To address this grand challenge, a multi-institutional team of engineers and bioscientists has launched a four-year project to create functional, microscopic blood vessels in lab-grown organs. The project is being led by Yanliang Zhang, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Collegiate Professor at the University of Notre Dame, in collaboration with co-investigator professor Y. Shrike Zhang of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, with the support of a $2.6 million award from the National Institutes of Health.

“Bioprinting holds the potential to produce personalized organs that could save countless lives,” said Yanliang Zhang. “However, it has been a long-standing challenge to print the complex, hierarchical vascular networks required for these organs to survive and function.”

The team proposes to develop a next-generation technology known as Hybrid Multi-material and Multi-scale Autonomous Printing (HM²AP). The process combines two highly complementary and coordinated printing approaches. One extrusion print head deposits a biocompatible hydrogel that forms the bulk of the tissue, while a second uses a focused aerosol jet to draw temporary, or “sacrificial,” patterns as small as 10 micrometers that form a hollow, branching network of channels once removed upon dissolution. These channels are then seeded with living blood vessel cells, creating a functional vascular system within the printed tissue.

The system avoids a common limitation of conventional bioprinters: clogging. Because it relies on an air-focused spray rather than a fine nozzle, it can produce extremely small features with greater reliability. In addition, integrated cameras and sensors enable machine learning algorithms to monitor the printing process and automatically optimize the print process and correct errors in real time.

The four-year project will focus initially on the liver, an organ with exceptionally dense vascular networks. The research will proceed through several stages, beginning with laboratory-grown “mini-liver” systems to test whether human cells thrive within the printed structures. In the final phase, the team will test the tissue in animal models, looking for successful integration with the host’s circulatory system.

If successful, the technology could extend far beyond liver tissue. By enabling the creation of complex vascular networks, the system may provide a foundation for printing a wide range of organs, including but not limited to kidneys and hearts.

“The success of this project will build a strong foundation for regenerative medicine,” Yanliang Zhang said. “We are not just building a better printer; we are shaping the future of transplantation.”

Danny Chen, professor of computer science and engineering, and Joshua Shrout, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, were recognized for distinguished contributions to their fields.

With members in more than 90 countries, AAAS publishes the Science family of journals and honors scientists, engineers and innovators whose work advances knowledge and serves society.

“From developing algorithms that enhance life-saving medical imaging to uncovering the mechanisms at work in microbial biofilms, Professors Chen and Shrout demonstrate the ways in which engineering can make significant contributions to improving public health,” said Patricia J. Culligan, the Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.

Chen is recognized “for distinguished contributions to the field of computational bioscience, particularly in developing new algorithms for solving processing and analysis problems in biomedical imaging.” His main research areas include computational biomedicine, biomedical imaging, machine learning, data mining, computational geometry, algorithms and VLSI.

He has authored more than 500 journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters and holds eight U.S. patents in computer science, engineering, and biomedical technologies.

Chen’s honors include a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the 2017 Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a distinguished scientist of the Association for Computing Machinery.

Shrout is recognized for significant contributions to our understanding of how microbes coordinate their behavior on surfaces, while training and providing a strong positive example for the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists. He holds a concurrent appointment in Notre Dame’s Department of Biological Sciences and is affiliated with the Eck Institute for Global Health, the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health, and the Warren Center for Drug Discovery.

Shrout leads a research team that has made key discoveries in how bacteria—individually and in groups—sense and respond to environmental cues, coordinate gene expression, and function within populations. A central focus of his work is understanding how microbial communities form, particularly biofilms. Insights into biofilm development and control have significant medical implications, especially in high-risk settings such as intensive care units.

The author of more than 80 publications, he currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Bacteriology and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. His honors include an Indiana Clinical Translational Sciences Institute Young Investigator Basic Science Award and selection to serve as an associate scientific advisor for the journal Science Translational Medicine from 2012-2013.

“It is wonderful to see these scholar-teachers receive this well-deserved recognition,” said John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost and Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History. “We are proud to celebrate the achievements of our distinguished colleagues whose scientific contributions help advance Notre Dame as a leading global Catholic research university.”

Chen and Shrout join 12 Notre Dame Engineering colleagues previously elected AAAS fellows: Panos Antsaklis, Kevin Bowyer (emeritus), Peter Burns, Nitesh Chawla, Patricia Culligan, Harindra Joseph Fernando, Yih-Fang Huang, Ahsan Kareem, Peter Kogge, Edward Maginn, Christine Maziar, William Schneider, and Gregory Timp.

AAAS Fellows have been elected since 1874 and include Thomas Edison, W.E.B. Du Bois, Maria Mitchell, Steven Chu, Ellen Ochoa, and Irwin M. Jacobs.

—Karla Cruise, Notre Dame Engineering

By decoding these complex messages, a team of researchers, led by Pinar Zorlutuna, the Roth-Gibson Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Notre Dame, has shown that the inevitable aging of the heart could be interrupted and perhaps even reversed. Their results were published in Biomaterials.

