Jaimie Dougherty

Jaimie Dougherty was the original founder of DBAN and now serves as the Faculty Liaison on the board. Jaimie graduated from Drexel Biomed in 2010 with PhD in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor, teaching hands-on skills, communication, and design to the next generation of Drexel Biomed Dragons.

Courtney M. Houtsma

Courtney M. Houtsma is one of the founding members of DBAN. She graduated from Drexel in 2015 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering and again in 2021 with MS in Engineering Management. After working for over 6 years as an engineer developing spinal orthopedics and instrumentation, she joined Penn Health-Tech as a Project Manager in 2022

Kosta Vrontis

Konstantinos (Kosta) Vrontis graduated from Drexel Biomed in 2015 with a Bachelors and a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering through Drexel’s BS/MS program. He is currently a Senior Specialist in Single Use Engineering at Merck working on the design and selection of single use systems for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Prior to that, he worked in the medical device industry as a Research & Development Engineer. Kosta has been a board member of DBAN since 2017.

Krista Morgano

Krista Morgano graduated from Drexel in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently a Clinical Account Specialist at Biosense Webster, one of Johnson and Johnson’s medical device companies. Here, she works as a technical and medical device sales rep for cardiac ablation catheters and helps the physicians with these products during ablation cases. Krista has been a board member of DBAN since 2017.

Christina Furia

Christina is currently working for the University of Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program as the Associate Director of External Manufacturing managing gene therapy manufacturing within the Clinical Vector Core and at various CMOs. Christina has been a board member of DBAN since 2019.

Roze McDevitt

Roze McDevitt graduated from Drexel in 2021 with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is currently a venture capital manager at Boston Scientific, where she works with emerging medical technology companies. Prior to working in healthcare investing, Roze worked in the medical device industry as a product development engineer at DePuy Synthes, J&J. Her previous experience includes consulting engagements in life science companies, working with university-emerging technologies, and engaging in academic research.

Natalia Lau

Natalie Lau graduated from Drexel in 2024 with a BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering. Natalie is currently working at Bristol Myers Squibb as a Clinical Trial Project Planning Specialist. While attending Drexel, Natalie served as president of her sorority, Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. and still actively contributes to their service and philanthropy efforts. Outside of work, Natalie enjoys baking, going to the beach, and exploring all the best restaurants the city has to offer.

Zack Goldblum

Zack Goldblum graduated from Drexel University in 2023 with Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biomedical Engineering. He was a researcher and now Bioengineering PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics. Having worked at several startups in engineering and leadership roles, Zack combines his neurotechnology and entrepreneurial experience to conduct translational research aimed at improving epilepsy patient care.

Lea Landsmann

Lea Landsmann graduated from Drexel in 2012 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and in 2018 with a Masters in Engineering Management. Lea is currently working at Catalent Pharma Solutions as a Validation Engineer. Prior to that, she worked in the medical device industry as a Process Engineer.

Aakansha Nangarlia

Aakansha Nangarlia completed her BS/MS in 2017 and is currently a 4th year PhD student in BME at Drexel University. Her thesis project focuses on developing entry inhibitors and delivery systems for HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 treatment and understanding their mechanism of action. Apart from research, her hobbies include running, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Arpit Shah

Arpit Shah is a graduate of Drexel University, School of Biomedical Engineering. Arpit graduated from Drexel Biomed in 2011 with his BS in BME (biomaterials and tissue engineering concentration), 2014 MS in BME, and 2017 with his Ph.D. in BME. Currently, Arpit is a Senior Bioanalytical Scientist at Spark Therapeutics, in the Translational Bioanalytics Group (TBG) developing clinical and pre-clinical assays supporting various gene therapy studies.

Michael DellaVecchia

Completed three residencies and a fellowship with advanced degrees in engineering and physics. Research emphasis in medical devices and photonics. Holder of USA patents, authored numerous articles, and given national and international presentations.

Consultant to the FDA, NASA and Sarnoff Laboratories. Board of Trustees of multiple institutions, including College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County (past President) and Pennsylvania Medical Societies (present President) and on Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons. Delegate to the American Medical Association. Serves on Philadelphia Opioid Task Force and public health sections of various institutions. Lifetime member of the Sigma Xi International Honors Research Society, listed in Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in the World, and Castle Connolly Top Doctors in America. Editorial board of national and international journals and grant reviewer for local and national awards.