Narayan Bhattarai, PhD (Principal Investigator)
Professor of Bioengineering
Director, Bioengineering Undergraduate Program
Director, Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Research Lab
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, NC
Education and Training:
Postdoc, Materials Science & Engineering, 2008, University of Washington, Seattle
Ph. D., Materials Engineering, 2003, JeonBuk National University, South Korea
M.Sc., Chemistry, 1997, Tribhuvan University, Central Department of Chemistry, Nepal
                

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Current Graduate Students

DEKONTI DAVIES (dmdavies@aggies.ncat.edu)

Dekonti Davies is a 1st year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering. She graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Bioengineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Prior to coming to North Carolina A & T, Dekonti completed internships with the United Parcel Service as a Project Engineer and Engineering World Health in Rwanda where she served as a Biomedical Engineering Technician, repairing medical devices. Dekonti started researching with the Bhattarai Research Group as a Master’s student in Bioengineering and has continued her research into her PhD studies. Her research currently focuses on development of metallic nanofibers for wound healing applications.

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 FELIX A.TETTEY(fatettey@aggies.ncat.edu)

Felix A. Tettey is a PhD student in the Industrial and Systems Engineering department at the North Carolina A&T State University. He earned his bachelor’s from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and holds a master’s degree in Bioengineering from the North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA. Prior to starting the PhD, his thesis research with supervision from Dr. Narayan Bhattarai was in the “Preparation and Characterization of Hydrogel Microcapsules Using Hybrid Nanofibers of Polycaprolactone (PCL) And Gelatin.” His PhD research involves drug delivery which focuses on the development of metallic nanofibers for wound healing applications.

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THAKOR SAPKOTA (tsapkota@aggies.ncat.edu)

Thakur is a Ph.D. student at North Carolina A & T University in the Department of Applied Science and Technology. He earned his MS degrees in analytical chemistry from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina, and inorganic Chemistry from the Tribhuvan University of Nepal. Currently, he has been working in Dr. Narayan Bhattrai's lab to investigate the creation of liver tissue regeneration and drug toxicity testing platform by co-culturing the hepatocytes cells and endothelial cells encapsulated in alginate hydrogel with polycaprolactone and gelatin polymers.

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Former Graduate Students

​Sara Tatum (sdtatum@aggies.ncat.edu)

Sara Tatum was a PhD student in the Energy and Environmental System (EES) program at Noth Carolina A & T State University (NCATSU). She completed her Master of Science degree in Biology while conducting research in National Science Foundation-Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (NSF-ERC-RMB) and animal sciences departments at NCATSU. She earned her Bachelor of Science in biology at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. Sara has a background in respiratory toxicology and the study of oxidative stress inducers. Sara completed her dissertation research under the supervision of Dr. Narayan Bhattarai.  

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Shalil Khanal  (skhanal@aggies.ncat.edu)

Shalil Khanal was a PhD student at North Carolina A & T State University in the Energy and Environmental System (EES) department.  He completed his M.Sc. in Chemistry from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His research was under the supervision of Dr. Narayan Bhattarai, which focused on the development of 3D liver microtissue for toxicity testing and polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery.

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Udhab Adhikari (uadhikar@aggies.ncat.edu)

Udhab Adhikari received his B.S in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Durgapur, India. He pursued a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and performed research with the National Science Foundation-Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (NSF-ERC-RMB) at North Carolina A&T State University. His research focused on development and characterization of tissue engineered scaffolds for peripheral nerve repair.

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Christian Chavis (cchavis1@aggies.ncat.edu)

Christian Chavis was an MS student of Bioengineering at NCA&T. Christian received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from UNCP with a Pre-Health concentration in 2016, subsequently gaining employment at LabCorp that summer. His research was under the supervision of Dr. Narayan Bhattarai which focused on the use of biocompatible polymers to engineer 3D micro-spheres for tissue engineering application. 
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Erika Johnson(edjohnso@aggies.ncat.edu)

Erika received her Bachelors in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After completing microbiology research with the joint UNC-NRI NCAT-CEPHT program, she began her masters in biomedical engineering and performed research in the National Science Foundation-Engineering Research Center for Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials (NSF-ERC-RMB) at North Carolina A & T State University. She worked on micro-bead fabrication with applications in ex-vivo hepatocellular modeling and drug toxicity studies. 

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Undergraduate Students

Alessia Stewart (acstewa2@aggies.ncat.edu)

Alessia Stewart was a sophomore Bioengineering student at North Carolina A&T State University. She had prior experience of working as an undergraduate Research Lab Assistant in NCA&T’s Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering Research Lab. She is a Secretary of the BMES e-board and selected as a participant of the Global Leaders in Engineering Program. She was involved in research that addressed  one of the NAE Grand Challenge Summit, Engineering Better Medicine, by analyzing 3D microenvironments of liver cells.

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Alumni
Graduates
Sara Tatum(Ph.D in Energy and Environmental System- 2021 Fall)
Sheikh Saudi (Ph.D in Nanoengineering- Spring 2021)
Christian Chavis (MS in Bioengineering-2020 Summer)
Shalil Khanal (Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry-2019 Summer)
Kalene Johnson (M.S. in Bioengineering-2019 Summer)
Oreoluwa Alonge (M.S. in Bioengineering-2019 Summer)
Udhab Adhikari (Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering-2018 Fall)
Sunghyun Jun (M.S. in Bioengineering-2018 Spring)
Erika Johnson (M.S. in Bioengineering-2017 Spring)
Jaclynn Dearring (M.S. in Bioengineering-2017 Spring)
Nava P. Rijal (M.S. in Bioengineering-2016 Spring)
Sandeep Pasam (M.S. in Bioengineering-2015 Fall)
Shekh M. Rahman (M.S. in Bioengineering-2015 Summer)
Zanshe Thompson (M.S. in Bioengineering-2015 Spring)
Roman P. Blount, IV (M.S. in Bioengineering-2014 Fall)
Maame Boakye (M.S. in Bioengineering-2014 Summer)
Princeton Carter (M.S. in Bioengineering-2013 Spring)
Shakiri Jones (M.S. in Bioengineering, Major Advisor-Dr. Matthew McCullough )
Mark Gomes (M.S. in Bioengineering, Major Advisor-Dr. Matthew McCullough)
Angela Edwards (M.S. in Bioengineering-Spring 2012)
Chris Mahoney (M.S. in Bioengineering-Spring 2012)    

Undergraduates
Mary Omotoso (BMEN)
Joshua Lee (BMEN)
Dominique Saddler (BMEN)
Chad Chesley (BMEN)
Jared Slaydon (BMEN)
Christina Fenwick (MEEN)
Leanna Almarines (BMEN)
David Jarvis (BMEN)
Amber Brown (CHEN)
Brittany M. Hewlin (BMEN) 
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Summer Interns (2015)
Roslyn Vansickle (Undergraduate Student, Washington State University)
Mark Case (High School Teacher, Southern  Guilford High)
Summer Interns (2016)
Alan Brown (Undergraduate Student, North Carolina State University)
Chandler Mason (High School Student, Southwest Guilford High School, High Point, NC)