Danny Bluestein
Associate Professor

Dynamics of flow and cellular transport in the cardiovascular system are of great interest to Danny Bluestein. Pathological flow fields that arise as a result of cardiovascular diseases and prosthetic devices have a complex interaction with the blood vessels and the blood itself. Over the last decade, evidence has accumulated indicating that local flow induced mechanical forces alter the molecular mechanism of the formed elements of blood, and have a major effect on blood clotting. The end result can be thrombus formation that can occlude arteries, or handicap the functionality of implanted devices such as prosthetic heart valves. The long term goal of Dr. Bluestein's work is to elucidate flow induced pathologies in the cardiovascular system in order to advance our understanding of the different aspects of flows in biological systems. This research involves the use of sophisticated non-invasive flow measurements techniques, such as Digital Particle Image Velocimetry, numerical modeling, and innovative biochemical assaying techniques.

Ph.D. - Tel Aviv University, Israel, 1992

Phone: (631) 444-2156
Fax: (631) 444-6646
Email: Danny.Bluestein@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
HSC-T18 Room 030
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

William Chen
Associate Professor

Weiliam Chen’s research is in the application of biocompatible/biodegradable natural carbohydrates to address various clinically relevant biomedical problems including wound repair, cerebral aneurysm, abdominal aortic aneurysm endoleak and controlled delivery of therapeutic agents (small molecules, proteins and DNA) through interdisciplinary research efforts. Localized application provides the maximum efficacies of therapeutic agents while minimizing their undesirable effects. Other efforts are targeted towards enhancing the biological responses of both polymeric and metallic medical devices.

Ph.D. - Pharmaceutics, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Phone: (631) 444.2788
Fax: (631) 444-6646
Email: weiliam.chen@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
T18-030
Health Sciences Center
State University of New York
Stony Brook, NY
11794-8181
 

Ki H. Chon
Professor

The cardiac autonomic nervous system is responsible for maintaining proper homeostasis, or balance, of the cardiovascular system. One of our major areas of research is to detect, quantify, and interpret differences in dynamic characteristics of the cardiac autonomic nervous system between normal and diseased subjects, in an attempt to find a marker for increased risk of sudden cardiac death. Identifying and quantifying differences in the dynamic characteristics of autonomic function between normal and diseased conditions may lead to a better understanding of the role of autonomic function imbalance in diseased conditions, and should have important clinical diagnostic and prognostic applications. Another active research area is the development of computational modeling approaches to understand differences in dynamics of renal autoregulatory mechanisms between normotensive and hypertensive conditions. For both areas of research, we are developing novel linear and nonlinear signal processing techniques that can be successfully applied to experimental data to achieve the research objectives.

Ph.D. - University of Southern California

Phone: (631) 444-7286
Fax: (631) 444-3432
Email: ki.chon@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
HSC-T18 Room 030
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

Richard A. F. Clark
Professor

The Wound Healing Laboratory in the Department of Dermatology, led by Richard Clark, has found that skin cell activation is the rate limiting step in new tissue formation of healing cutaneous wounds. These cells switch their cell surface receptors from those that recognize normal connective tissue to those that recognize the new wound matrix. This switch allows parenchymal invasion of the wound space. As a salient example, avb3, the fibrin receptor, is expressed only on the tips of capillary sprouts invading the wound clot and is required for endothelial cell invasion of the clot. In contrast, connective tissue fibroblasts do not move on fibrin. They require fibronectin, another protein found in the fibrin clot, for their movement. Clark and his group have published their finding in Science, the Journal of Cell Biology, the Journal of Cell Science, the American Journal of Pathology, and the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, among others.

M.D. - University of Rochester, 1971

Phone: (631) 444-3843
Email: richard.clark@sunysb.edu
 

Anil Dhundale
Research Assistant Professor

Anil Dhundale became the Center for Biotechnology's director for scientific affairs in July, 1998. Prior to joining Stony Brook's faculty, he worked for OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Long Island-based biotechnology company for the past 11 years. At OSI, he was involved in the development of diagnostic and research products, and in pharmaceutical drug discovery. Dhundale has also authored or coauthored over a dozen successful SBIR grants. He is now applying this broad based experience to the identification of commercially promising research, providing guidance in the development of technology toward commercial goals, and to the facilitation of research collaborations between academic scientists and the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical devices industries.

