Faculty Accolades

BME's Naash Researching Expanded Gene Therapy for Rare Blindess Disease
January 19, 2023
A University of Houston researcher is expanding a method of gene therapy with the hopes it will restore vision loss in Usher Syndrome Type 2A (USH2A), a rare genetic disease. The National Eye Institute has awarded Muna Naash,… 		Muna Naash, John S. Dunn Endowed Professor of biomedical engineering, is expanding a method of gene therapy with the hopes it will restore vision loss in Usher Syndrome Type 2A.
BME's Larin Pioneers Imaging Techniques of Fetal Brain and Cornea
October 17, 2022
Under the direction of Kirill Larin, high resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) is having an extended moment. During the past 20 years, the University of Houston professor of Biomedical Engineering has masterminded its… 		Kirill Larin, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering.
Investing in Brain Research and Neuroengineering
August 3, 2022
NSF, Industry Partners Fund Phase 2 of BRAIN Center at the University of Houston, NIH Funds Workforce Grant On any given day inside the BRAIN Center at the University of Houston, you might encounter visual artists, dancers and… 		In photos above, the performance of LiveWire at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Virginia, courtesy Lynn Lane. The performance, which deployed UH engineering Professor Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal's mobile brain-body imaging technology to listen, map and record the dancer’s brain activity, premiered in Houston.
Brain-Controlled Exoskeleton Developed by BME in Clinical Trials
June 29, 2022
When 66-year-old Oswald Reedus had a stroke in 2014, he became one of 795,000 people in the United States who annually suffer the same fate. This year he also became the first stroke patient in the world to use a robotic arm… 		The inventor of a brain-controlled robotic arm, Cullen College of Engineering professor Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal congratulates Oswald Reedus, a 66-year-old stroke patient, on a job well done.
UH research allows for 3-D printing of 'organic electronics'
June 17, 2022
When looking at the future of production of micro-scale organic electronics, Mohammad Reza Abidian – Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering – sees their potential for use in flexible… 		A research group led by Mohammad Reza Abidian – Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering – has published a paper in Advanced Materials about the potential production of micro-scale organic electronics for use in bioelectronics via multiphoton 3-D printers.
Cullen recognizes efforts of faculty, students with 2021-22 Excellence Awards
May 5, 2022
The Cullen College of Engineering and Dr. Joseph W. Tedesco, Ph.D., P.E., the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Endowed Chair and Dean, are pleased to share the 2021-22 Faculty and Student Excellence Award winners. The initial announcement… 		Dr. Joseph W. Tedesco, Ph.D., P.E., the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Endowed Chair and Dean, presents the W.T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award to Jae-Hyun Ryou of Mechanical Engineering.
BME Professor Developing Diagnostics for Lupus Nephritis
May 4, 2022
Large Scale Protein Exam Leads to Potential Biomarkers The nature of a typical clinical test for lupus nephritis (LN), an inflammation of the kidneys and a leading cause of mortality in lupus patients, is fraught with difficulty… 		Tianfu Wu, University of Houston associate professor of biomedical engineering, reports potential lupus nephritis biomarkers which may be useful for developing more accurate clinical blood tests for the disease, replacing the existing invasive test, the painful renal biopsy.
Four Cullen professors honored with UH awards
April 13, 2022
Four professors at the Cullen College of Engineering have been recognized for their exemplary work via the 2022 Faculty and Staff Awards, administered by the University of Houston's Office of the Provost. Roberto Ballarini,… 		Four professors at the Cullen College of Engineering have been recognized for their exemplary work via the 2022 Faculty and Staff Awards, administered by the University of Houston's Office of the Provost.
BME's Mohan IDs Potential Biomarkers for Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Lupus
February 9, 2022
A globally renowned expert in autoimmune diseases and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at the University of Houston has identified potential biomarkers for neuropsychiatric symptoms of lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in… 		Chandra Mohan, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor of biomedical engineering, screened more than 1,100 proteins in the fluid surrounding the brains of neuropsychiatric lupus patients and identified a few proteins that could potentially be used to diagnose neuropsychiatric lupus.
