We're hiring!

The Zierden Lab is currently hiring! We are looking for motivated undergraduates and postdoctoral researchers interested in learning more about how extracellular vesicles aid in biological communication and using these particles as therapeutics to treat women's health indications.

Meet Our Team

Dr. Hannah Zierden

Principal Investigator

Dr. Zierden is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at UMD. Dr. Zierden graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. While at OSU, she performed research under the guidance of Dr. David Wood, investigating efficient methods of protein purification. She then joined the ChBE program at Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her Ph.D. under the supervision of Drs. Laura Ensign and Justin Hanes in the Center for Nanomedicine. Her thesis focused on improving vaginal drug delivery during pregnancy, and the resulting work highlighted the need for effective drug delivery in order to understand drug action in the context of disease. In order to better understand biological mechanisms, and master the tools necessary to probe these questions, Dr. Zierden joined the laboratory of Dr. Tracy Bale as a postdoctoral researcher. In the Bale Lab, Dr. Zierden studied how extracellular vesicles from the placenta aid in maternal-fetal communication, and how these biological nanoparticles may play a role in pregnancy outcomes. The Zierden Lab combines these experiences by asking how extracellular vesicles from the maternal vaginal microbiome communicate with the host to dictate both maternal and fetal health outcomes, and how these particles may be used as therapeutics in a wide range of human disease.

Graduate Students

Robert Kirian

Robert is a PhD student in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Ohio State University, he worked as a process development engineer at RoosterBio, Inc. in Frederick, MD, where he developed processes to manufacture mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in bioreactors. In the Zierden Lab, Robert is exploring methods to produce bacterial derived extracellular vesicles (bEVs) to establish bEVs as therapeutic carriers for drug delivery applications.

Darby Steinman

Darby Steinman is a Graduate Student in the Bioengineering Department. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (Bioimaging and Bioinstrumentation) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2022, where she investigated the regulation of bacterial transposon binding under Dr. Richard Bonocora. In the Zierden Lab, she is currently studying the implications of bacterial vaginosis on maternal health and fetal development. 

Undergraduate Students

Karolina Akelaitis, Chemical Engineering
Ethan Bolinger, Chemical Engineering
Yasmi Chibber, Chemical Engineering
Giselle Dilone, Microbiology
Hayden Medlin, Chemical Engineering

Interested in joining us?

Send your CV and a short cover letter to Dr. Zierden: hzierden <at> umd.edu