Jay L. Alberts
Jay L. Alberts, the Edward F. and Barbara A. Bell Family Endowed Chair, Lerner Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, received the Parkinson’s Foundation 2025 Trailblazer Award for his project utilizing artificial intelligence to realize the value of skin biopsy phosphorylated alpha-synuclein in early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. “The project will, for the first time, combine explainable AI models developed from the electronic health record to identify and evaluate a scalable approach to screening for Parkinson’s disease,” says Alberts. He also was awarded $665,118 in funding from the National Institutes of Health to study neural mechanisms underlying the benefits of aerobic exercise in advanced Parkinson’s disease.
Suneel Apte
Suneel Apte, staff, Lerner Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, received a $2.2 million, five-year award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease for his project, “Degradomics of proteolytic mechanisms in post-traumatic osteoarthritis.”
James Basilion
Visano Theranostics Inc. received an award from the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund to commercialize a new imaging approach to guide prostate biopsies. The approach uses gas-filled nanobubbles that attach to a protein found on prostate cancer cells to mark dubious tissue during ultrasounds, enabling providers to see tumors more clearly in real time and increase biopsy accuracy. The company’s leadership team includes James Basilion, professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the CWRU Center for Imaging Research (CCIR), and Agata Exner, professor of biomedical engineering and CCIR director.
Richard Burgess
Richard Burgess, MD, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, received the 2025 Legacy Award from the American Clinical Magnetoencephalography Society. The award recognizes clinicians and researchers who have shaped the field of clinical magnetoencephalography (MEG). Dr. Burgess, who specializes in epilepsy neurology at Cleveland Clinic, was responsible for bringing the first MEG system for assessing normal and abnormal brain function to the healthcare system in 2008. He now conducts assessments of more patients with complicated epilepsy than at any other center.
Margot Damaser
Margot Damaser, staff, Lerner Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health. The project, “Matrix regenerative nanotherapeutic platform for pelvic organ prolapse,” will receive $688,436 in funding. The goal of the research is to slow pelvic organ prolapse (POP) progression by treating early-stage POP with the lab’s novel elastogenic functionalized nanomaterial drug complexes.
Emily Graczyk
Emily Graczyk, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $9.9 million in funding from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). The study will feature a randomized controlled trial of 12 people with upper limb loss using an implanted neuroprosthesis to restore intuitive control and sensation to advanced hand prostheses. “Participants will use the neuroprosthesis at home for up to 12 months, and we will track functional, psychosocial and pain outcomes,” says Graczyk.
Graczyk’s lab also performed the first implant of the Bionic Breast neuroprosthesis in May. The aim of the Bionic Breast is to restore sensation and mitigate pain for women who have undergone mastectomies due to breast cancer.
Will Grissom
Will Grissom, Medtronic Professor of Biomedical Discovery and Innovation in the Case School of Medicine and professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, gave the Lopez Lecture at the September Council Meeting of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). The lecture is presented annually by a distinguished scientist who exhibits the same high level of professional performance as its namesake, a former director of NIBIB’s ultrasound imaging program who died in 2014. Grissom, who was chosen for his extensive background in developing novel MRI and focused ultrasound technologies, discussed his group’s research, unsolved technical challenges in the field and how MRI and ultrasound may evolve over the next decade.
Umut Gurkan
Umut Gurkan, the Wilbert J. Austin Professor of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, has received accolades for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of biomechanics and bioengineering. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded Gurkan the 2025 Savio L-Y. Woo Translational Biomechanics Award for his work translating scientific discoveries into practical, life-saving diagnostic tools for underserved populations. Gurkan developed an easy-to-use screening device that revolutionizes diagnosis of sickle cell disease, which is now commercially available as Gazelle by Hemex Health.
The Association for Clinical and Translational Science also named Gurkan one of its Translational Science Award recipients earlier this year for development of the diagnostic tool, which has been deployed in more than 44 countries, screening over 1.5 million babies and children for sickle cell disease and other hemoglobin disorders.
Gurkan also has published several articles recently, including an article in Nature Communications on monitoring cellular adhesion in blood samples. The article presents work on motion blur microscopy and machine learning-based image analysis to study cell interactions in microfluidic channels during whole blood flow. In addition, Gurkan co-authored a publication by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine exploring strategies for fostering ethical and effective scientific leadership in research environments, as well as an opinion piece in The Scientist urging academia to measure success by societal contributions, translation to practice and partnerships with industry and policymakers.
Zheng-Rong Lu
Zheng-Rong Lu, faculty director in the Case School of Engineering and M. Frank and Margaret Domiter Rudy Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was elected as a fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) for his outstanding and pioneering work in small targeted MRI contrast agents that enable clinical translatable high-resolution molecular MRI of cancer. In addition, the PET tracer developed in Lu’s lab received Investigational New Drug approval for clinical trials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Luke Osborn
Luke Osborn, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, was part of a team that was granted a patent in June for a prosthetic arm that includes thermotactile stimulation devices to provide sensations of temperature and touch back to the user. The patent stems from development of a thin film thermoelectric device that can rapidly provide thermal stimulation to the skin of an individual with arm amputation, which is perceived as a cooling sensation in the missing hand. (An article on the device entitled, “Evoking natural thermal perceptions using a thin-film thermoelectric device with high cooling power density and speed” was published in the August 2024 issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering.) Other patent authors include colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where Osborn worked as a senior researcher prior to joining Case Western Reserve University.
Andrew Rollins
Lighthanded Enterprises, a startup company that developed a laser otoscope to diagnose middle ear infections more accurately, was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop the technology. Researchers from Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering who contributed to the project include Andrew Rollins, the Leonard Case Jr. Professor of Engineering and a member of the CWRU Center for Imaging Research (CCIR); Brecken Blackburn, research assistant professor and a CCIR member; and Matthew Mcpheeters, post-doctoral scholar. Cleveland Clinic will lead a pilot study on the laser otoscope conducted by Brandon Hopkins, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist.
Andrew Shoffstall
Andrew Shoffstall, Nord Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, published an article in a September issue of Nature Communications. The article, entitled “Dexamethasone-loaded platelet-inspired nanoparticles improve intracortical microelectrode recording performance,” discusses the impact of new platelet-inspired therapy to improve the long-term recording performance of implanted brain-machine interface intracortical microelectrodes. The work was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs and performed in partnership with Haima Therapeutics, a startup company founded by Anirban Sen Gupta, the Wallace A. Persons Professor in Case’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. Jeff Capadona, the Donnell Institute Professor of Biomedical Engineering and vice provost of innovation at Case Western Reserve University, was also a co-investigator.
Nicholas Ziats
Nicholas Ziats, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and professor of pathology and anatomy in the School of Medicine, won the Society For Biomaterials’ 2025 Founders Award. The award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the society, recognizes landmark contributions to the discipline of biomaterials and significant service to the Society For Biomaterials (SFB). A member of SFB since 1988, Ziats has conducted fundamental studies in biomaterials research that have impacted the use and analysis of clinically used biomaterials for more than 30 years.
“It is important to recognize the breadth of Nick’s work covering many disciplines, including cell biology, immunology, cancer, heart disease, neural disease and wound healing, and how his studies – along with his many colleagues and collaborators – have impacted the field of biomaterials at the local, regional, national and international levels,” says James M. Anderson, MD, Distinguished University Professor of Pathology, Macromolecular Science and Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University.