Boston University’s Cara Stepp Named AIMBE Fellow
Stepp recognized for extraordinary achievement in the field of medical and biological engineering
By Maureen Stanton
Hariri Faculty Affiliate Cara Stepp (SAR, ENG) has been inducted into the 2024 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.
Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, an honor reserved only for the top 2% of researchers in these fields. Previous fellows include three Nobel Prize laureates and 22 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation.
Stepp was nominated and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for outstanding contributions to the fields of rehabilitation and neural engineering through her commitment to service and research excellence.”
Stepp is a professor of speech, language & hearing sciences, an affiliate professor of biomedical engineering, and director of the Sensorimotor Rehabilitation Engineering Lab at Boston University.
She specializes in voice and speech disorders, integrating speech science, computer science, and engineering to improve diagnosis and rehabilitation of communication-based challenges. Stepp’s research uses engineering tools to rehabilitate disordered sensorimotor function of voice and speech. Her long-term research goal is to extend current and novel therapeutic advances to the speech system, improving current treatment alternatives. Current research includes a comprehensive, large population sample study that examines and compares changes in speech in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.
College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”
At the AIMBE annual event held March 25, 2024, Stepp was inducted along with 162 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2024.
About AIMBE
AIMBE is the authoritative voice and advocate for the value of medical and biological engineering to society. AIMBE’s mission is to recognize excellence, advance public understanding, and accelerate medical and biological innovation. No other organization brings together academic, industry, government, and scientific societies to form a highly influential community advancing medical and biological engineering. AIMBE’s mission drives advocacy initiatives into action on Capitol Hill and beyond.