Ph.D. - State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1987

Phone: (631) 632-8521
Email: Anil.Dhundale@sunysb.edu
 

Shmuel Einav
Professor

Prof. Einav, Incumbent of the Herbert Berman Chair for Vascular Bioengineering, is a world-distinguished expert in the cardiovascular circulatory system and the field of biomedical engineering. He is best known for his studies on blood flow through heart valves, coronary circulation, blood-tissue interaction, and flow and turbulent characteristics in occluded arteries. The focus of his research is the role of hemodynamics in the initiation of atherosclerosis, the dynamics of cardiovascular flows, and the influence of flow and the associated shear stress on vascular endothelial biology. In recognition of his significant achievements and important contributions to science, biomedicine and technology, he has been elected as a Founding Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE),  a Fellow of the International Federation for Mechanical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE),  and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Prof. Einav has published 103 scientific articles, five invited chapters and a multitude of abstracts in the biomedical engineering, fluid mechanics and medical fields. He is invited, annually, to a number of international conferences and congresses, and extensively lectures in many countries. He has issued several patents, among them: prosthetic heart valve, MRI of blood flow, ultrasound recanalization system and characterization of arterial stenosis by reflected pressure waves. Prof. Einav is the Founder and Past Chairman of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University, and the Past President of the Israeli Society for Medical and Biological Engineering.


Phone: (631) 632-8268
Fax: (631) 632-8205
Email: shmuel.einav@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A, 3rd Floor
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Emilia Entcheva
Associate Professor

Dr. Entcheva's lab studies cardiac cell function by integrating experimental and theoretical components. We use in vitro primary cell culture system, combined with nano- and microfabricated scaffolds and state-of-the-art fast optical mapping techniques for imaging cardiac electromechanics and structure. Our lab develops and validates image-processing algorithms and biophysically realistic computational models to interpret the experimental findings and to provide insight in cardiac cell and tissue function and pathologies.

The functional characterization of the engineered tissue constructs in our lab and the direct testing and validation of computational models of cardiac cell function make this work especially valuable in outlining basic cellular responses for tissue engineering and tissue repair efforts. In addition, we aim to establish a comprehensive model for studies of electrically or mechanically-triggered arrhythmogenesis and ways to prevent, modulate or terminate the undesired electrical abnormalities in the heart.

Ph.D. - The University of Memphis, 1998

Phone: (631) 444-2368
Fax: (631) 444-6646
Email: Emilia.Entcheva@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
SUNY Stony Brook
HSC T18-030B
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

Mary D. (Molly) Frame
Associate Professor

The focus of my research is in integrating signal transduction events with physical properties of blood flow at the microvascular level. Our long term research goals are to understand the two phase question of how solute distribution and transport are coupled in the microcirculation. We use both quantitative in vivo microcirculatory techniques in a hamster striated muscle model, and in vitro cell culture techniques with macro- and microvascular endothelial cells to determine how vasoactive mechanisms are integrated to regulate blood flow distribution. In vivo, we examine mechanisms of nitric oxide mediated coordinated flow delivery to arteriolar networks. In vitro, we examine flow velocity profiles and endothelial cell responses to defined flow in a microchannel system which we construct at the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, Cornell University.

Ph.D. - University of Missouri, Columbia, 1990

Phone: (631) 444-2320
Fax: TBA
Email: mframe@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
SUNY Stony Brook
T-18, Room 092
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

Michael Hadjiargyrou
Associate Professor, Associate Vice President for Research

The overall goal of this laboratory is to implement innovative approaches for engineering new skeletal tissue utilizing knowledge derived from molecular/cellular biology and biomaterials. More specifically, we are actively involved in understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the wound healing (fracture repair) process. The repair of a fractured bone is a complex biological event that essentially recapitulates embryonic development and requires the orchestration of a number of different cell types undergoing proliferation, migration, adhesion and differentiation, all under the direct control of a host of different genes. Understanding the temporal and spatial expression of these genes during the progression of a healing callus will ultimately enable us to comprehend the essential processes of inflammation, chondrogenesis, ossification, and remodeling. The latest methods in molecular/cellular biology are applied in the pursuit of gene discovery, gene structure and function analysis, expression studies and functional perturbations. By identifying and studying genes that play essential roles during the healing process, we hypothesize that this knowledge will facilitate a greater understanding in our ability to elucidate the process of bone development and regeneration and identify ideal gene candidates for possible therapeutic intervention via the use of biomaterials.

