University at Buffalo Biomedical Engineering

10/30/2026

Last month, UB Biomedical Engineering alum and researcher, Kerry Poppenberg, was interviewed on WIVB-TV about her research to help better detect brain aneurysms. Her research focuses on biomarkers for brain aneurysms which can predict likelihood of an aneurysm and catching them before they rupture and lead to severe damage. Early detection and monitoring of aneurysms is an exciting advancement that allows for better treatment options and prognosis for patients.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-NA-exag0

Interview: Research to detect brain aneurysms sooner

10/20/2026

Ready to think big and engineer your future? Register for our graduate information session on Biomedical Engineering on Oct. 21. Registration link in the comments.

06/30/2026

UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is hosting the annual Vasculata conference July 7-10. The meeting, a collaborative effort between UB and the University of Rochester, will be chaired by Drs. Rita Alevriadou (UB), Angela Glading (URMC), and Marc Halterman (UB). Vasculata is co-sponsored by the North American Vascular Biology Organization (NAVBO). Its goal is to provide foundational knowledge in vascular biology, as well as the latest discoveries and technologies, to the future generation of vascular biologists, bioengineers, and physician-scientists.

Registration, costs, agenda and more info can be found here: https://www.navbo.org/vasculata/

We are proud to announce that the Jacobs School will host the annual Vasculata conference from July 7-10. The meeting, a collaborative effort between UB and the University of Rochester, will be chaired by Drs. Rita Alevriadou (UB), Angela Glading (URMC), and Marc Halterman (UB). Vasculata is co-spon...

05/22/2026

It's hard to believe it's been one week since our bittersweet celebration and send-off to our graduating students! Congratulations to the Class of 2026! We are so proud of you!

05/20/2026

BME students recently had a wonderful opportunity to present their Senior Design Project – “DrainSight” – at UB’s Surgery Day event at the Jacob's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. DrainSight is an AI-powered drain monitoring system that uses a cell-phone photo to measure output fluid type and volume. The app component organizes this data by patient, and stores it over time to create a trend. This project was sponsored by both Brian Quaranto, MD and Michael Chopko, MD.

BME student Rachel Getzler presented their project alongside Ansh Kumar, UB MBA/BME student for help with the demonstration. Other developers who could not be present were Samuel Hromchak and Joshua Vidro. This presentation won the Quick Shots Presentations award!

UB’s Surgery Day is a research-based conference with medical students, residents, undergraduates, and even high schoolers. This is a wonderful example of the innovative and translational work our students are doing here at UB BME! Congratulations the entire DrainSight team on this outstanding achievement!

05/19/2026

Congratulations to BME PhD student, Laura Sherwood, on receiving the SUNY GREAT Award! This award recognizes students who were selected as recipients or honorable mentions for federal awards sponsored by agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Energy, among others.

Laura is the recipient of the F31 Award from NIH. She was recognized by UB President Tripathi and Provost Weber at the UB Celebration of Student Academic Excellence.

05/13/2026

For our last seminar in the Spring 2026 BME seminar series, we welcomed Dr. Raj Kothapalli for his presentation: “Multimodal Optical, Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Imaging Strategies for Pre-clinical and Clinical Applications”

Dr. Raj Kothapalli is an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Penn State Cancer Institute, at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Kothapalli served as an instructor in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University from 2014 to 2016, during which time he conducted the first-in-human photoacoustic prostate imaging studies. Since 2017, he has led the BioPhotonics and Ultrasound Imaging lab at Penn State, which focuses on developing novel multimodal imaging strategies combining optical, ultrasound and photoacoustic technologies. Dr. Kothapalli was awarded the Hamalainen Peter Michael Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Sir Peter Michael Foundation (2009 to 2012), the K99-R00 NIH Pathway to Independence award in 2014, and the NSF CAREER award in 2023.

05/13/2026

Congratulations to the BME Graduate Student Association (GSA) for winning The Student Organization Collaboration of the Year Pillar of Leadership Award! This award is given to a student organization that orchestrates the most valuable co-sponsored program that has a meaningful contribution to students. This award also considers an organization’s collaboration with other groups.

05/04/2026

For our Spring BME Seminar Series, we hosted Dr. Song Li for his presentation: “Mechano-Immunoengineering for Cancer Therapy”

Dr. Song Li is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Associate Dean of the Samueli School of Engineering at UCLA. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and on the Governing Council of the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE). Dr. Li’s research centers on cell engineering and mechanomedicine, with notable contributions to understanding how biophysical cues influence stem cell differentiation and cell reprogramming. Dr. Li is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Med-X Journal. His achievements have earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Global Biomaterials Leadership Award from the Chinese Association of Biomaterials, and election as a Fellow of AIMBE, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and IAMBE.

05/01/2026

Congratulations to UB BME Faculty Dr. Ciprian Ionita and Dr. Jonathan Lovell on being acknowledged for most promising startups at the first-ever Buffalo Startup Draft hosted by Series B[uffalo]! In total, 11 Buffalo-based companies were acknowledged and rewarded by former Buffalo Bills legend Eric Wood.

QAS AI, led by Dr. Ionita, gives neurosurgeons something they’ve never had before: real-time AI that can predict, mid-procedure, whether a patient’s brain treatment is on track to succeed.

Pop Biotechnologies is a biotechnology startup led by cofounders Dr. Lovell and Jonathan Smyth and was recently awarded a $2.46 million federal grant to advance the development of a vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease.

Read the full story here! https://www.seriesbuffalo.com/articles/11-buffalo-based-startups-drafted-to-series-b-uffalo-team