Interdisciplinary NanoBioSciences Lab
Dr. Veeresh Toragall
Biomedical Engineering
Office: Brevard Hall D304
Email: vbtoraga@olemiss.edu; veereshtoragall@gmail.com
Dr. Veeresh Toragall is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His current research focuses on understanding the role of platelets in breast cancer metastasis. Dr. Veeresh Toragall completed his Ph.D. (Biotechnology/Biological sciences) from Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, India, in 2022. His prior education includes a B.E. Degree in Biotechnology from B. V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering & Technology, Hubli, India. Dr. Veeresh has a multidisciplinary area of expertise, including nanomedicine, drug delivery systems, cell culture and animal sciences. He has extensively worked on the design of nano drug delivery systems for various biomedical applications and he has also worked on pharmacological and toxicological aspects along with anti-angiogenic properties of nanocarrier systems in various animal models such as mice and rats. Outside the lab, Dr. Veeresh is a sports enthusiast and enjoys going to the gym, hiking and watching movies.
To know more about Dr. Veeresh Toragall’s professional and research experiences, please visit:
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?hl=en&user=IKh_SvwAAAAJ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-veeresh-toragall-707ab3a0/
Dr. Alex Fortenberry
Chemical Engineering
Email: awforten@go.olemiss.edu
Alex obtained his B.S, M.S, and PhDs in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi. His research focuses on stimuli-responsive polymers for drug and nucleic acid delivery applications.
Graduate Students
Brandon Knight
4th Year Ph.D. Student
Chemical Engineering
Email: cbknigh1@go.olemiss.edu
Brandon received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi with a minor in mathematics for engineering and an emphasis in materials. Brandon began his undergraduate research career with Dr. Brenda Prager investigating thermal barrier coatings on paper substrates. In continuation of his studies, Brandon now works with Dr. Alexander Lopez and Dr. Adam Smith developing composite polymer and ionic liquid membranes for gas separations.
Parker Brewster
4th Year Ph.D. Student
Biomedical Engineering
Email: prbrewst@go.olemiss.edu
Parker completed his M.S. in Engineering Science from the University of Mississippi in the summer of 2022. He worked with his research advisor Dr. Farhad Farzbod to investigate the effects of thermal cycling on bone (cold-blooded vs. warm-blooded). While working on his master’s degree and B.S. in Engineering Sciences, Parker started his own med-tech company with a flagship device that has now undergone two medical device accelerators. Beyond that, he held research positions in radiology, pharmacognosy, genetics, mechanical engineering, and bioinformatics as part of an NIH fellowship at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Parker is now working towards his PhD under his advisor Dr. Thomas Werfel. Though currently involved with several projects, Parker’s work in this lab focuses on the 3D printing of novel drug delivery devices. Outside of the lab, Parker enjoys cooking and playing disc golf!
Emily Rasmussen
3rd Year Ph.D. Student
BioMolecular Sciences – Pharmacology
Email: erasmuss@go.olemiss.edu
Emily completed her B.S. in Biology and Chemistry with a minor in Physics at Concordia University, Nebraska. During her undergraduate studies, she completed an internship at the USDA- Agricultural Research Service in Lincoln, Nebraska, working with economically important wheat viruses. Currently, Emily is engineering multimodal biomaterials for sequential delivery of diverse immunotherapeutic cargos. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, walking her dog, and shooting clay targets.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-rasmussen377/
Kenneth Hulugalla
3rd Year Ph.D. Student
Biomedical Engineering
Email: hrhuluga@go.olemiss.edu
Kenneth obtained his Bachelor’s in Pharmacy from the University of Colombo Sri Lanka in 2020. His research interests lie in the areas of drug delivery via polymeric nanocarriers and cancer immunotherapy. Currently, he is working on biomimetic materials to modulate nano-immuno interactions via protein corona engineering. In his free time, Kenneth enjoys going to the gym, hiking, or watching his favorite shows on Netflix. He is also an avid soccer fan and tries not to miss a Manchester United game.
iNBS Lab 2023-2024
iNBS Lab 2021-2022
iNBS Lab 2020-2021
iNBS Lab 2019-2020
