A new endowed professorship for biomedical engineering
Boston University College of Engineering has established the Edward Damiano Professorship in Biomedical Engineering, a new $5 million endowed faculty position that celebrates the power of engineering innovation to improve lives.
The professorship is funded through a portion of the licensing income generated by Beta Bionics, the maker of the iLet Bionic Pancreas. An automated insulin delivery device for people with type 1 diabetes, the iLet was developed by Beta Bionics co-founder Edward Damiano when he was a full-time member of the biomedical engineering faculty at BU ENG. The endowed faculty position honors Damiano for his extraordinary contributions as an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a champion of translational research.
The endowed professorship will support the recruitment of a senior faculty member whose work reflects the same commitment to scientific excellence, innovation, and societal impact that has defined Damiano’s career.
“Ed is that rare innovator whose impact in the laboratory and clinic is equaled by his impact in the classroom,” said Shannon Stott, professor and chair of BU biomedical engineering. “This professorship celebrates his relentless pursuit of a technology that is life-changing for those with type 1 diabetes, while ensuring we continue to attract visionary faculty who will push the boundaries of the field.”
“It is a great honor to have my name attached to this professorship,” said Damiano, who remains on the BU ENG faculty as a research professor. “I am grateful to Associate Provost and Dean Emeritus Ken Lutchen, Dean Elise Morgan, and Mike Pratt of BU Technology Development for championing the idea and leading the charge on that effort.”
Turning a personal mission into a life-changing technology
Damiano’s career demonstrates how breakthrough discoveries can create lasting impact far beyond the laboratory. For more than two decades, Damiano pursued a vision that many considered impossible: creating a device capable of automating the complex and relentless task of insulin delivery. His motivation was deeply personal. After his infant son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, Damiano committed himself to developing a technology that could lighten the daily burden borne by millions of people living with the disease.
That effort ultimately led to Damiano’s invention of the iLet Bionic Pancreas, an automated insulin delivery system designed to simplify diabetes management and improve health outcomes. Following years of research, clinical testing, and development, Damiano co-founded Beta Bionics to bring the technology to patients. The company has since grown into a leader in diabetes technology, helping make advanced automated insulin delivery accessible to people living with type 1 diabetes. In 2025, Beta Bionics became a publicly traded company, marking another major milestone in its journey.
Inspiring the next generation
The establishment of the Edward Damiano Professorship reflects the complete innovation journey that BU seeks to foster: groundbreaking research, successful translation to the marketplace, meaningful societal benefit, and reinvestment into future discovery.
For Damiano, one of the most meaningful aspects of the professorship is the opportunity to support future faculty members whose work could have a similarly profound impact.
“It would give me great pleasure to see the first recipient of the chair challenge themselves to conduct research that directly and tangibly improves human health,” he said. “Beyond that, I’d like to see the recipient of the chair love the work that they do and make the faculty of biomedical engineering happy to have them as a colleague, and their students happy to have them as a teacher.”
A model for the Societal Engineer
Damiano also sees the professorship as a reflection of a principle that has long shaped the College: the idea that engineers have a responsibility to create technologies that benefit society.
“Ken Lutchen’s vision of a Societal Engineer resonated with me from the first time I heard about it,” said Damiano. “I always considered what we were doing at Beta Bionics—from the way we ran our business to the product we were building—as a quintessential example of the Societal Engineers that Ken had challenged us all to become.”
Across BU College of Engineering, faculty are tackling challenges in healthcare, computing, robotics, materials, energy, and other fields that have the potential to reshape industries and improve lives. By recognizing both technological innovation and entrepreneurial leadership, the Edward Damiano Professorship celebrates the kind of work that advances knowledge in ways that create meaningful benefits for society.
Honoring a lasting legacy
Damiano will be recognized during the BU College of Engineering Catalyst Summit on September 18. Centered on the theme “Decoding Everyday Health,” the event will bring together faculty, alumni, industry leaders, and friends of the College to explore how engineering and technology are transforming health and healthcare.
The Edward Damiano Professorship stands as a tribute to a pioneering engineer whose work has improved countless lives, and as an investment in the discoveries, technologies, and innovators still to come.