The Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) annual meeting, held from October 23 to 26, was a standout event for the UW Bioengineering community. With a strong showing from faculty, staff and students, the department’s presence included a full lineup of faculty and student presenters, a bustling booth showcasing our academic programs and a lively happy hour reception.
Two BioE faculty members delivered title talks at the conference. Associate Professor Kelly Stevens, who received the BMES Mid-Career Award—BMES’s highest honor for mid-career bioengineers—spoke on “Engineering Human Organoids, Organs and Societies.” Patrick Boyle, also an associate professor and the track co-chair for Bioinformatics, Computational and Systems Biology, opened the Translational Applications of Biomedical Modeling & Simulation session with his talk titled, “Accelerated Intrinsic Beating Rate in Heterogeneously Coupled Stem Cells May Underlie Focal Ventricular Tachycardia in Regenerative Cardiac Therapy.”
Professor and department Chair Princess Imoukhuede, contributed to the Gender Equity in BME Luncheon as a panelist and served as a session co-chair for discussions on Black women in biomedical engineering, highlighting her commitment to diversity and inclusion within the field. And, Elizabeth Wayne, assistant professor, served as one of three BMES Track Chairs for the “Immunoengineering” track.
Very excitingly, Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, UW Bioengineering professor and Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Education for the School of Medicine, has been inaugurated as the new President of the BMES Board of Directors. The Bioengineering community eagerly anticipates an impactful year under her leadership, culminating at the 2025 BMES meeting in San Diego.
The event also showcased the work of four Bioengineering trainees, who presented talks reflecting the range and impact of their research. Duru Tasman, mentored by Professor Kim Woodrow, gave a platform talk about her work on a “Multi-layered Delivery System for Hydrophilic APIs.” Three students presented posters. Arafat Fasuyi, guided by Kelly Stevens, presented “Extracellular Matrix Proteins and Mimics Influence Human Hepatic Organoid Function and Phenotype.” Shobhan Kuila, a mentee of Princess Imoukhuede, presented “VEGF-A and PDGFs: Discovery of High-Affinity (Nanomolar) Interactions Between Cross-Family Ligands.” Gerald Lee, under the mentorship of Research Associate Professor Vanya Pelivanov and UW Medicine Assistant Professor Tanya Khokhlova, shared insights on “Prostate Ablation Surgery Planning Using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound-Based Elastography Mapping.”
The department’s happy hour reception drew many UW BioE alumni, who shared their experiences and successes since graduation. Faculty members were thrilled by the strong turnout, especially as many attendees expressed interest in the department’s open tenure-track position
The BMES annual meeting provided an invaluable opportunity for UW Bioengineering to celebrate its faculty and students’ achievements, engage with the broader biomedical engineering community and inspire future collaborations that will drive the field forward.