News
Aug 05, 2025
NIH Trailblazer Award for Programmable RNA Sensors for Targeted Therapies
BioE/COS Assistant Professor Lei Wang is leading a $673,600 NIH Trailerblazer Award for “Programmable RNA-Based Sensors for In Situ Cell Type Detection and Response.” By developing a new tool that uses Boolean logic to sense and combine specific RNA signals, this research aims to create more precise, targeted therapies that can accurately identify and treat diseased cells like breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Aug 04, 2025
Uncovering Hidden Consistency in Cellular Research Models
COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu and BioE Associate Professor Sara Rouhanifard’s research on “Pseudouridine reprogramming in the human T cell epitranscriptome: from primary to immortalized states” was published in RNA. In their study comparing pseudouridine (ψ) profiles in primary human T cells and Jurkat cell lines, they found that while 87% of core RNA modification patterns are conserved, the remaining 13% differ in biologically significant ways, suggesting immortalized cells are a surprisingly consistent yet imperfect model for study.
Jul 28, 2025
Understanding Bone Change From Evolution To Everyday Movement
MIE/BioE Professor Sandra Shefelbine, in collaboration with Brown University, was awarded a $625,000 NSF grant for “Bones and Burrowing: Mechanoadaptation in phylogeny, ontogeny and ecology of Peromyscus.”
Jul 23, 2025
Seba’s Short-Tailed Bat Displays Distinctive Wing-Bone Morphological and Material Properties
Bioengineering alumni Xiaoxiang Ma, MS’23, and MIE/BioE Professor Sandra Shefelbine, published their research on “A proximodistal gradient in bone structure and mechanics in the wings of Seba’s short-tailed bat, Carollia perspicillata” in The Anatomical Record.
Jun 09, 2025
Skalak Award Honorable Mention for Paper on Vascular Remodeling During Pregnancy
Ana I. Vargas, PhD’25, bioengineering, BioE Associate Professor Chiara Bellini and MIE Associate Professor Rouzbeh Amini received an Honorable Mention for the 2025 Skalak Award for their paper on “Vascular Remodeling During Late-Gestation Pregnancy: An In-Vitro Assessment of the Murine Ascending Thoracic Aorta.”
Jun 04, 2025
Patent for Hybrid Nanopore Technology for Biomolecule Sensing
COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu received a patent for “Lipid-free anchoring of thermophilic bacteriophage G20c portal adapter into solid-state nanopores.”
May 27, 2025
Oakes Receives ISAM 2025 Young Investigator Award
BioE Associate Professor Jessica Oakes received the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM) 2025 Young Investigator Award. This award recognizes a scientist under 40 who has made significant contributions to the field of aerosols in medicine.
May 27, 2025
PhD Students Volunteer at Elementary School Science Fair
Six BioE and MIE PhD students volunteered at the annual Broadmeadow Elementary School Science Fair in Needham, Massachusetts, alongside MIE/BioE Professor Sandra Shefelbine, where K-5th grade students presented individual projects.
May 20, 2025
Patent for Robotic Aquaculture System
BioE/ECE Affiliated Faculty Joseph Ayers, MES/CEE Professor Mark Patterson, CEE University Distinguished and CDM Smith Professor Jerome Hajjar, ECE Professor Milica Stojanovic, and CEE/MES Associate Professor Amy Mueller were awarded a patent for “Robotic aquaculture system and methods.”
May 13, 2025
Two BioE Students Receive NSF GRFP Honorable Mentions
Meet the two bioengineering students who were honorable mentions of the 2025 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Awards, Kaitlyn Ramesh and Victoria Williams.