Ph.D. - City University of New York, 1992

Phone: (631) 632-1480
Fax: (631) 632-8577
Email: Michael.Hadjiargyrou@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A Room 338
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Stefan Judex
Assistant Professor

Stefan Judex's research focuses on how organ systems, such as the skeleton, respond to altered functional demand. Specifically, he has been interested in combining molecular with biomedical engineering approaches to study the response of bone to mechanical stimuli at the organ and tissue level as well as at the molecular and cellular level. An improved understanding of how mechanical signals are translated into a biological response will require the rigorous integration of engineering with biology. This understanding will, ultimately, lead to the design of biomechanical interventions that will maximize tissue strength in young adults and prevent the loss of tissue mass and strength in the elderly. Additionally, the discovery of genes involved in regulating the organ and tissue response to mechanical stimuli may uncover novel drug targets that are not addressed by current pharmacological interventions. To this end, engineering approaches that rigorously quantify the mechanical environment (e.g., FEM) at the organ, tissue, and cellular level are combined with molecular and genomic assays that quantify the expression of genes and secretion of proteins spatially as well as temporally (e.g., RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, and microarrays). These molecular and biomechanical assays are then correlated to the tissue and organ level response (i.e., changes in bone quality and quantity) by means of histology, histomorphometry, MRI, and high resolution 3D computer tomographic imaging.

Ph.D. - University of Calgary, Canada, 1999

Phone: (631) 632-8521
Fax: (631) 632-8577
Email: stefan.judex@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A Room 352
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Wei Lin
Research Assistant Professor

Osteoporosis is a major health issue that affects the elderly population. It is characterized as non-traumatic fractures of bones due to the loss of bone mass and mechanical strength. Ultrasound is a mechanical wave and its propagation behavior is determined by the physical properties of the medium such as density and Young's modulus. Wei Lin's research is focused on the ultrasonic application in the measurement of bone properties. He co-developed the novel confocol acoustic scanning technology that can generate high resolution images of bone properties in vivo using ultrasound. These acoustic images can show the internal structure of bone and thus provide guidance for the accurate measurement of bone density and strength. Research efforts are also taken to the study of the modulated ultrasound signals to better characterize bone structure. Wei Lin's other research interests are in the system integration and automation in medicine and life sciences.

Ph.D. - Stony Brook University, 2001

Phone: (631) 632-1639
Email: wei.lin@sunysb.edu
Website: http://bme.sunysb.edu/people/wlin
 

Lilianne Mujica-Parodi
Assistant Professor

"Complex systems" is a rapidly emerging field that unifies and integrates many disciplines, from physics to economics to anthropology. Its methods describe systems that contain two or more components that interact with one another in meaningful and mathematically nontrivial ways. Using a variety of methodologies, including functional MRI, 24-hour ECG, EMG, EEG, SCR, endocrine sampling, and neurosychological testing, our Laboratory for the Study of Emotion & Cognition focuses on the relationships between four simultaneously or near-simultaneously interacting systems: neural, cardiac, endocrine, and cognitive, to better understand the neurobiology of arousal, fear, and stress. We work with both healthy and patient populations in understanding arousal and its effects on cognition. Different research protocols investigate the causes of normal variability in healthy individuals’ vulnerability and resilience to stress, as well as the etiology of mental illnesses with strong emotional components, particularly paranoid schizophrenia. Our use of multi-system protocols is grounded on the hypothesis that limbic regulatory mechanisms, which make heavy use of compensatory and feed-back mechanisms to maintain homeostasis, are likely to play an instrumental role in the development of psychosis. One important implication of this hypothesis is that the answer to the question: “What is broken?” in psychosis may not necessarily be recognized by an abnormally high or low value of any particular variable (for example, cortisol, or skin conductance response), but might instead depend upon an abnormal relationship between variables. If psychosis is indeed the result of “limbic dysregulation,” then it is theoretically possible that every value of every variable may be within normal range, but that the regulatory mechanisms that control activation and inhibition are disturbed. These regulatory mechanisms, which by definition depend upon relationships between variables rather than on individual variables, may be critical to symptom formation in an illness as complex and heterogeneous as schizophrenia.

Ph.D. - Columbia University, 1998

Phone: (631) 632-1008
Lab phone: (631) 444-8405
Fax: (631) 632-8577
Email: lilianne.strey@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Health Sciences Center, 18-030
SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

Yingtian Pan
Associate Professor

2D and 3D cross-sectional optical imaging of biological tissue at close to cellular resolution (e.g., 10um) and at depths of 1-3mm can have significant impacts on noninvasive or minimally invasive clinical diagnosis of tissue abnormalities, e.g., tumorigenesis, as well as engineering tissue growth and repair. Laser scanning endoscopes, based on optical coherence tomography (OCT), have been developed and tested on a wide variety of tissues both ex vivo and in vivo. Encouraging results based on animal and human studies show that LSE can provide morphological details correlated well with excisional histology, suggesting its potential for optical biopsy or optically guided biopsy to reduced negative biopsies in clinical practice. Current research of Dr. Pan’s lab is focused on early-stage epithelial cancer detection, diagnosis of cartilage injury and repair, and assessment of engineering tissue growth. In addition, Dr. Pan’s lab studies skin dehydration, geriatric incontinence and laser/biochemical attack to the eye using OCT, fluorescence imaging and light microscopy.

