Members

ssharma@ucr.edu

Sandeep's research interest lies in developping carbon based nanocarriers for targeted delivery of pesticide active ingredients. Before joining the Giraldo lab, he worked as a postdoc on “Fabrication of halloysite nanotubes based nanocarrier for plant disease management” at Technion-IIT, Israel. He received his Ph.D. degree (2015-2020) from Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Mohali-India. His Ph.D. research focused on the “Fabrication of Graphene-oxide based nanocarriers for agrochemicals delivery and to augment plant functions through nanobionics approach”. 

Supreetha received her B.S. in Technology-Biotechnology from St. Joseph's college of Enineering in India. Her current research focuses on studying nanomaterials for enhancing algae bioreactor photosythesis and CO2 utilization.

Christopher Castillo

Ph.D Candidate

NSF Center of Sustainable Nanotechnology

ccast149@ucr.edu

Christopher received his B.S. in Biochemistry from California State University, Los Angeles where he researched lipid transfer proteins putatively involved in Arabidopsis programmed senescence mechanism. His Ph.D. research is focused on fundamental understanding of plant biomolecule interactions with nanoparticles such as the formation of nanoparticle coronas in Arabidopsis plants.

Marina is a Plant Biology PhD student studying nanofertilizers and nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery in plants. She attained her BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of La Verne and spent five years in industry at Cibus and Scripps Research. Marina is a San Diego native and loves to rock climb, garden, and spend time with her family and cats. 

Conor Murphy is a junior student at the University of California Riverside and is pursuing a degree in Biology. At the Giraldo Lab, Conor is researching how cerium oxide nanoparticles reduce reactive oxygen species and enhance photosynthesis in algae. He is interested in cancer research but keeps his mind open to other opportunities. His main goal is to get a PhD and eventually become a faculty at a University

Tiana Fathibitaraf is a junior at the University of California Riverside and is pursuing a degree in Biology. In the Girlado lab Tiana is researching and testing the biocompatibility of nanoparticles for gene delivery in Arabidopsis and rice. She enjoys reading and learning about new topics. Her main goal is to go to medical school and get an MD degree and eventually specialize in an area of surgery.