Dr. Megan Bair-MerrittDr. Bair-Merritt is a Professor of Pediatrics and is a multi-PI of the BU CTSI. She is a general pediatrician and child health services researcher who has conducted social epidemiology and intervention research in the area of family violence for over 15 years. She has published 95 scientific and/or invited articles, 14 letters/editorials, and 10 book chapters that predominantly focus on family violence and child health. She has received three R01-level awards as PI (and 3 additional awards as Co-I) from the National Institute of Justice and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (federal funding for violence research generally comes from non-NIH institutes), an AHRQ T32 training grant, and multiple large foundation grants. She also serves as the Executive Director of Pediatrics’ Center for the Urban Child and Healthy Family and as Chair of Women’s Leadership through the Boston University Medical Group’s Office of Equity, Vitality, and Inclusion. Her scholarly work has moved forward the field’s understanding of how intimate partner violence (IPV) affects children, influenced how IPV screening and related interventions are implemented in the medical setting, and shaped conceptualizations of relationships with teen dating violence. Her publications have been cited in critical policy pieces and clinical guidelines including the Institute of Medicine’s consensus report Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gaps, the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Prevention and Clinical Intervention for Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence, the United States Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendation for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse of Elderly and Vulnerable Adults: Screening, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on IPV screening in the pediatric setting. She recently was invited to present about IPV homicide at the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Workshop on Firearm Injuries and Death.

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Kayhan Batmanghelich, PhD

Dr. Batmanghelich is an Assistant Professor of Department of Biomedical Informatics and Intelligent Systems Program at the University of Pittsburgh and an adjunct faculty in the Machine Learning Department at the Carnegie Mellon University. His research is at the intersection of medical vision, machine learning, and bioinformatics. He develops algorithms to analyze and understand medical image along with genetic data and other electrical health records such as the clinical report. He is interested in method development as well as translational clinical problems.

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Dr. David Center

Dr. Center is the Gordon and Ruth Snider Professor of Pulmonary Medicine, Associate Provost for Translational Research, and Director of the BU Clinical and Translational Science Institute. For 36 years, he has been the Chief of the Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep, and Critical Care Division having added Allergy and Sleeps accreditation to the program during his tenure. In that position, he supervises 50 MD and PhD clinical and research faculty and over 20 post-doctoral fellows in 3 major research areas (Health Sciences Research and Informatics, Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and Lung Inflammation and Immunity). He is a co-discoverer of Interleukin-16 which is the topic of BU-owned intellectual property licensed by multiple bioscience companies. He has been the PI of R01, P50, P01, UL, U54, U19, and T32 grants and the mentor for 8 K08s. He is the Founding Director of the Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute since its inception in 2008 and the PI of its NCATS-sponsored Clinical and Translational Science Award.

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Christopher Chen MD PhD

Dr. Chen is the William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, Founding Director of the Biological Design Center, and Core Faculty of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. …

Symposium Agenda

Registration List

Poster Abstracts

Access to the BUCTI_Symposium2025 Social Media Wall below.

• Chakraborty, Amit — LSD1 Regulates Cancer Immune Response by Regulating MHC-I of Cancer Cells — Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM)

• Chen, Fanying — Using AI to Reduce Waiting Times for Dermatological Care — Boston University Questrom School of Business (QST)

• Chen, Kevin — Transplanting Airway Basal Cells to Rescue CFTR Function — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Cranston, Sam — Developing Age-Equivalent In Vitro Models of Centenarian Resilience — Boston Medical Center (BMC)

• Delgado, Jose — Care Coordination Challenges and Child Health Status Among Allergic Youth: NSCH — Boston University School of Public Health (SPH)

• Dohadwala, Sarah — Bacterial Vaginosis–Associated Sialidases Impair Sperm Function — Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS)

• Dowrey, Todd — Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of Exceptional Longevity — Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS)

• Ferri, Grace; Hensien, John — Finding Ferritin Footprints in 5-Fluorouracil–Induced Cardiotoxicity — Boston Medical Center (BMC)

• Flores, Elizabeth — An iPSC-Derived Human Intestinal Organoid Model of Ebola and Marburg Infection — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Hao, Stephanie — Immune Signatures of Lasting Vaccine Immunity Through Systems Immunology — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Homps-Legrand, Meline — Mechanistic Contribution of the COPD/PF GWAS Gene DSP to Alveolar Phenotypes — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Jasodanand, Varuna — AI for Biological Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis and Staging — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Kerr, Charles — Development of a Universal CAR T Cell — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Kroehling, Lina — High-Resolution Characterization of Age-Specific Changes in HPV-Negative HNSCC — Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS)

• Labott, Madeline — Spatial Profiling of the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche in the Human Fetal Liver — Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS)

• Lee, Junsoo — Flexural Properties of Three Ceramic-Filled Resin Composite Materials — Boston University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

• Lee, Songhyeon; Hennessy, Erica — Tooth Surface Microhardness After Biomimetic Remineralization — Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM)

• Li, Yeting — PRIUS Decodes BRD4-Mediated Chromatin Remodeling Driving Fibroblast Activation — Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS)

• Lu, Simon — Unmasking JAK2V617F Megakaryocytes: Insights from Single-Cell RNA Sequencing — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Mahmut, Dilnar — Endothelial Cell Therapy to Repair the Liver Vascular Network — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Merritt, Carly — Particulate Matter Induces an Inflammatory Phenotype in AT2s — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Morningstar, Samuel — VEGFA mRNA–LNP to Treat Liver Disease by Cholangiocytes to Hepatocytes — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Odamah, KathrynAnn — Investigation of Rescue Strategies for NEXMIF-Dependent Autism Spectrum Disorder — Boston University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

• Pate, Braden — Sickle Cell Disease–Specific iPSC Platform as a Preclinical Screening Tool — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Prasad, Minali — Associations Between Retinal Cell Thickness and Eye Fluid Biomarkers — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Rich, Zachary — Transitions from Injection to Respiratory Opioid Use in the Fentanyl Era — Boston Medical Center (BMC)

• Skeete, Chelsey — Opioid Signaling Enhances Microglial HIV-1 Infection and Inflammatory Responses — Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS)

• Taglauer, Elizabeth — Multi-Omic Analysis of Placenta-Driven Preeclamptic Developmental Lung Injury — Boston Medical Center (BMC)

• Xi, Zhan — Spatial Immune Dysregulation in Lymph Nodes of NSCLC Patients — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

• Xu, Junxiang — Spatial Profiling of the Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Microenvironment — Boston University Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS)

• Yiannakou, Ioanna — mDASH and Cardiometabolic Outcomes — Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine