Category: Research
BU Researcher Named a 2024 Hertz Fellow
Emmy Blumenthal (CAS’23) has been named a 2024 Hertz Fellow—one of just 18 this year. Blumenthal, who is preparing to start a PhD program, specializes in biophysics and has been ranked among the nation’s “most promising innovators in science and technology.”
BU Innovator Pioneers Devices in Astronomy, Microscopy
The director of the University’s cross-disciplinary Photonics Center, Thomas Bifano, is the 14th winner of the Innovator of the Year award, given to an “outstanding faculty member who has translated world-class research into an invention or innovation that benefits humankind.” A holder of 10 patents, Bifano is also chief technology officer of Boston Micromachines Corporation, a company he cofounded to develop and market deformable mirrors and other optics products.
As head of the Photonics Center—which is a hub for the study of light and development of technologies utilizing it—Bifano has helped many others nurture their own innovations. The center is home to 70 faculty research labs and the Business Innovation Center, which hosts tech, biotech, manufacturing, and medical devices start-ups and corporations.
Three BU Researchers Elected AAAS Fellows
Being named an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow puts scholars in distinguished company—and a trio of Boston University researchers have just been selected for the honor.
Electrical and computer engineer Siddharth Ramachandran, physicist Bradley Lee Roberts, and biologist Daniel Segrè have been named AAAS Fellows for extraordinary contributions to their respective fields; they’ll be recognized at a special event later this year. The world’s largest scientific society, AAAS has elected fellows since 1874; this year marks the program’s 150th anniversary. During that time, more than 110 BU scholars have been selected for the award.
BU Electrical Engineer Vivek Goyal Named 2024 Guggenheim Fellow
Prediction-making algorithms play a critical role in College of Engineering Professor and Associate Chair of doctoral programs for electrical and computer engineering Vivek Goyal’s burgeoning research on improving microscope imaging. That research is in part what earned Goyal a Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. His groundbreaking work in electron imaging has significant potential implications for biomedicine and manufacturing, among myriad other applications.
Each year, the foundation awards approximately 180 fellowship grants to individuals making significant contributions in the natural sciences, the social sciences, the creative arts, and the humanities.
BU Researchers Win $46 Million Grant for Osteoarthritis Research
A pair of researchers—David T. Felson and Tuhina Neogi, both professors of medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and also of epidemiology at the BU School of Public Health—have been trying to understand what causes osteoarthritis. They’re then using that information to find ways to slow its onset and provide more effective and targeted treatments. They have received a five-year, $46 million award to support their ongoing study, one of the largest awards BU’s medical school has received. The funding was given by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging.
FDA Clears Device with BU-Developed Technology That Makes Skin Cancer Detection Easier
A new noninvasive skin cancer detection device—powered by technology pioneered by Irving J. Bigio, a professor at Boston University’s College of Engineering—aims to make telling the difference between a benign or potentially harmful mark easier and faster. The US Food & Drug Administration recently cleared for US markets DermaSensor, which uses light and artificial intelligence to examine skin lesions and assess whether a patient should be referred to a specialist. “It’s a positive statement about BU’s commitment to interdisciplinary research that involves the engineering and physical sciences, as well as the medical school,” says Bigio, who also holds positions in BU’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and College of Arts & Sciences physics department. “They are supportive of collaborative research across schools.”
BU Researchers Help Develop First Therapies to Treat Sickle Cell Disease
For people with sickle cell disease, a group of inherited blood disorders, there’s new hope. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved two groundbreaking treatments—developed with the help of Boston University researchers.
BU Ecologist Lucy Hutyra Wins a 2023 MacArthur “Genius Grant”
Lucy Hutyra, a BU College of Arts & Sciences professor of Earth and environment, focuses on understanding the impacts of urbanization on climate and ecosystems. She is one of 20 fellows who has received a MacArthur “Genius Grant.”
Researchers Find Way to Tweak Immune System to Fight Tuberculosis
A Boston University–led research team has found a way to tweak immune cells to better fight tuberculosis that could be ready for clinical trials as soon as 2024. The researchers identified the genetic signatures of white blood cells and then tested the ability of different compounds to transform vulnerable cells into more resilient ones.
BU Ignition Awards Accelerate Products for Repairing Damaged Teeth, Fighting Cancer, and More
The BU Ignition Awards are designed to accelerate promising new science and technology. Among the 2023 winners are a tooth-saving formula, AI-powered reading tool, and cancer-fighting technology. Award winners receive coaching and support to bring their innovations to market.
