Qin (Maggie) Qi @maggieqigroup

Ph.D., Stanford University, 2018
M.S., Stanford University, 2017
B.S., Cornell University, 2013

Dr. Qin (Maggie) Qi joined MIT’s department of chemical engineering as the James R. Mares ’24 Career Development Chair Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering in January 2022. Her research applies fundamental principles of complex fluids and soft matter to develop precision medicine for human health. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and operations research at Cornell University in 2013. She received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering with Prof. Eric Shaqfeh at Stanford University in 2018, where she developed a diagnostic model of platelet adhesion and bleeding based on a microhydrodynamic theory of cellular suspensions. She conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Samir Mitragotri in the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. There she explored the use of macromolecular transport mechanisms for drug delivery and tool development, including transdermal delivery enhanced by ionic liquids and subcutaneous injection tested by an organ-on-a-chip approach. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, a member of the inaugural class of MIT Rising Stars in Chemical Engineering and a mentor for the Texas A&M Science Influencers program. 

Curriculum Vitae | Chemical Engineering Faculty Profile 

Other affiliations:
Multi-cellular engineered living systems (M-CELS) at MIT

Jaewon Choi 

Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University,
B.A., Sungkyunkwan University, 2016                                                                                                                                             

Jaewon Choi integrates biomedical engineering and organ-on-a-chip technologies to investigate disease mechanisms and develop physiologically relevant in vitro models. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where he developed microengineered platforms for lung-on-a-chip research. Using these platforms, he investigated the toxic effects of various harmful particles on the alveolar microenvironment and evaluated potential preventive and therapeutic strategies. Now, as a Postdoctoral Associate in Professor Qi’s group, Jaewon is developing retina-on-a-chip models to study proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).

Kosar Safari 

Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 2025
B.S., Sharif University of Technology, 2019                                                                                                                                             

Kosar (Daria) Safari combines computational biomechanics, multiscale modeling, and machine learning to study biological systems. During her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, she developed multiscale finite element models and deep learning approaches to investigate cartilage mechanics and microdamage. At MIT, her postdoctoral research focuses on computational modeling of cellular biomechanics, including soft lubrication analysis for leukocyte extravasation. She is also developing a biomechanical multi-scale model of shear-induced nanoparticle-cell interactions in microcirculation and collaborating to validate model predictions in vitro using microfluidics.

Jaewon Choi 

B.S., University of California, 2026                                                                                                                                             

Thomas Tao is an MS/PhD student from the MechE department at MIT. His research interests include the synthesis and characterization of complex fluids. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2026, where his undergraduate research focused on surfactants and flows driven by surfactant gradients. In the Qi research group, he is currently investigating the gelation of cell-laden materials on microfluidic chips. Outside the lab, he enjoys working out, hiking, and cooking.