Receptor Engineering Lab

Contact Rob Meijers

Receptor Engineering Receptor Engineering Publications Receptor Engineering Team Contact Rob Meijers

Lab members

All

Director of the Antibody Platform
Rob Meijers, Ph.D.

Research Associate
Youssef Atef AbdelAlim

Woman with glasses smiling in office. — Research Associate
Miriam Li

Principal Research Associate
Matt Salotto

Man smiling in IPI office — Principal Research Associate
Jinyang Zhang

Principal Scientist Team Leader
Haisun Zhu

Director of the Antibody Platform

Rob Meijers, Ph.D.

Rob Meijers, Ph.D., brings to IPI an expertise in deep protein production, having established a user facility for protein preparation and characterization at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Hamburg Outstation, where he was a group leader. He also studied neuronal receptors, revealing how the axon guidance protein netrin interacts with its receptors. At IPI, Rob is well-positioned to identify and design protein targets, as well as engage the neurobiology community to test IPI protein science tools.

Research Associate

Mina Abdollahi

Mina Abdollahi earned her first master’s degree in inorganic chemistry in Isfahan, Iran and her second in pharmaceutical sciences at Northeastern University in Boston. Before joining IPI’s antibody production team, Mina worked as a pharmacy supervisor at CVS. In her free time, she enjoys woodworking with her husband.

Research Associate

Zachary Anderson

Zachary Anderson, originally from North St. Paul, Minnesota, received his bachelor’s in biology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Before starting at IPI as a research associate focused on cell display, he worked as a technician in Aveda’s cosmetic research center and Northeastern University’s clinical laboratory. Zach is a self-proclaimed Star Wars superfan who wouldn’t last long without pizza.

Scientist

Murali Anuganti

Murali Anuganti comes to IPI from his postdoc at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Before that, he received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, in 2018, studying the kinetics of enzymatic hydrolysis using a model cellulose film and surface plasmon resonance method. Originally from Telangana, India, Murali says that if he were a car, he would be a Ferrari.

Research Associate

Youssef Atef AbdelAlim

Youssef Atef AbdelAlim joins IPI’s antibody discovery team after completing his bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and biochemistry from Northeastern University in 2022. Before joining IPI, he interned with Ultivue, a biotech focused on imaging immune cells in cancer tissue. He later did clinical research and worked as a patient care associate with the cardiac surgery team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Youssef is originally from Cairo, Egypt and has a passion for soccer — especially the Premier League team, Arsenal.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Nirakar Basnet

Before joining IPI’s Antibody Production team, Nirakar Basnet worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, using cryo-electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography to study axon branch development. During his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, he demonstrated that the protein SSNA1 plays a key role in neuronal development and acts as a mechanism for microtubule branching. Basnet is originally from Kathmandu, Nepal, and can be heard mumbling songs as he works in the lab.

Research Associate

Filmawit Belay

Filmawit Belay earned her bachelor’s degree at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. She completed an internship at Boston University in the chemistry REU program, followed by an intership at Biogen in pharmaceutical operations and technology. She cannot live without injera, a type of Tigrigna flatbread.

Senior scientist

Anita Ghosh

Anita Ghosh studied and worked at Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University and Boston University. In her previous roles, she used structural, biochemical and biophysical methods to understand the roles proteins play in disease pathogenesis and drug resistance. Anita is from Kolkata, India and a movie that defined her childhood is Jaws.

Senior Research Associate

Nick Hollmer

Nick Hollmer is from Clifton Park, New York, and recently graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He spent his undergraduate research experience studying transcriptional targets of drug resistance pathways in yeast. If Nick were a car, he would be a Bugatti and he loves that everyone at IPI is willing to help out if he ever has questions.

Research Associate

Fabbiha Hossain

Fabbiha Hossain joins IPI as a research associate on the antigen production team. She holds a bachelor’s in biology from Boston University and has experience working in cell culture development, the genetics and evolution of fruit diversity and optometric patient care. Fabbiha is excited to dive into new research at IPI while using her downtime to read book series and make digital art.

