James Galagan, PhD

Principal Investigator, CV
Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Bioinformatics Program
Director, Precision Diagnostics Center
jgalag@bu.edu

Dr. Galagan received his B.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering from UC Davis, and his PhD in Computational Neuroscience from MIT. In 1998 he joined the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research which then became the Broad Institute, where he rose to the position of Associate Director for Microbial Genome Analysis. In 2009, he joined Boston University as an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Microbiology. He has served as the Associate Director for Systems Biology at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory, the Director of the BU Illumina Sequencing Core Facility. He currently serves as the Associate Director for the Precision Diagnostics Center.  He enjoys travel, reading, movies and various sporting activities.

Selected Awards
Distinguished Faculty Fellow, College of Engineering
Institute Fellow, Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy
Faculty Startup Award, Massachusetts Life Sciences
Deans Catalyst Award

Postdoctoral Associates

Zhehao Zhang, PhD

I am interested in electrochemical phenomena (energy transduction at the electrode-solution interface) and applying electrochemical engineering to biosciences. Here at Galagan lab, I am responsible for building next-generation biosensors using proteins (enzymes and transcription factors) harvested from microbes and increasing the sensitivity of sensor for healthcare applications.

In my spare time, I enjoy playing video games, bouldering and playing basketball.

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Joined Fall 2022)

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering (University of Illinois Chicago 2022)

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering (Case Western Reserve University 2017)

  • B.S. Bioscience (Huazhong University of Science and Technology 2013)

Graduate Students

Roman Addokhi

Roman is fascinated by the intricacy of biology and wants to create a connection between biology and electronics. He aims to use electronics to read from, and write to, biology. Currently, he’s developing an integrated platform for wearable biosensors to perform continuous measurements on the body to help transform healthcare from a reactive, cure-driven, approach, into a proactive and preventative one.

To destress, Roman goes on long hikes, appreciates creative expression through contemporary art, or creates art using unconventional mediums.

  • PhD Biomedical Engineering Candidate (Joined Fall 2019)

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering (Boston University 2019)

  • B.S. Biomedical Technology (King Saud University 2014)

Scott Gaines

Scott’s passion for high-throughput and interdisciplinary biomedical research has brought him to Galagan Lab. He is interested in leveraging both computational and experimental methods in order to optimize microbial screening and evolution platforms for biosensor development.

Outside of lab he enjoys hiking, listening to vinyls, and discovering new whiskey cocktails.

  • Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering (Joined Fall 2020)

  • B.S. Biomedical Engineering (Boston University 2020)

Hao Zang

Hao’s interests in biosensors, microfluidics and nano/microfabrication of wearable devices have brought him to Galagan Lab. In the lab, he is devoted to developing novel electrodes and a real time platform to collect fluid from human body. He is extending his knowledge to different areas such as electrochemistry, electronics and microbiology.

Besides, Hao enjoys cooking, travelling and sports such as badminton.

  • Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering (Joined Fall 2021)

  • M.S. Materials Science and Engineering (Northwestern University, 2021)

  • B.S. Materials and Nanoscience (Soochow University & University of Waterloo, 2019)

Chris Krenz

Chris is interested in the intersection of computer science, machine learning, and computational biology, which has brought him to the Galagan Lab. He hopes to contribute to the development of new tools for research in microbiology, genomics, and biomedicine.

He also enjoys baking, video/board games, and 3D modeling/printing.

  • M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering (Joined Spring 2024)

  • B.A. Sociology (University of Michigan 2011)

Kewei Ye

Kewei’s interests are in computational biology and cancer biology. She hopes to find new and effective methods for the diagnosis and treatment, especially for woman’s health issues. Here in Galagan Lab, she is currently involved in the microbial screening group.

In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, cooking, and playing the piano outside the lab.

