Graduate Students - PhD

Abbie Clevenger (she/her)

Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering

Abbie is a PhD candidate in BME at Texas A&M University, and the US Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral Fellowship Awardee. Abbie i completed her Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Trinity University in San Antonio. Her past work at Trinity includes hydrogel wound dressings and inflammatory responses. She has loved studying engineering and has enjoyed seeing how it can be applied in various biomaterial applications. Abbie works on cancer mechanobiology, and studies how cells use mechanical stimuli within tumors to suppress the immune system. She loves sweet tea, Chic-Fil-A, and chocolate and loves to find the best places to eat when she is somewhere new! When she isn't in the lab or in the classroom, Abbie loves to travel around Texas and go camping, spend time on the lake or curl up with a good book!

Sabrina VandenHeuvel (she/her)

Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering

Sabrina is a PhD candidate in BME at Texas A&M University. She was born and raised in Wisconsin and completed her Bachelor of Science in Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, receiving a Certificate in International Engineering from her time spent studying in Barcelona, Spain. Her previous research at UW-Madison was conducted in a Pediatric Oncology lab focused on cancer immunology and immunotherapy. In the Raghavan lab, Sabrina engineers metastatic therapy-resistant cancers to identify new forms of treatment for deadly metastatic cancers. Sabrina loves coffee, being active, singing, traveling and being outdoors!

Claudia Collier (she/her)

Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering

Claudia is a PhD student in BME at Texas A&M University, and an NDSEG Fellow through the Army Research Office. She graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelors of science in Biomedical Engineering. In the past, she has worked on utilizing nanodiscs to activate neurons remotely and wirelessly. In the Raghavan lab, Claudia unpacks neuroinflammation in combat exposures during Gulf War Illness. While not in the lab, Claudia loves to workout, explore new places and watch live shows.

Arpita Mohapatra (she/her)

Ph.D. Student, Biomedical Engineering

Arpita is a PhD student in BME at Texas A&M. Born and raised in India, Arpita holds a Bachelors of Engineering in Biotechnology in India and a Professional science masters in California State University, San Marcos. Previous experience in conservation research at San Diego Zoo Global and cancer immunotherapy at ImmunityBio Inc, both in San Diego, CA. In the Raghavan lab, Arpita works on cancer-nerve interactions. She loves to read fiction books, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, exploring new songs, places, foods, habits and learning how to be fun/funny by watching stand up shows

Alumni

Logan Crawford

Logan has graduated with his MS in Biomedical Engineering and has taken up a position at Alcon

Sarah Chau

Sarah is completing her MS in Biotechnology at Texas A&M

Arely Mendiola

She finished her MEng degree in May 2022 and has moved on to work in industrial polymer synthesis.

Valentina Garcia

After pursuing her Ph.D, she started at a med-start-up in Houston and is enjoying her time as a lab manager.