Ph.D. - The National Laser Technology Lab and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, 1992

Phone: (631) 444-1451
Fax: (631) 444-6646
Email: Yingtian.Pan@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
HSC-T18 Room 025A
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8181
 

Yi-Xian Qin
Professor

Yi-Xian Qin's research is focused on the physical mechanisms involved in the control of tissue growth, healing, and homeostasis, especially bone adaptation influenced by mechanical environment, and how these mechanisms can be utilized in the treatment and prevention of disease and injury. It is clear that bone senses and responds to biomechanical stimuli towards the achievement and maintenance of a structurally appropriate skeletal structure. In addition to strain magnitude, bone tissue has the ability to differentiate between shear and normal strain, cycle number, loading frequency, and even fluid pressure and its gradients. Qin has investigated the interdependent role of these mechanical signals through empiric and analytic models to provide support for the complex interactive mechanism of bone remodeling. Qin's work has recently been published in Bone, Journal of Orthopeadics, and the Journal of Biomechanics.

Ph.D. - State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1997

Phone: (631) 632-1481
Fax: (631) 632-8577
Email: Yi-Xian.Qin@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A Room 350
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Clinton T. Rubin
Professor & Chair

The focus of Clinton Rubin's work is targeted toward understanding the cellular mechanisms responsible for the growth, healing, and homeostasis of bone. More specifically, he is interested in how biophysical stimuli (i.e., mechanical, electrical, temperature, magnetic, pressure) mediate these responses. The clinical significance of this work is applicable to the inhibition of osteopenia, the promotion of bony ingrowth into prostheses or skeletal defects, and the acceleration of fracture healing. These goals are approached via interdisciplinary studies at the biochemical, molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, computational (e.g., FEM) and clinical levels.

Ph.D. - Bristol University, 1983

Phone: (631) 632-8521
Fax: (631) 632-8577
Email: Clinton.Rubin@sunysb.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A, 3rd Floor
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Baliji Sitharaman
Assistant Professor

Our laboratory seeks to work at the interface of bionanotechnology, regenerative and molecular medicine and synergize the advancements in each of these distinct fields to develop a dynamic research program that tackles problems related to diagnosis/ treatment of disease and tissue regeneration.

Toward these ends, our research interests involve a multidisciplinary approach focused on the following three themes:

1. Multifunctional nanobiosystems for simultaneous diagnostics and therapeutics (theragnostics).
2. Multidimensional supramolecular biosystems for imaging, drug delivery and tissue   regeneration.
3. Nanobio-interface devices for tissue regeneration.

Current projects capitalize on the unique properties of carbon nanobiomaterials to develop a) advanced contrast agents (CAs) for molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),  b) nanocomposites to improve the physical and biological (osteoconduction and osteoinduction) properties of polymer scaffolds for bone tissue engineering and c) non-viral vectors for gene transfection. Our research work involves material synthesis techniques, physico-chemical characterization techniques, tissue culture and in vivo studies.

Ph.D. - Rice University, 2005

Phone: (631) 632-1810
Fax: (631) 632-1810
Email: balaji.sitharaman@stonybrook.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Psychology A, 3rd Floor, Room # 348
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580
 

Helmut H. Strey
Assistant Professor

Nature’s ability to assemble simple molecular building blocks into highly ordered materials, such as those found in cell membranes, cell nuclei, cytoskeleton, cartilage, or bone presents many fascinating and unanswered questions. We are interested in how to tune the interactions of water-soluble building blocks so as to induce their assembly into useful microstructures much needed for the next generation of controlled drug delivery, biosensors and DNA sequencing applications. In particular, we are working on:

1. Long-range ordered polyelectrolyte-surfactant microemulsions that are used as templates for solid nanoporous materials using polymerization and/or cross-linking strategies. Such materials, because of their well-ordered porous structure, will allow more efficient molecular separation and drug delivery.
    
2. We are developing biosensors that are based on biopolymer chiral liquid crystals and quantum dot colloidal crystals. In both cases the softness of the systems allows the induction of a strong optical response to external stimuli. Such sensors should be able to quantitatively detect and measure analyte concentrations at hormonal levels.
    
3. We are developing methods to perform biomolecular separation on a chip. Using e-beam lithography we are creating cavity arrays that will allow to separate biomolecules over several orders of magnitude in molecular weight. We study diffusion and intramolecular dynamics employing single-molecule fluorescence.
   

Ph.D. - Technical University Munich, Germany, 1993

Phone: (631)-632-1957
Fax: (631)-632-8577
Email: strey@pse.umass.edu
Mailing Address:
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Center for Biotechnology
Psychology-A Building, 3rd Floor
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-2580