  • M.S. Biomedical engineering (Joined Fall 2022)

  • B.S. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (Franklin & Marshall College 2021)

Omri Yosfan

Omri is interested in the intersection of computer science, computational modeling, biological interfaces and medical devices. He is passionate about creating technologies that can improve human health. Currently, he is working on validating and expanding modeling capabilities for microbial biosensors.

Outside of lab, he enjoys mountain biking, hiking, reading and exploring new places.

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering (Joined Fall 2024)

  • B.S. Biomedical Engineering (UMass Amherst, 2023)

Research Fellows

Patrick Lally, PhD

Pat’s interests in computational biology and integration of large high-throughput genomics datasets brought him to the Galagan Lab for his Ph.D. His work covered computational efforts to build upon and manage the lab’s Next-Gen Sequencing analysis infrastructure, as well as experimental work to systematically map direct regulatory targets of E. coli Transcription Factors using binding (ChIP-Seq) and expression (RNA-Seq) assays. His work also led to the development and validation of a predictive biophysical neural network trained on his ChIP-Seq data that can predict TF-DNA binding affinity and ChIP-Seq coverage, and design novel binding sequences with specified affinities, including sequences stronger than those naturally present in E. coli. He now leads the Precision Diagnostics Center’s aim to offer NGS analysis pipelines as a service.

Outside of the lab, Pat is an avid scuba diver and has recently gotten into pickleball.

  • Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering (Boston University, 2024)

  • M.S. Biomedical Engineering (Boston University, 2021)

  • B.S. Biomedical Engineering (University of Miami, FL, 2017)

Alumni

Arhaan Gupta-Rastogi

BU RISE Researcher (Summer 2024)

Currently: Senior, Sacred Heart Prep

Víctor Tierrafría, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Joined Summer 2021)

Tong Nie

M.S. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2024)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Brown University)

Yousuf Shehadi

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2024)

Currently: Automation Engineer (Prime Medicine Inc.)

Roger Charles

Research Fellow (M.S. Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 2020)

Currently: Senior Engineer (Biosens8)

Mehul Agarwal

Technical Consultant (M.S. Business Analytics, Boston University, 2023)

Currently: Project Manager (XGen Network, LLC)

Purna Shah

Ph.D. Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry (Joined Fall 2021)

Rajneesh Jaswal

Postdoc (Biomedical Engineering, 2022)

Uroš Kuzmanović

Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering 2022)

Currently: CEO (Biosens8)

Kshama Parate

Postdoc (Biomedical Engineering, 2022)

Currently: Scientist (Illumina)

Monica Martinez

M.S. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2021)

Currently: Engineer (Draper)

Yuan Yin

M.S. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2021)

Xiaoman (Mandy) Zhang

Lab Technician (M.S. Biomedical Engineering & Biotechnology, UMass Lowell 2015)

Currently: Quality Engineer (MilliporeSigma)

Patricia Aquino

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2020)

Currently: Principal Scientist (Bristol Myers Squibb)

R Cooper Baer

Ph.D. Student (Microbiology 2020)

Currently: Senior Scientist (Stemloop)

Luis Ortiz

Ph.D. Student (Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, 2020)

Currently: Senior Test Engineer I (Ginkgo)

Chloe Grazon

Postdoc (Chemistry, 2020)

Currently: Researcher (CNRS)

Callen Bragdon

Research Associate (M.S. Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 2017)

Currently: Solutions Architect (Paradigm4)

Rachel Petherbridge

Undergraduate Researcher & Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2019)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Harvard)

Melanie Martinsen

Undergraduate Researcher & Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2019)

Currently: Research Associate (Broad Institute)

Kevin Lorch

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2019)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Rice University)

Pulkit Mittal

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2019)

Nahal Maleki

Postdoc (Biomedical Engineering, 2019)

Currently: Technical Stff (MaXentric Technologies)

Jeremy Gross

Graduate Student Researcher (M.S. Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Tufts, 2020)

Currently: Data Engineer (Seres Therapeutics)

Parsa Shahidi

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2018)

Currently: Founder & COO (Pangissimo)

