Category: Research
Biomedical Engineer Wilson Wong Is Boston University’s Innovator of the Year
Researcher Wilson Wong is developing engineered cells that could give clinicians a new weapon in treating acute myeloid leukemia. In recognition of that research, the BU College of Engineering professor of biomedical engineering has been named the University’s Innovator of the Year. His team is currently collaborating with biotechnology company Senti Bio, where Wong is a scientific cofounder, to refine and commercialize the potentially lifesaving therapy. Founded in 2010, the Innovator of the Year award is given to researchers who’ve “translated world-class research into an invention or innovation that benefits humankind,” according to the award’s site.
Harvey Young Awarded Prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship
Harvey Young—professor of English, theatre arts, American studies, and African American and Black diaspora studies; inaugural and interim vice president for the arts; and dean of the College of Fine Arts—has earned a Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
Two BU Scientists Receive Prestigious 2026 Breakthrough Prizes
Two Boston University faculty members were honored with 2026 Breakthrough Prizes, which are among the world’s most prestigious science awards. Lee Roberts, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of physics, received a Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, one of six top prizes awarded annually for transformative achievements in life sciences and fundamental physics. Dillon Brout, a CAS assistant professor of physics and astronomy, received a New Horizons in Physics Prize, which recognizes outstanding early‑career researchers for major advances in the field.
Two Boston University Researchers Elected AAAS Fellows
Alice Cronin-Golomb, College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) professor, and Plamen Ch. Ivanov, a CAS research professor of physics, have been named American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows. Cronin-Golomb says she probes “the relation between the brain and psychological functions in healthy aging and in age-related neurodegenerative disease, especially Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.” Ivanov was honored by AAAS as the founder of network physiology, a multidisciplinary field that he says studies how the “dynamic network interactions of human physiological systems lead to emerging states and functions at the organism level” and influence our health.
BU Task Force on Convergence Outlines New Strategy to Boost University Research Impact
After a year of fact-finding, the BU Task Force on Convergent Research and Education has submitted a 48-page report outlining several recommendations the University can follow to embrace convergent research, building upon its strong foundation of interdisciplinary collaboration for future impact. The task force identified eight major convergent research themes that engage faculty across the University and where BU already demonstrates strength and clear potential for national leadership.
BU Biomedical Engineer Ji-Xin Cheng Named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
Engineer Ji-Xin Cheng has been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ latest class of fellows. To qualify, researchers must have played a major role in “outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.” An expert on manipulating photons—the particles that carry electromagnetic energy and make up light—Cheng is a former BU Innovator of the Year, serves as a scientific advisor to companies in the US and Europe, holds more than 30 patents, and is the cofounder of multiple companies. He has pioneered a microscope that enhances cancer detection, a device to zap away antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and a technique for mapping cells that could help take on Alzheimer’s disease.
Two Boston University Bioengineers Win Prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships
Assistant Professors of Biomedical Engineering Brian DePasquale and Michael Economo (ENG’12) have both won 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships. DePasquale’s research promises tangible help for injury patients. He develops mathematical models to characterize how neurons in the brain generate movements, decisions, and perceptions of the world. Economo builds tools to observe the brain and studies how the brain plans and controls movement—work that, among other findings, has gleaned new information about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
BU Biomedical Engineer Christopher Chen Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Boston University biomedical engineer Christopher Chen has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the nonprofit institution founded to provide objective advice to the US government. Chen is the founding director of BU’s Biological Design Center, which studies cells and biological systems with the goal of better controlling them to benefit human health and the environment. His research could lead to lifesaving new regenerative medicines to treat disease. The founder of three successful biomedical businesses, Chen was also recently named a National Academy of Inventors Fellow. In 2022, Chen cofounded the biotechnology company Satellite Bio to develop tissue implants to repair or replace diseased organs.
NIH Honors Two BU Researchers for Exceptionally Creative, High-Impact Science
Two Boston University researchers have received prestigious awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Julia Bond (SPH’24), a BU School of Public Health assistant professor of epidemiology, has been awarded the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award. She’ll use the award’s funding to study how sexual wellness prior to pregnancy is linked to conception. Meg Younger, a BU College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of biology, received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. She’ll use the funding to investigate new techniques for unraveling the sophisticated sense of smell that allows mosquitoes to track down humans to bite.
Boston University Receives Major Multimillion Dollar NIH Grant for Women’s Health Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Boston University a prestigious $4.5 million grant to further women’s health research and spur career growth for young investigators. The five-year award from the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health program, an NIH-funded research and career development initiative, will connect senior and junior faculty interested in women’s health research.
