People

Our lab welcomes people of any gender identity, race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, and ability, as well as those who are caregivers or with family commitments. We are committed to creating a supportive research and learning environment for all lab members, including training in research, scientific analysis, teaching, mentoring, scientific communication, and STEM outreach. We welcome students from diverse scientific backgrounds and encourage them to take risks and get exposed to new fields at the interface of physics and life science

Principal investigator

Dr. Guillaume Duclos

Principal Investigator 

office : Abelson 222

gduclos at brandeis.edu


Postdoctoral Researchers, Staff Scientists

Dr. Amelie Chardac

Postdoctoral Research Associate, "Investigating morphogenesis via chemo-mechanical couplings"

PhD in Physics @ ENS de Lyon (France) with Pr. Denis Bartolo

Office: Abelson 208


Graduate Students

Jeremy Laprade

Graduate Research Assistant

Annemarie Winters

Graduate research assistant

Annemarie graduated from NYU with a double major of both physics and chemistry in 2018. She worked at the technological startup, Spheryx, Inc. where she utilized holographic video microscopy techniques to detect sub-visible contaminants in protein solutions. Annemarie is an graduate student in Physics researching cell tissue communication.

Benjamin Strain

Graduate research assistant

Ben is a fourth year graduate student studying active matter in the Duclos Lab. As an undergraduate he attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and got his B.S. in physics. During his undergraduate time he studied spherical liquid crystal systems in Jennifer Ross's Biophysics lab. Outside of the lab Ben enjoys hiking/camping as well as playing music.

Bennett Sessa

Graduate research assistant

Bennett is a physics graduate student studying active stresses and 3D nematics in liquid crystals. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Physics with Honors and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics. During his undergraduate time, he studied the self-assembly of encapsulation driven by turbulent flows in William Irvine’s laboratory.

Undergraduate Students

Elena Amado

Undergraduate research assistant. Studying the MinDE system.


Gauri Gajeshwar

Undergraduate research assistant


Isabelle Shiiba

Undergraduate research assistant

Isabelle is an undergraduate researcher studying active forces produced by microtubule-based 3D active gels. She is pursuing a BS in biological physics, is the Brandeis undergraduate department representative for biophysics, and is the co-president of the Brandeis Physics Club. Isabelle is also an NYC STEM Posse Scholar from Queens, New York.


Izaiah Alvarado

Undergraduate research assistant


Greg Roitbourd

Undergraduate research assistant

Greg is a third-year undergraduate research assistant working with Amelie Chardac to study the emergent behavior formed through MinD and MinE protein reactions. He is pursuing a BS in Physics and is a NYC STEM Posse Scholar from Brooklyn, New York. Outside of the lab, Greg is the Writing Coordinator for the Brandeis Organization of Poets and is a member of Brandeis’ Premiere Sketch Comedy Group, Boris’ Kitchen. 


Noah Michaud

Undergraduate research assistant


Lab alumni

Dr. Joseph Lopes, Postdoctoral Research Associate. Now Sr. Research Associate at Oxford Biotherapeutics 

Dr. Melissa Rinaldin, Postdoctoral Research Associate. Now HFSP & EMBO postdoctoral fellow @ MPI-CBG and MPI-PKS.

Dr. Bibi Najma, graduate student. Now Postdoctoral Research Associate @ Caltech University.

Dr. Salman Alam, graduate student. 

Anthony Djoko, undergraduate research assistant. Now intern @ Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Ernest Park, undergraduate researcher. Now graduate student @ UPenn.

Hriday Talreja, undergraduate research assistant. Now graduate student @ USC. 

Anthony Gillespie, undergraduate research assistant @ Hampton University.

Kevin Skowronski, M.S. student, now Physics teacher @ Waltham HS .

Lance Babcock, BS/MS undergraduate researcher, now MD/PhD student at the University of Texas at Houston.