Scientist

Deepash Kothiwal

Deepash Kothiwal, originally from Kishangarh, India, joins IPI’s Antibody Discovery team from the Buratowski Lab at Harvard Medical School, where he was a postdoctoral fellow studying RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain phosphorylation. He completed his Ph.D. in the Laloraya Lab at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India, where he investigated the impact of cohesin dysfunction in cell wall defects in budding yeast. Kothiwal is drawn to the academic heart of IPI — which keeps his inner researcher alive in a fast-paced collaborative work environment.

Principal Scientist

Satyendra Kumar

Satyendra Kumar is a principal scientist in antibody discovery at IPI, where he generates data and computationally analyzes antibody sequences. He completed his Ph.D. in biotechnology and virology at Pune University in India, where he studied RNAi-based antiviral drug discovery. After postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Illinois at Chicago, he focused on antibody screening, NGS library preparation, and phage and yeast display as part of the protein engineering and antibody technology team at biopharmaceutical company EMD Serono. Satyendra is originally from Ghaziabad, India and enjoys going on outdoor runs when he’s not in the lab.

Senior Scientist

Haiying Li

Haiying Li comes to IPI from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she worked as a research fellow. Previously, she was an assistant professor and director of the Multi-Omics Core Facility at ShanghaiTech University. Haiying is originally from China, completed her Ph.D. at the University of Southern Denmark and has lived in five countries in the past 10 years.

Research Associate

Miriam Li

Miriam Li is a research associate assisting in the IPI lab. Originally from Michigan, she recently graduated from Williams College in western Massachusetts with a bachelor’s in biology and Chinese. Previously, she researched the structure and regulation of the PAT1 enzyme in tryptophan biosynthesis in the Holland Lab at Williams College and interned with Pfizer’s Structural and Molecular Sciences Group. She’s excited to help advance and promote protein science, and is an amateur fountain pen and tea enthusiast.

Lab Manager

Amita Patel

Before joining IPI, Amita Patel worked for Foundation Medicine Inc as a molecular technologist III, performing molecular testing to identify cancer care for targeted cancer treatment. She previously worked as a medical technologist and performed laboratory testing at Boston Children’s Hospital. Something fun to know about Amita: if she were a car, she’d be Toyota Rav 4 — strong, capable and ready for an adventure!

Principal Research Associate

Matt Salotto

Matt Salotto worked in antibody discovery at Adimab for five years, managing many antibody campaigns. He focused on platform optimization, testing nanodiscs and whole cell selection for G-protein-coupled receptor targets. Matt ran a poker club at Adimab and his hometown is York, Pennsylvania.

Senior Software Engineer

Mahesh Vangala

As senior software engineer, Mahesh Vangala is IPI’s data science and bioinformatics expert. He brings more than 12 years of hands-on experience in academic, research and clinical settings working with genomic and clinical data. Vangala is originally from Tadipatri, a small town in southern India, and is a big fan of the movie “Good Will Hunting” — a Boston favorite.

Senior Research Associate

Chang Yang

Chang Yang is from Taiyuan, China, and worked as a research associate at AB Biosciences, focusing on antibody-antigen interactions. Chang loves Disney princess movies and if there is one food she cannot live without, it is fruit.

Principal Research Associate

Jinyang Zhang

Jinyang Zhang was drawn to IPI’s mission to strengthen protein science after working with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and EMD Serono. As a principal research associate with the Antibody Discovery team, Jinyang works with yeasts in the yeast display library, conducts flow cytometry assays and performs next-generation sequencing. In his spare time, he enjoys swimming and fishing in the Boston area.

Principal Scientist Team Leader

Haisun Zhu

Before joining IPI, Haisun Zhu was a principal scientist at Novo Nordisk Research Center in China, where he developed antibodies and biologics to treat hemophilia and diabetes. One antibody he discovered is currently in clinical trials. A fun fact: Haisun once put together a 6,000-piece jigsaw puzzle in three months — it covered his entire living room floor.

Principal Scientist

Shaotong Zhu

Shaotong Zhu comes to IPI from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she worked as a postdoc, studying the structure and function of human neurotransmitter receptors. A fun fact about Shaotong: she reads her horoscope every week.

Scientist

Roushu Zhang

Roushu Zhang joined IPI after earning bachelor’s degrees from Sichuan University in China and the University of New Mexico, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Her research focused on biochemistry and glycobiology, and she is currently working on antibody production. Roushu has an additional bone in her ankle, making the total number of bones in her body to be 207!