In fall 2025, five researchers will join the Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellows Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which has supported an annual class of researchers since its inception in 1991. The Beckman Institute administers the program with funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

Spanning a variety of disciplines, the incoming researchers will investigate inflammation and fibrosis in the female reproductive system, infant stress in relation to different maternal caregiving environments, techniques to create polymers with desirable properties, computational methods to advance our understanding of liquid crystal-based systems like optical devices and chemical sensors and the development of thin-film flexible neuro-probes to monitor electrical and chemical brain activity.

“This fellowship grants me so many opportunities to foster collaborations across disciplines with the institute’s focus on team science and will prepare me for my future faculty career,” said Aileen Suarez, one of the recipients of the 2025 Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship.

In addition to the Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowships, the Beckman-Brown Postdoctoral Fellowship honors Arnold Beckman as well as the institute’s founding director, professor Emeritus Theodore “Ted” Brown. Fellows chosen for both awards exemplify the core values of the Beckman Institute which include excellence, collaboration, integrity, transdisciplinary, exploration and diversity.

Hannah Apsley, the Beckman-Brown Postdoctoral Fellow is excited to “develop new skills and build on the research experiences” she had during her graduate program.

Continue reading to learn more about the 2025 recipients and their research.

Beckman-Brown Postdoctoral Fellow

Hannah Apsley: Understanding infant stress and implementing wearable, app-based monitoring technologies

Apsley recently graduated with a Ph.D. in human development and family studies at Pennsylvania State University. Apsley will start her postdoctoral position at Beckman in July 2025.

“My postdoctoral research will be focused on understanding infant stress and the maternal caregiving environment both within and without the experience of maternal substance use. I will also assess the usability of a mobile application which may help parents and pediatricians better understand infant stress,” Apsley said.

Apsley will work with Beckman researchers Nancy McElwain, professor of human development and family studies, and Abigail Wooldridge, professor of industrial and enterprise systems engineering, to bolster scientific knowledge about the challenges and experiences of infant-mother duos in the context of maternal substance use.

The autonomic nervous system, or ANS, which controls bodily processes such as heart rate and other vital physiological functions is subject to dysfunction and higher rates of physiological stress due to prenatal opioid exposure.

Apsley’s proposed research has three main goals: assess infant’s autonomic nervous system response to maternal vocalizations, validate the usability of a mobile application through which parents and pediatricians can track infants’ physiological stress and investigate whether the internal experiences of mothers with opioid use disorder predict maternal speech patterns.

“More resources are needed to prevent prenatal opioid exposure and to provide continued support to opioid-exposed infants and their mothers,” Apsley said.

Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellows

Shulin Chen: Developing neuro-probes for real-time neurophysiological monitoring

Chen earned her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from The Ohio State University in 2024. She will begin her postdoctoral position in the fall.

“I’m very pleased to achieve this fellowship, which gives me the opportunity to study with Cunjiang Yu and collaborate with Steve Maren,” Chen said.

Chen’s research will focus on developing implantable neuro-probes to continuously monitor neurotransmitters and neuroinflammatory biomarkers in the brain.

With a background in the advancement of flexible bioelectronic and neurochemical monitoring tools, Chen plans to fabricate and optimize thin-film flexible neuro-probes to observe different neurochemical and electrophysiological activity in the brain. Collaborating with Maren, director of the Beckman Institute and professor of psychology, will allow Chen to validate the proposed neuro-probe in animal models to understand disease-related neural dynamics involved in emotional learning and memory. 

“This interdisciplinary focus, bridging engineering and neuroscience, positions me to push the boundaries of biosensing technologies,” said Chen. 

At the intersection of engineering and neuroscience, Chen’s ultimate research goals are to drive innovations that improve healthcare, enhance quality of life and to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Shaofeng Huang: Advancing sustainable materials

Huang earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2024 and will join the Beckman Institute as a fellow in fall 2025.

“I look forward to collaborating with leading researchers across disciplines, where creative ideas can spark meaningful discoveries – and where I can help translate fundamental chemistry into real-world applications,” Huang said.

Joining the Autonomous Materials Systems group, Huang will collaborate with Jeffrey Moore, the Stanley O. Ikenberry Endowed Chair Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at Illinois and Nancy Sottos, the Maybelle Leland Swanlund Endowed Chair and Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Illinois.

Huang’s research will address the growing need for sustainable polymer materials by creating a new approach to adaptive self-remodeling. Focusing on a specialized polymerization technique called frontal ring-opening metathesis polymerization, or FROMP, Huang will synthesize new monomers, the building blocks of polymers, that will enable environment-responsive remodeling functions like deconstruction and additive crosslinking.

Huang anticipates that his findings will ultimately lead to advancements in polymer design that enable adaptive, sustainable materials with versatile end-of-life

solutions. These materials will reduce environmental impact by creating a circular material economy that reduces waste and enhances material reuse.

“I’m particularly interested in applying these materials in two areas: multi-mode responsive systems and manufacturing in space environments,” Huang said.

Aileen Suarez: Investigating the effect of inflammation and fibrosis on the female reproductive system

Suarez is a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering at Virginia Tech and expects to graduate in May 2025. Suarez will begin their postdoctoral position in fall 2025.

“As a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, I look forward to communicating science accessibly, fostering discussions on women’s health and promoting STEM participation among historically excluded communities,” Suarez said.

Suarez will work with Beckman researchers Amy Wagoner-Johnson, the Andersen Faculty Scholar and professor of mechanical science and engineering, and Bruce Damon, adjunct professor of bioengineering and director of clinical imaging research, at Carle Health’s Stephens Family Clinical Research Institute, to investigate the relationship between inflammation and fibrosis in the female reproductive tract.

“Many conditions and diseases that involve inflammation are more common in or exclusive to females, including endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis,” Suarez said.

Suarez plans to use magnetic resonance imaging and mechanical testing to characterize the changes in structural and bio-mechanical tissue properties of the uterus related to inflammation. With the goal of improving inflammation diagnostics, this research will lead to a better understanding of how activated immune system responses and the subsequent remodeling of the extra-cellular matrix affect the reproductive system.

Viviana Palacio-Betancur: Bridging molecular-scale interactions and macroscopic behavior of liquid crystal

Palacio-Betancur earned her Ph.D. in molecular engineering from the University of Chicago in 2023, and she is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry at Illinois. She will join the Beckman Institute in the fall and collaborate with Nicholas Jackson, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Charles Schroeder, the James Economy Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

“My research focuses on computational methods that enhance our ability to understand and design liquid crystal-based systems,” Palacio-Betancur said.

Using AI-driven molecular modeling that is accessible through the Molecule Maker Lab at the Beckman Institute, Palacio-Betancur aims to link the chemistry of liquid crystals to their macroscopic optical and mechanical properties.

The development of liquid crystal displays, or LCD, has opened the door to further explore the material’s properties and to address questions with both technological and biological implications. The work proposed here will enable the predictive design of liquid crystal-based elements, sensors and bioinspired systems.

“Being selected as a Beckman Fellow is a tremendous honor and an important milestone in my career. This fellowship will provide me with the tools, mentorship, and collaborative environment necessary to pursue high-level, interdisciplinary research,” said Palacio-Betancur.