Research strengths and labs in Biomedical Engineering

The research conducted within the department is in the broad areas of bioinstrumentation and imaging, biomaterials, tissue engineering and regeneration, and biomechanics. We work in close collaboration with colleagues in the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS), the College of Engineering, and the College of Natural Sciences. Several of our faculty members have their labs located at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester and they closely collaborate with UMCMS researchers and practitioners.

Stacyann Bailey

Our lab investigates the mechanisms of increased skeletal fragility caused by cancer and cancer-related treatment. The outcomes will aid in the development of new strategies to predict, manage, and mitigate bone fractures, which can improve overall survival and quality of life in patients.

Bailey Research Lab

Joyita Dutta

BIDSLab is an engineering and data science lab and maintain deep ties with hospital-based researchers and physicians in the Boston area and beyond. Our broad research goal is to develop signal processing and artificial intelligence (AI) based solutions to a range of inverse problems, including biomedical image processing and reconstruction, brain network analysis, and electrophysiological signal processing for healthcare applications. Website

Chase Cornelison

Neural engineering, inspired by cancer. 
Our lab aims to develop new therapeutic strategies for restoring function after neural injury. Specifically, we seek to apply elements of cancer biology and materials science to retrain the damaged nervous system and overcome barriers to tissue regrowth. Website

Seth Donahue

The Donahue lab studies the biology, physiology, and mechanics of bone from animals that have adapted to extreme environmental conditions. Website.

Cathal Kearney

Our research aims to engineer tools to understand and mimic natural biological cue timing to enhance tissue repair and regeneration. We develop technologies to deliver therapeutics at specific time-points and use them to probe the role of timing in repair processes. We also think about timing in terms of age, and the effects of aging on tissue, cells, and repair.. Website.

The Frank Zhang Lab at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst, Department of Biomedical Engineering applies quantitative biophysical approaches, particularly single-molecule detection techniques, to study the mechanobiology of the human circulatory system, tissue repair/regeneration, viral adhesion, and bioinspired soft materials.

S. Thai Thayumanavan
BME Department Head
Distinguished Professor in Chemistry & Biomedical Engineering

Where Molecules Become Materials
We are interested in the design and syntheses of mainly two classes of macromolecules, viz., dendrimers and polymers. The design of these macromolecules is inspired by specific applications that our group is interested in and sometimes by the sheer beauty of the structures that one can generate using organic syntheses as a tool box. The structures that we imagine are often inspired by the intricacies of the nature's nature macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Dendrimers, derived from the Greek word dendron (tree), are highly branched molecules that are built using iterative synthetic strategies. One of the most attractive aspects of dendrimers is that these molecules can be built as a pure single molecule even at very high molecular weights. Another interesting aspect of dendrimer is that they become globular at high molecular weights and therefore are useful as supramolecular hosts. We have developed a new design strategy to functionalize the interiors of these globular dendrimers to enhance the versatility of these molecules as hosts. In addition, we have also reported three different synthetic strategies to introduce sequences in dendrimers, i.e. these methodologies afford the capability to vary each monomer unit within a dendron or dendrimer. We are now working on several projects that demonstrate the capabilities of dendrimers in host-guest binding, catalysis, drug delivery, and other biological applications.

Website

The 2D Bioelectronics Lab (PI Dmitry Kireev) focuses on wearable and implantable bioelectronics: from applications of graphene and other 2D materials to wearable biosensors, bioelectronics, neuroelectronics, neuronal networks measurements and in vivo probes, advanced biosensors, biomedical devices and building next generation 2D hybrids.

The Jingjing Gao Lab works at the interface of material science, chemistry, biology, and biomedical engineering, we aim to promote healthy aging with a materials-centric approach, to innovate the treatments for degenerative diseases. Our research focuses on translational strategies to develop gene therapies for neurological disorders or chronic diseases.

The Biosensing and Biomarker Research Lab (PI Chang Liu) is currently focused on developing a miniaturized blood, urine, or saliva test device for infectious diseases to improve healthcare.