Roh earns CAREER award for stroke rehab research
February 7, 2022
When it comes to rehabilitation efforts following a stroke, Jinsook Roh of the Cullen College of Engineering stresses that one simply can't address the effects of the incident – a more holistic approach, looking at why and how a… 		Jinsook Roh, an assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering, has received a CAREER award for her proposal, “Neuromuscular Coordination (NeuroCoord)-Guided Human-Machine Interaction for Quantifying and Improving Motor Function after Stroke.”
Das one of 2022's new SPIE Fellows
January 7, 2022
The Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) has named University of Houston associate professor of physics and biomedical engineering Mini Das as a Fellow. Fifty-eight SPIE members were named Fellows in 2022,… 		Das has also been named a Scialog fellow and a UH ADVANCE Fellow, both honors for her research in biological and medical imaging.
Paper finds 46 Cullen College professors among Most-Cited
January 5, 2022
According to an updated paper from researchers at Stanford University, 46 past and present professors affiliated with the Cullen College of Engineering are among the Top 2 percent of cited research papers in the world. The… 		More than 45 professors and researchers affiliated with the Cullen College of Engineering have been recognized as among the most cited in the world.
Biomed, ECE, McGovern collaboration leads to new epilepsy research
December 7, 2021
A recently published paper from a team of researchers and students from multiple departments at the Cullen College of Engineering and the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth proposes a way to provide real-time, continuous… 		Rose T. Faghih, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the BRAIN Center, is senior author for a new paper about tracking the seizure state of epileptic patients in real-time.. The first author for the paper is Alexander Steele, a doctoral student of Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D., Cullen Distinguished Professor and Director of the NSF IUCRC BRAIN Center, and the research is a collaboration between two UH departments and the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.
Akay elected to lead Medical and Biological Engineering Academy
November 16, 2021
The chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Cullen College of Engineering has been elected to lead an international academy of his peers through September 2023. Metin Akay, Ph.D., the founding chairman and the… 		Metin Akay, Ph.D., the founding chairman and the John S. Dunn Endowed Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was elected chairman of the governing council for the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE).
Akay to receive honorary degree from Polish university
October 1, 2021
The chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Cullen College of Engineering will be receiving an honorary degree from an university in Poland, as well as attending the official opening ceremony of the EU Healthcare… 		Metin Akay, John S. Dunn Endowed Chairman of Biomedical Engineering at the Cullen College of Engineering, will accept an honorary degree from a Polish university in the first week of October 2021.
Cullen College of Engineering promotes six professors
September 28, 2021
The Cullen College of Engineering is happy to announce that six professors have earned promotions, starting with the fall semester of the 2021-22 academic year. All listed positions are tenured, or on a tenure track. Professors… 		Six professors have been promoted for the 2021-22 academic year at the Cullen College of Engineering.
Improving Control for Users of Robotic Prostheses
September 22, 2021
Advanced Peripheral Nervous System Decreases Abnormal Sensations A biomedical engineer from the Cullen College of Engineering has been awarded $2.8 million by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to improve… 		Mario Ignacio Romero-Ortega, Cullen Endowed Professor of biomolecular engineering, is creating next-generation advanced peripheral nervous system (PNS) interface electrodes to decrease the abnormal sensations associated with electrical stimulation of prosthetic limbs.
UH Engineer Receives $3.7M to Stop Epileptic Seizures Before They Begin
September 8, 2021
University of Houston associate professor of biomedical engineering Nuri Firat Ince, who pioneered a dramatic decrease in the time it takes to detect the seizure onset zone (SOZ) in the brain, has received a $3.7 million BRAIN… 		Nuri Ince, associate professor of biomedical engineering, has received a $3.7 million BRAIN Initiative grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to translate his work into creating a next-generation device that can stop epileptic seizures before they begin.
More Efficient Tests May One Day Replace Endoscopy
June 29, 2021
Other Proteins – Not Just Blood – Found Elevated in Colorectal Cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disease In two journal articles, a University of Houston biomedical researcher reports a step forward in diagnosing intestinal diseases,… 		Dr. Chandra Mohan
BME's Horton winner of Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
June 28, 2021
Renita Horton, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department of the College of Engineering, has been selected as one of the 2021-22 recipients of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from… 		Dr. Renita Horton