Faculty Research
Jul 20, 2023
Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awardees
MIE Associate Professor Randal Erb, ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, ChE Professor Rebecca Carrier, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng are recipients of the Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awards from Northeastern’s Center for Research Innovation.
Jul 05, 2023
The Cardiovascular and Respiratory Effects of E-cigarettes and Cigarettes
BioE Associate Professors Chiara Bellini and Jessica Oakes received a $3.8 million NIH grant for “Cardiopulmonary Outcomes of Dual Cigarette and E-cigarette Use in Animal Models of Chronic Exposure.” The project will provide scientific evidence in support of data-driven e-cigarette regulation under The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, specifically concerning the health risks of dual combustible and electronic cigarette use.
Jun 12, 2023
Understanding Cell-Fate Transitions for Tumor Development
University Distinguished Professor Herbert Levine, physics and bioengineering is leading a $1.2 million NSF grant for determining the “Regulation of Cellular Stemness during the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT).” State-of-the-art single cell measurement technology will be used together with advanced mathematical modeling frameworks to understand how cells choose specific fates and to quantitatively unravel the genetic and epigenetic dynamics that leads these cells along their particular trajectories.
May 22, 2023
How Collagen Could Help Heal Your Torn Rotator Cuff, Achilles Tendon, Meniscus and More
The spinoff company BrilliantStrings Therapeutics of BioE Professor Jeffrey Ruberti and mechanical engineering alum Jeff Paten, PhD’14, made it to the “final four” of the “ARPA-H Dash” competition to accelerate health outcomes.
Apr 27, 2023
Announcing Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awardees
Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awards. They will be pursuing a diverse set of projects, including a study of a pathogen that haunts hospitals, an examination of segregationist rhetoric in Boston newspapers, and an analysis of creativity in music.
Apr 24, 2023
Rouhanifard Receives $3.4M NIH Grant to Discover RNA Modification Sites Using Pseudouridine Modified mRNA
BioE Assistant Professor Sara Rouhanifard was awarded a $3.4 million NIH R01 grant for “Synthetic mRNA Control Set for Nanopore-Based Pseudouridine Modification Profiling in Human Transcriptomes.” The research has the potential to vastly increase insight into the epitranscriptome—changes in chemical modifications of RNA that can affect gene expression within cells—which could help identify new therapeutic targets and lead to new classes of drugs.
Apr 24, 2023
Libby Awarded $1.96M Early-Stage Investigator Grant from NIH
Elizabeth Libby, assistant professor of bioengineering, recently received a five-year, $1.96 million Early Stage Investigator R35 MIRA (Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award) grant from the National Institutes of Health for “Physiological and Developmental Role of Bacterial Ser/Thr Kinases.” Libby’s research is focused on how bacteria develop resistance at the cellular level—knowledge that will be crucial to the development of more effective antibiotics.
Apr 12, 2023
Cationic Contrast Agents for Cartilage Imaging for Early Diagnosis of Arthritis
Ambika Bajpayee, associate professor, bioengineering, published a paper, “Cationic Carrier Mediated Delivery of Anionic Contrast Agents in Low Doses Enable Enhanced Computed Tomography Imaging of Cartilage for Early Osteoarthritis Diagnosis,” in the journal ACS Nano. The research details the creation of positively charged contrast agents that can target cartilage tissue in joints affected by osteoarthritis, enabling CT imaging at very low doses. It demonstrates that CT scanning can be a viable imaging modality for early detection of osteoarthritis and staging of its severity.