Hanan Zaheer

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2018)

Currently: Information & Systems Cluster Analyst (Northeastern University)

Ezira Yimer Wolle

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2018)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Boston University)

Bonnie Walton

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2018)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Vanderbilt University)

Nicolas Shu

M.S. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2017)

Currently: Ph.D. Student (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Rishi Jain

Undergraduate Researcher & Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2017)

Currently: Senior Test Engineer I (Ginkgo)

Peter Cho

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2017)

Rahul Daftari

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2017)

Currently: Technology Consultant (Accenture)

Vineet Vallam

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2016)

Currently: Innovation Consultant (Nationwide)

Emily Betrus

Undergraduate Researcher & Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2016)

Currently: Implementation Services Project Manager (Epic)

George Johnson

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2016)

Currently: Software Engineer (Foresight Diagnostics)

Humzah Mahmood

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2016)

Currently: General Dentist

Taymiah Mahmood

Senior Project Member (Biomedical Engineering 2016)

Currently: Doctor of Dental Medicine

Katherine Callaway

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2015)

Currently: Graduate Student Researcher (University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health)

Anna Lyubetskaya

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2014)

Currently: Senior Principal Scientist (Bristol Myers Squibb)

Elham Azizi

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2014)

Currently: Herbert & Florence Irving Assistant Professor (Columbia University)

Jason Keller

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2014)

Currently: Director, New Product Planning (Sarepta Pharmaceuticals)

Paul Iazzetti

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2014)

Currently: Data Science Director (Syneos Health)

Suma Jaini

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2014)

Currently: Science & Technology Advisor (10X Genomics)

Christopher Garay

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Currently: Senior Customer Solutions Architect (Paradigm4)

Antonio Gomes

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2013)

Currently: Principal Scientist (Xbiome)

Irina Glotova

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2013)

Currently: Principal Research Scientist (Vertex)

Jonathan Dreyfuss

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2013)

Currently: Director of Joslin Bioinformatics & Biostatistics Core and Instructor (Harvard Medical School)

Matthew Peterson

Ph.D. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Currently: Director of Life Science Application Development (Paradigm4)

Wen-Han Yu

Ph.D. Student (Bioinformatics 2013)

Currently: Associate Director, Computational Immunology (Moderna)

Kelsey Bilsback

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Currently: Senior Scientist (PSE Healthy Energy)

Krutika Hosur

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Currently: Senior Manager, Health Industries Advisory (PwC)

Kyle John

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Sarah Clark

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2013)

Currently: Product Manager (Belluscura)

Andrew Krueger

Postdoc (Biomedical Engineering 2012)

Currently: Computational Biologist (Takeda)

Brent Honda

M.Eng. Student (Biomedical Engineering 2012)

Currently: Adjunt Assistant Professor of Clinical Dentistry (USC)

Sang Tae Park

Staff Scientist (Biomedical Engineering 2012)

Currently: CEO (Dx&Vx)

Veronica Faller

Undergraduate Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2012)

Currently: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow (Cambridge Health Alliance)

Thomas Abeel

Researcher (Biomedical Engineering 2009)

Currently: Associate Professor (Technische Universiteit Delft)

Matthew Doherty

Randy Milbert

Currently: Founder & President (Pushpin)

Tamara Yu

Currently: Staff Technical Lead (Hubspot)

Chris Mawhinney

Currently: Senior Software Engineer (Barracuda)

Sahadevan Raman

Galagan Lab Manager

Currently: Senior Scientist & Technical Director (Boston University NEIDL)

Abigail McGuire

Brian Weiner

Currently: Senior Scientist (Seres Therapeutics)

Christian Stolte

Currently: Lead Visualization Engineer (Cellarity)

Jeremy Zucker

Currently: Computational Biologist (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Marcel Gellesch

Currently: Lead Developer & Creative Director (MFG Media)

Peter Sisk

Currently: Consulting Software Engineer (Freelance)