Metin Akay

Faculty

Metin Akay

John S Dunn Endowed Chair Professor

Office Location SERC 2028

Phone 832-842-8813

Fax 713-743-2501

Email makay [at] uh.edu

Dr. Akay is the John S Dunn Endowed Professor of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Houston. He earned his BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering (EE) from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkiye. Then, he pursued and obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering (BME) from Rutgers University, NJ, the United States,

He is proud of the BME department he established at the University of Houston, which is a unique translational research environment, focused on integrating innovative research and academic programs to meet the demands and requirements of the ever-changing global economy that continues to drive health-care technology, management, and delivery and served as the founding chair for nearly 15 years.

He received honorary doctorates from Aalborg Silesian and Pécs Universities and professorship from the Technical University of Crete. He has authored more than 20 books and 180 journal papers, along with 200 conference papers and abstracts and delivered over 200 keynote and plenary talks at respected international conferences, including IEEE ICASSP twice.

He is a recipient of the IEEE EMBS Career, Early Career and Service Awards, an IEEE Third Millennium Medal, and the prestigious Zworykin Award from the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE). He is a life fellow of IEEE, fellow of the Institute of Physics (IOP), the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

His research focuses on the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of Cancer, neurotechnology for addiction and pain, brain cancer chips, and coronary occlusion.

Courses

Introduction to Biomedical Informatics (BIOE 5318)

Capstone Design II (BIOE 4336)

Biomedical Informatics (BIOE 6345)

Awards and Honors

Academy Career Achievement Award, IEEE Engineering Medicine and Biology, 2024

Life Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2024

Fellow, Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), 2023

Honorary Professor, Technical University of Crete, 2023

Honorary PhD in Engineering and Medicine, Pecs University, 2023

Zworykin Award, International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE), 2022

Honorary PhD in biomedical engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Poland, 2021

Honorary PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Science, Aalborg University, Denmark, 2015

Fellow, The International Academy of Medical Biomedical Engineering, 2012

Leadership Award, Information Technology in Biomedicine (ITAB), 2010

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2010

Fellow, American Institute of Medical Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2010

Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2009

Research Award, IEEE Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering, 2008

Fellow, Institute of Physics, 2004

IEEE EMBS Service Award, 2001

IEEE Third Millennium Medal in Biomedical Engineering, 2000

Young Investigator Award, Northeast Region, Sigma Xi, 2000

Young Investigator Award, Northeast Region, Sigma Xi, 1998

IEEE Early Career Achievement Award, 1997

Research Interests

Advanced Neurotechnology for Addiction: Our data suggests that DA neurons, in response to nicotine exposure during pregnancy, were significantly activated, allowing the release of unusually high levels of dopamine in the PFC. Active DA is a neurotransmitter that carries information between neurons and regulates emotional responses, particularly those related to rewards, which could play a part in addiction. Our data indicated that the impacted (altered) DA pathways could result in babies being born addicted to nicotine. Our ultimate research goal is to develop a new implantable DA probe consisting of a microimaging device and neural probe to record, modulate, and stimulate the DA neural activities, as well as a custom-made optogenetic and microdialysis device to selectively stimulate DA neurons in the sub-regions of the VTA and measure DA release in the NAc and PFC. Our initial studies indicated that the proposed implantable microdevices and computational methods could help us to understand the effect of maternal nicotine and alcohol exposures on DA neurons within the sub-regions of the VTA during early maturation at both cellular and molecular levels. We believe that our research may identify new molecular or cellular pathways that could be probed for future treatments that could assist in smoking or alcohol cessation.

Brain Chip for Precision Medicine: The ability to quickly assess the effectiveness of a cancer drug would be a notable improvement over typical cancer protocols in which chemotherapy drugs are given, then tested for several months, and then a patient switched to another drug if the first is ineffective. We have developed a new brain cancer chip that allows multiple-simultaneous drug administration, and a massive parallel testing of drug response for patients with glioblastoma (GBM). The new chip generates tumor spheroids, or clusters, and provides large-scale assessments on the response of these GBM tumor cells to various concentrations and combinations of drugs. Our preliminary studies enable us to utilize the brain cancer chip to determine the optimal combination of anticancer drugs, using only a tiny tissue sample collected from a patient by biopsy. Ultimately, this technology may allow physicians to most effectively treat GBM in patients over a shorter period.

An Intelligent Wearable System for the Localization of Coronary Occlusions: We have developed a new and relevant approach for the early detection of coronary artery disease. This approach is based on the detection and analysis of the diastolic heart sounds associated with turbulent blood flow. The acoustic approach differs from other more customary techniques based on the coronary artery disease symptoms. Our proposed system consists of the intelligent capacitive MEMS microphone array and wireless technology for recording, preprocessing, and transmitting turbulent heart sounds associated with coronary occlusions and advanced processing and visualization. This research has significantly aided the development of a non-invasive examination platform of the coronary artery system using acoustic signal detection and analysis.

