Category: Research
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.
BU Data Platform Will Help Massachusetts Track, and Work to Close, Wage Gaps
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts selected Boston University to develop a data platform that will underpin new wage equity legislation in hopes of closing the Massachusetts wage gap. To help in the creation of aggregate wage reports, a group of researchers within the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences has developed an encrypted program that anonymizes demographic and salary information as well as enables anyone to query the database to see high-level trends.
Renowned Virologist Robert A. Davey to Lead NEIDL, BU’s Infectious Diseases Research Hub
Internationally renowned virologist Robert Davey has been named interim director of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL). Davey is a BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine professor of virology, immunology, and microbiology. Davey says his priorities as interim director are to sustain NEIDL’s momentum, help it navigate new challenges in the research landscape, and strengthen its leadership in high-impact science and public health preparedness.
NIH Awards $15M to BU-Led Effort to Diagnose CTE During Life
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $15 million to a major study led by Boston University CTE Center researchers. This new study will focus on examining potential biomarkers to help doctors accurately diagnose CTE—chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease—in living patients. Among those volunteering for the study is the retired National Football League quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who first played at Boston College and went on to an 18-year NFL career.
Pulmonologist Darrell Kotton Is BU’s Innovator of the Year
Darrell Kotton, a physician, scientist, and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Boston University and Boston Medical Center, has been named Innovator of the Year for his work in pioneering lung disease treatments with stem cell technology and accelerating scientific discovery with open-access resources. Kotton is the David C. Seldin Professor of Medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
BU Launches Open-Source Infectious Diseases Monitoring Tool Powered by AI and Human Experts
Boston University researchers and collaborators at Boston Children’s Hospital are launching a new AI-powered platform to monitor and analyze infectious diseases threats around the world. This tool—called the Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON)—is slated to become a global hub for critical information about emerging outbreaks.
Guggenheim Fellowships Awarded to Six BU Researchers and Scholars
Six BU researchers and scholars have received Guggenheim Fellowships. BU’s 2025 Guggenheim Fellows include artist Lynne Allen, writer and scholar Louis Chude-Sokei, astronomer Merav Opher, physicist Anders W. Sandvik, historian Bruce J. Schulman, and historian Quinn Slobodian. Given annually by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the awards program supports exceptional mid-career individuals with a proven record of excellence and the potential to achieve more.
BU Ramps Up Strategy on AI
Boston University is creating the Artificial Intelligence Development Accelerator for Academic and Administrative Excellence, an initiative designed to coalesce the long-standing and widespread investment in AI at BU. Informed by the findings of two interdisciplinary task forces that investigated the matter, the initiative will foster collaboration across BU. Faculty and staff can share best practices, coordinating the University’s adaptation of AI as a tool to make BU more innovative, efficient, and creative.
