Independent Study, Spring 2015
• Jeremy Shui, Graduate Rotation Student, Fall 2014
• Henry Nguyen, Graduate Rotation Student, Spring 2014
• Peter Lam, Undergraduate Volunteer, Summer 2014-Spring 2015
• Sneha Shastry, undergraduate Volunteer, Summer 2014-Spring 2015
• Ben Altschuler, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Summer 2013 and 2014
• Paul Cupido, Undergraduate Research Assistant, Summer and Fall 2014
• Tameka Gongs, Summer 2014 REU Student, Louisiana State University
• Johanna Santos, Summer 2014 SURF Student
• Xuan He, Summer 2014 SURF Student
• Jared Erb, Undergraduate Independent Study, Fall 2013
• Maame Frimpong, Summer 2013 REU Student, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• Cassandra Zieminski, Summer 2013  REU Student, University of New England
• Matthew Noyes, Undergraduate Volunteer, Spring and Summer 2013
• Lauren McCarthy, Undergraduate Volunteer, Spring 2013
  

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