Ruikang Wang is recognized for transforming eye care with 3D blood flow imaging
Professor Wang receives the notable 2025 SPIE Britton Chance Award for developing 3D blood flow imaging technology that revolutionizes eye disease detection.
Faculty News and Awards
Brain-machine interface pioneer Amy Orsborn is named 2025 Sloan Research Fellow
Assistant Professor Amy Orsborn has received the prestigious early career 2025 Sloan Research Fellowship. The honor recognizes her pioneering work combining engineering and neuroscience to develop brain-machine interfaces for movement disorders.
Bioengineering faculty earn top Biomaterials Society Honors
Three UW faculty members receive prestigious biomaterials awards: Associate Professor Cole DeForest earns the Mid-Career Award, Professor Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert is recognized with the Award for Service, and Associate Professor Kelly Stevens receives the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award.
Gabriel Lopez is honored with the 2025 UW College of Engineering Diamond Award
Gabriel López, UW Chemical Engineering alumnus and Bioengineering Advisory Board member, will receive the 2025 College of Engineering Diamond Award for creating technologies that address health disparities in underserved communities.
Embracing AI tools to enhance teaching and learning
UW Bioengineering faculty are integrating artificial intelligence into both teaching and research, preparing students for the future while advancing innovative healthcare solutions.
Research
2024 Nobel laureate David Baker leads a scientific breakthrough in enzyme design
The Baker lab has created custom enzymes from scratch using AI, potentially outperforming natural proteins for tasks like plastic degradation and drug development.
Smart gauze innovation fights antibiotic-resistant infections
The labs of Professors Valerie Daggett and James Bryers have developed an innovative “smart gauze” that combats antibiotic-resistant wound infections by targeting bacterial biofilms.
Engineering solutions for heart health
UW Bioengineering faculty, Patrick Boyle, Jennifer Davis and Michael Regnier, at the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine are pioneering innovative approaches to cardiac research, combining engineering expertise with cutting-edge technologies to unlock new treatments for heart conditions.
UW researchers develop material to stabilize blood pressure during severe bleeding
Bioengineering Professor Suzie Pun, with Adjunct Professor Nathan White and Ph.D. graduate Trey Pichon, developed a star-shaped compound that stabilizes blood pressure during severe bleeding while preserving clotting. Using just 10% of blood volume, it significantly reduces potential complications.
Affordable robots can speed cancer test results
The Albert Folch lab developed an affordable cancer testing platform by adapting off-the-shelf robots, reducing costs from $100,000+ to under $3,500, enabling wider laboratory access to personalized treatment testing. Learn more about the research in the 2024 impact report.
Student News and Awards
Bioengineering teams shine at the 2025 Science & Technology Showcase
Three Master of Bioengineering student teams were among 18 finalist teams to present at the Science & Technology Showcase. Team VenoSense, which focuses on enhancing DVT detection with AI, won top prizes and is a finalist for the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge.
Samson Darrah receives 2024 Diana Award for eye care initiative in Ghana
PhD student Samson Darrah leads iCare Network Ghana, providing eye care to 4,000 people and menstrual products to 1,000 girls, earning him the prestigious 2024 Diana Award for outstanding social action.
Rachel Iritani wins 2025 CNT Best Student Paper Award
Graduate student Rachel Iritani has received the 2025 Center for Neurotechnology Best Student Paper Award for creating a virtual toolbox that designs custom neural implants for nonhuman primates, reducing surgical complications.
Publications
The Effect of the Foreign Body Response on Drug Elution from Subdermal Delivery Systems
Simone Capuani et al.
Patrick S. Stayton and UW Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute / Houston Methodist Research Institute / Houston Methodist Hospital / Tecnologico de Monterrey / Politecnico di Torino / Texas A&M University
Biomaterials
Spatial Control of CAR T Cell Activation Using Tumor-Homing Polymers
Clinton Heinze et al.
Suzie Pun and UW Department of Emergency Medicine / UW Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute / Seattle Children’s Research Institute / Resuscitation Engineering Science Unit (RESCU)
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Plasma From Older Children in Malawi Inhibits Plasmodium Falciparum Binding in 3-Dimensional Brain Microvessels
Fatou Joof et al.
Ying Zheng and UW School of Medicine / Seattle Children’s Research Institute / Kamuzu University of Health Sciences / Michigan State University / University of Maryland School of Medicine
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Optogenetic Quantification of Cardiac Excitability and Electrical Coupling in Intact Hearts to Explain Cardiac Arrhythmia Initiation
Judith Langen et al.
Patrick Boyle and UW eScience Institute / UW Center for Cardiovascular Biology / UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine / University of Bonn
Science Advances
An Early Precursor CD8 T Cell That Adapts to Acute or Chronic Viral Infection
Daniel McManus et al.
Hao Yuan Kueh and Emory University School of Medicine / Harvard Medical School / The Ohio State University College of Medicine / The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center / Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai / Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Nature
Thermal Imaging for Characterization of Skin Adaptation in Prosthesis Users
Joan Sanders, Conor Lanahan and Joseph C. Mertens
Medical Engineering & Physics
Rapid Enzymatic Assay for Antiretroviral Drug Monitoring Using CRISPR-Cas12a-Enabled Readout
Maya Singh et al.
Barry Lutz, Ayokunle Olanrewaju and UW Department of Mechanical Engineering
ACS Synthetic Biology
Predicting oxytocin binding dynamics in receptor genetic variants through computational modeling
Preeti Dubey et al.
Princess Imoukhuede and WashU Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
npj Women’s Health
Adaptive contour-tracking to aid wide-field swept-source optical coherence tomography imaging of large objects with uneven surface topology
Jian Liu et al.
Ruikang Wang and UW Department of Ophthalmology
Biomedical Optics Express
Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from tongue swabs using sonication and sequence-specific hybridization capture
Alexander Yan et al.
Paul Yager and UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences / University of Cape Town
PLoS One
Systems-Level Modeling for CRISPR-Based Metabolic Engineering
Ryan Cardiff et al.
Herbert Sauro and UW Departments of Chemistry; Chemical Engineering / UW Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute / UW Center for Synthetic Biology
ACS Synthetic Biology