The Peyton Lab, Tufts University

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Juan is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Tufts and U.S. Army Engineer Officer. He graduated from the University of Miami (BS in Biomedical Engineering and Military Science).​

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Project: Mechanosensitive Properties of Astrocytes; Investigating strain-dependent activation and injury response

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Favorite Paper: Touroutoglou, A., Andreano, J., Dickerson, B. C., & Barrett, L. F. (2020). The tenacious brain: How the anterior mid-cingulate contributes to achieving goals. Cortex, 123, 12-29. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2019.09.011

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Hometown: Orlando, Florida

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Most interesting place you've visited? Los Llanos, Colombia. More than interesting, it's extremely beautiful.

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Favorite Movie: The Scary Movie franchise, all of them.

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Favorite Book: Around the Year with Emmet Fox

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What do you do outside of lab?: Spending time with my wife and German Shepherd, running, working out, and going off-roading.

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? When I'm not playing scientist, I play Army.

Tianna is from Jamaica. Loves baking, hiking and and doing a lot of water activities. They cannot swim. ​

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Project: Investigating how aging and ancestral lineage affects breast cancer's outgrowth in the bone marrow

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Favorite Paper: When a House Is Not a Home: A Survey of Antimetastatic Niches and Potential Mechanisms of Disseminated Tumor Cell Suppression

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Hometown: Spanishtown, Jamaica

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Most interesting place you've visited? Kampala, Uganda

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Favorite Movie: Godzilla (1954) Orginal Japanese

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Favorite Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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What do you do outside of lab?: Camping, hiking, plotting

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? I would be running my own bakery. 

Haylee is 3rd year PhD student with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UMass Amherst. She studies how extracellular matrix cues influence drug response in metastatic breast cancer.

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Project: Decellularized fibroblast-derived matrices to investigate tissue-specific drug resistance 

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Favorite Paper: Tumor-stroma interactions differentially alter drug sensitivity based on the origin of stromal cells. Landry et al., Mol Syst Biol, 2018.

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Hometown: Charlton, Massachusetts

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Most interesting place you've visited? Swiss Alps!

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Favorite shows: Game of Thrones, Ozark, Breaking Bad

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What do you do outside of lab? Cook and eat good food :)

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Architecture or scientific illustration

Maulee trained in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. She is now a postdoc at Tufts and is a big fan of all things mechanobiology and extracellular vesicles. ​

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Project: Mechanoevolution in cancer

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Favorite Paper: Tensional homeostasis and the malignant phenotype. Paszek et al., Cancer Cell, 2005

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Hometown: Ahmedabad, India

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Most interesting place you've visited? Mait's Rest

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Favorite movie: Good Will Hunting

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Favorite Book: The Namesake

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What do you do outside of lab? Hike, run, read, coffee shop hop 

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Journalist

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shethmaulee

Maddie graduated from Northeastern University with B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry.

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Project: Role of CD44 and hyaluronic acid in breast-to-brain metastasis

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Favorite Paper: Matrix mechano-sensing at the invasive front induces a cytoskeletal and transcriptional memory supporting metastasis. Maiques et al. Nat Comm 2025.

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Hometown: Austin, TX

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Most interesting place you've visited? Niagara Parks Power Station

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Favorite Movie: Spirited Away

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Favorite Book: Wuthering Heights

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What do you do outside of lab?: Read, yoga, explore Boston

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Sci-Fi Novelist​

Emilio Tarcitano is a Cancer Scientist at Tufts University studying Cancer Dormancy, Metastatic Recurrence, and Tumor–Microenvironment Interactions. His research focuses on how aging and extracellular matrix remodeling shape the fate of disseminated cancer cells and influence their transition from dormancy to relapse. He previously worked as a Researcher at the University of Minnesota and completed his postdoctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He earned his PhD at A.C. Camargo Cancer Center in Brazil, where he studied cancer biology and non-coding RNAs.

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Project: Aging ECM, cancer dormancy, and relapse

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Favorite Paper: The hallmarks of cancer (Cell, 2000) and Hallmarks of cancer—Then and now, and beyond (Cell, 2026) from Prof. Robert Weinberg and Prof. Douglas Hanahan​

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Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil

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Most interesting place you've traveled to: Jerusalem, Israel

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Movie: The Silence of the Lambs; TV series: Game of Thrones

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Favorite Book: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

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What do you do outside of lab?: Running, Photography, Krav Maga, Walking my Dog

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Photographer

Kailee graduated from Brown University with an ScB in biomedical engineering, and she is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.​​

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Hometown: Oahu, Hawai'i

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Most interesting place you've traveled to: The Great Barrier Reef

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What do you do outside of lab?: Travel, go on hikes and to beaches with my dogs

Vio is a 5th year BS/MS Bioengineering student interested in biomaterials for disease models and tissue engineering.

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Project: Evaluating mechanical memory of breast cancer cultured on stiffness-tuned hydrogels

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Hometown: Brockton, MA

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Everything Everywhere all at Once

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Favorite Book: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

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What do you do outside of lab?: Drawing, reading, cooking/baking, hiking, cycling, MBTA hopping

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Freelance artist and cat-sitter

Emily is a senior studying BME and minoring in Chemistry. ​​Emily designed the current Peyton Lab logo!

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Project: Large area hydrogels for mechano-evolution studies

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Hometown: New Jersey

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Project Hail Mary

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Most interesting place you've visited: Yunnan, China

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What do you do outside of lab?: Drawing and swimming

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Comic book illustrator

Katie is a Tufts undergraduate student studying biomedical engineering and is on the pre-med track.​

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Project: Supporting Tianna's research project

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Hometown: New Rochelle, NY

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Cars

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What do you do outside of lab?: I like to play lacrosse, ski, garden, and volunteer.

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Sports photographer

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Harper is a 3rd year Biomedical Engineering student interested in the tumor microenvironment.

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Project: ECM architectural features that predict breast cancer cell motility

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Hometown: Seattle, WA

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Most interesting place you've visited: Cap Ferrat, France

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Tangled

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Favorite book: A Gentleman in Moscow

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What do you do outside of lab? Bake, walk around Boston, try new food spots

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Fitness Instructor

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Jenya is a Tufts senior studying Economics and Biomedical Sciences. 

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Project: How ECM proteins influence PC9 cell growth

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Favorite Paper: Adeno-associated virus as a delivery vector for gene therapy of human diseases (Wang et al., 2024) 

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Hometown: Taiwan

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Most interesting place you've traveled to: Shirakawa-go, Japan

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Movie: Colony (2026)

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Favorite Book: The Maze Runner

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What do you do outside of lab?: Eat and Travel

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? A guitarist

Tori is a junior studying biomedical engineering, with minors in mathematics and public health engineering​​​

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Project: Effect of ECM stiffness on breast cancer metastasis and evolution

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Hometown: Midland Park, NJ

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Movie: Little Women

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Favorite Book: Looking for Alaska by John Green

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What do you do outside of lab?: Play trumpet and clarinet, skiing, running, baking

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Classical musician

Anjali is a junior studying biomedical engineering, with a minor in English.​

Project: Studying role of CD44 and hyaluronic acid in breast-brain metastasis.

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Favorite Paper: Circulating Tumor Cell Clusters Are Oligoclonal Precursors of Breast Cancer Metastasis

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Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

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Most interesting place you've traveled: Sri Lanka

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Favorite Movie/TV show: Movie: Dave

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Favorite Book: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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What do you do outside of lab?: Reading, going to cafes, and staying active!

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What would you be doing if not a scientist? Fashion designer or writer