Selected Publications

2024 - Rahman, F.S., Yousuf, Z., Castelan, F., Martinez-Gomez, M., Akay, Y.M., Zimmern, P., Akay, M., et al. Neuromodulation Improves Stress Urinary Incontinence-like Deficits in Female Rabbits. IEEE OJEMB. DOI: 10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3408454.
2023 - Akbar, L., Castillo, V.C.G., Olorocisimo, J.P., Ohta, Y., Kawahara, M., Takehara, H., Akay, M., et al. Multi-Region Microdialysis Imaging Platform Revealed Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Calcium Signaling and Serotonin Dynamics during Nociceptive Pain. Int J Mol Sci, 24(7):6654. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076654.
2023 - McGill, L.D., Avci, N.G., Kazemi, T., Sunaga, Y., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Prenatal nicotine exposure alters gene expression profiles of neurons in the sub-regions of the VTA during early postnatal development. Sci Rep, 13(1):4911. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31997-8.
2023 - Ganaway, A., Sunaga, Y., Ohta, Y., Ohta, J., Akay, M., et al. Investigating the Modulation of the VTA Neurons in Nicotine-Exposed Pups during Early Maturation Using Optogenetics. Int J Mol Sci, 24(3):2280. DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032280.
2022 - Xia, H., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M., Investigating miRNA-mRNA Interactions and Gene Regulatory Networks From VTA Dopaminergic Neurons Following Perinatal Nicotine and Alcohol Exposure Using Bayesian Network Analysis. IEEE J Biomed Health Inform, 26(7):3550–3555. DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2022.3158620.
2022 - Ohta, Y., Murakami, T.E., Kawahara, M., Haruta, M., Takehara, H., Akay, M., et al. Investigating the Influence of GABA Neurons on Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area Using Optogenetic Techniques. Int J Mol Sci, 23(3):1114. DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031114.
2022 - Naganuma, K., Ohta, Y., Murakami, T.E., Okada, R., Guinto, M.C., Akay, M., et al. Multifunctional Implantable Device for Simultaneous Optical and Electrophysiological Measurements. Sensors and Materials, 34(4):1561–1575.
2022 - Pustchi, S., Waits, C.M., Avci, N., McGill, L., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. The Influence of Human Astrocyte Conditioned Media on Glioblastoma Multiforme Response to Temozolomide and Bay 11-7082. IEEE Access. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3146887.
2021 - Yasumi, O., Guinto, M.C., Tokuda, T., Kawahara, M., Haruta, M., Akay, M., et al. Micro-LED Array-Based Photo-Stimulation Devices for Optogenetics in Rat and Macaque Monkey Brains. IEEE Access, 9:127937–127949.
2021 - Xia, H., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Selecting Relevant Genes From Microarray Datasets Using a Random Forest Model. IEEE Access, 9:97813–97821.
2021 - Kazemi, T., Huang, S., Avci, N.G., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Investigating the Effects of Chronic Perinatal Alcohol and Combined Nicotine and Alcohol Exposure on Dopaminergic and Non-Dopaminergic Neurons in the VTA. Sci Rep, 11(1):8706.
2021 - Sunaga, Y., Ohta, Y., Murakami, T.E., Akay, Y.M., Ohta, J., Akay, M. Monitoring Neuronal Dynamics in the Ventral Tegmental Area Using an Implantable Microimaging Device With Microdialysis System. IEEE Access, 9:55871–55878.
2020 - Kazemi, T., Huang, S., Avci, N.G., Waits, C.M.K., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Investigating the Influence of Perinatal Nicotine and Alcohol Exposure on the Genetic Profiles of Dopaminergic Neurons in the VTA. Sci Rep, 10(1):15016.
2020 - Pustchi, S., Avci, N.G., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Astrocytes Decreased the Sensitivity of Glioblastoma Cells to Temozolomide and Bay 11-7082. Int J Mol Sci, 21(19):7154.
2020 - Avci, N., Pustchi, S., Akay, Y.M., Esquenazi, Y., Akay, M., et al. NF-kB Inhibitor with Temozolomide Significantly Results in Apoptosis in Glioblastoma. Sci Rep, 10(1):13352.
2020 - Sunaga, Y., Ohta, Y., Akay, Y.M., Ohta, J., Akay, M. Monitoring Neural Activities in VTA in Response to Nicotine Intake. IEEE Access, 8:68013–68020.
2020 - Kazemi, T., Avci, N., Keller, R., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Influence of Perinatal Nicotine Exposure on Genetic Profiles in VTA. Sci Rep, 10(1):2419.
2019 - Keller, R., Kazemi, T., Dragomir, A., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Comparison Between Dopaminergic and Non-Dopaminergic Neurons in the VTA. Sci Rep, 9(1):445.
2018 - Akay, M., Hite, J., Avci, N., Fan, Y., Akay, Y.M., et al. Drug Screening of Human GBM Spheroids. Sci Rep, 8:15423.
2018 - Keller, R., Dragomir, A., Fan, Y., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Genetic Profile of Dopaminergic Neurons in the VTA. Sci Rep, 8:13769.
2016 - Akay, M., Dragomir, A., Akay, Y.M., Chen, F., Post, A., et al. Assessment of Stent Effectiveness Using MEMS Microphone Array. IEEE JTEHM.
2016 - Dragomir, A., Post, A., Akay, Y.M., Jneid, H., Akay, M., et al. Acoustic Detection of Coronary Occlusions. Entropy, 18(8):281.
2015 - Avci, N.G., Fan, Y., Dragomir, A., Akay, Y.M., Akay, M. Influence of HUVECs in Glioblastoma Spheroids. IEEE Trans Nanobiosci, 14(7).
2014 - Yamak, D., Pavlicek, W., Panse, P.M., Akay, M. Non-calcified Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Characterization. IEEE JBHI, 18(3):939–945.
2009 - Akay, M., Akay, Y.M., Gauthier, D., Paden, R.G., Pavlicek, W., et al. Dynamics of Diastolic Sounds Caused by Partially Occluded Coronary Arteries. IEEE T-BME, 56:513–517.