Straehla Lab
Engineering better therapeutics at the nanoscale
Led by Dr. Joelle Straehla, a pediatric oncologist and bioengineer, the Straehla Lab is dedicated to advancing drug delivery technologies for cancer therapy. Our expertise lies in nanomedicines — tiny, engineered particles designed to deliver drugs precisely to targeted cells and tissues.
Despite significant advancements in engineering and biology, children with cancer are still primarily treated with classic chemotherapies. While these drugs can be effective for some, they often come with serious side effects and can lead to lifelong health challenges. There are also childhood cancers that do not have effective treatments, and new options are urgently needed.
In the Straehla Lab, we embrace a collaborative mindset to develop more effective and less toxic therapies. By working closely with biologists who are uncovering new cancer vulnerabilities, we aim to transform the standard of care for children with cancer.
Operating at the intersection of nanotechnology and cancer biology, our lab strives to bridge the gap between innovative engineering tools and clinical practice, overcoming drug delivery challenges, particularly for pediatric patients.
Our primary objectives are:
- Designing and synthesizing new nanoparticle-based therapeutics.
- Identifying biological regulators of nanoparticle drug delivery.
- Improving the delivery of therapeutic agents across challenging tissue barriers.
- Developing strategies to selectively remodel the tumor microenvironment.
At the Straehla Lab, we celebrate diversity of thought and background and welcome all types of learners.
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Meet the Team
Joelle Payne Straehla, MD
Dr. Straehla received her MD from Northwestern University and completed pediatric residency at the University of Washington. During her fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, she gained additional training in biological and chemical engineering in the laboratory of Dr. Paula Hammond at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Seattle Children's in 2024, she was an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and a Charles W. (1955) and Jennifer C. Johnson Clinical Investigator at MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Dr. Straehla is a principal investigator at Seattle Children's Research Institute and a pediatric oncologist in Seattle Children’s Brain Tumor Program. She is an assistant professor of pediatrics and an adjunct assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington, as well as a member of the Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children's Cancer Consortium.
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Kimberly Bennett
Co-Advised PhD Candidate
Kimberly is a PhD candidate in medical engineering and medical physics at the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. She is jointly advised with Dr. Paula Hammond and is based at MIT for her thesis work developing 3D microvascular models of the blood-brain-tumor barrier and targeted nanocarrier delivery for pediatric diffuse midline glioma.
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Emmeline Cheng, PhD
Research Scientist III
Emmeline earned her PhD in bioengineering from the University of Washington, where she developed T cell-targeting aptamers, leading to her prior work in CAR T cell process development. Continuing to improve patient care, she is studying protein regulators influencing nanoparticle uptake in tumors.
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Nichole Loomis
Research Scientist I
Nichole graduated with a BS in chemical and biological engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is working on identifying biomarkers for effective nanoparticle therapy within neuroblastoma.
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Elnaz Shaabani Sichani, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Elnaz holds a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences with expertise in developing Layer-by-Layer nanoparticles for nucleic acid delivery (siRNA, mRNA, pDNA). Her research focuses on gene delivery for therapeutic goals, such as enhancing angiogenesis and macrophage reprogramming, as well as light-triggered delivery systems.
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Clara Yampanis
Research Scientist I
Clara graduated from Tufts University with a BS in biochemistry and is passionate about drug delivery research at the intersection of chemical biology and bioengineering. She is working on a confocal imaging pilot for liposome uptake in genetically modified diffuse midline glioma.