Central to the team’s research was a revolutionary ‘heart-on-a-chip’ device, featuring interwoven channels that allow researchers to grow healthy and damaged heart tissues side-by-side.

“This postage-stamp size piece of technology allows us to experiment on human heart cells in a highly controllable way,” said Zorlutuna. “We can simulate diseases and therapies with a great degree of accuracy without involving human patients.”

To understand how the heart ages, the team compared extracellular vesicles (EVs)—nanoparticles excreted by cells—from the heart and blood of young and old people, half from men and half from women. While scientists used to think of EVs as part of the body’s waste disposal system, they now recognize them as a sophisticated postal system, delivering messages that trigger biological functions.

Zorlutuna’s team found that EVs stored in the tissue surrounding the heart played a paradoxical role—keeping the heart strong and healthy in youth but causing stiffening and scarring in later years. This happened because vesicles in young hearts delivered a constant supply of chemical cocktails that replenished cells with protective gene regulators (miRNAs). Aging hearts, on the other hand, were flooded with EVs carrying proteins that triggered inflammation and disease.

Once they had succeeded in modeling heart stiffening and scarring on the device—a typical byproduct of aging—the team simulated stress from a heart attack and hypertension by depriving the cells of oxygen and normal blood flow. This resulted in increasing the scarring of the heart tissue by five and 10 times respectively. The team then turned to a critical question: Could they repair it?

The team used tiny fat-based bubbles called Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs), the same technology used to deliver the COVID-19 vaccines, to deliver the chemical cocktail of gene regulators young hearts produce. The treatment was a success: the treated chips had 50 percent more living cells than the untreated ones, and the scarring was cut in half.

“The study is the first to deliver a potential treatment with a lipid nanoparticle and test it on a heart-on-a-chip,” said Zorlutuna. “In the future, we might be able to measure these specific markers in a patient’s blood to get a highly accurate reading of how fast their heart is aging. The ability to model heart disease in such a life-like manner also opens up exciting possibilities for enhancing drug development for many chronic cardiovascular diseases.”

Funding for this research was received from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health.

To better understand how obesity affects the heart, Pinar Zorlutuna, the Roth-Gibson Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Notre Dame, and her lab have developed a 3D-printed model that integrates heart and fat cells to mimic obesity’s effects and test potential therapies.

Their results were published in Advanced Science. Lara Çelebi, doctoral student in bioengineering at the University of Notre Dame, is the paper’s first author.

“The fat cells that surround the heart are different from those that surround the body’s other organs in that they share blood vessels,” said Zorlutuna. “Substances released by the fat—such as hormones or inflammatory chemicals—can move directly into the heart muscle. This close connection enables fat around the heart to affect heart health more than fat stored elsewhere.”

While some fat around the heart is necessary since it supplies energy, supports blood vessels and aids metabolism, fat cells in obese people behave differently. When these cells are overloaded with too much fat, they enlarge and malfunction chemically.

Using mice and rats to study this relationship is not effective because rodent fat does not touch the heart. To replicate how heart tissue behaves in obese patients, Zorlutuna’s team needed a 3D structure where heart and fat cells could interact.

First, her team reprogrammed stem cells so that they developed into fat and heart cells, specifically from the atria, the heart’s upper chamber, since obesity increases the risk of atrial fibrillation by about 50%. Then, with the aid of a 3D bioprinter, the team layered the heart and fat cells into a gelatin and collagen scaffold that mimicked human tissue.

Preserving the enlarged nature of the fat cells was key, but it also made them too fragile to print. To resolve this, the team 3D printed “baby” fat cells, growing them to their problematic size within the 3D engineered tissue.

Ultimately, the team’s 3D printed model, not only accurately demonstrated the dysfunctional relationship that can develop between heart and fat cells, but the efficacy of metformin (a common diabetes medication) in reversing some of the harmful effects of enlarged fat cells. The drug improves both how strongly heart cells contract and how efficiently heart cells use energy.

“For the first time, we’ve built human heart tissue that includes real fat, giving us a lifelike model to study how obesity drives heart disease,” said Zorlutuna. “This platform allows us to identify and prioritize the most effective treatments before they ever reach animal or clinical trials.”

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

—Karla Cruise, Notre Dame Engineering; Photos by Wes Evard, Notre Dame Engineering

Fisher is currently chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, where he is Distinguished University Professor, MPower Professor, and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. At Notre Dame, he will succeed Paul Bohn, who retired in December as inaugural director of BELS and Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative is a joint effort of the College of Engineering and the College of Science and is a key priority in the University’s strategic framework. The initiative advances human health and wellness through interdisciplinary biomedical research and training — from fundamental discoveries through detection, prevention and treatment of disease. Emphasizing accessible health care solutions, BELS brings together researchers from a variety of fields to create transformative solutions for health.

“This appointment reflects both the strength of the foundation already in place — thanks to Paul’s superb leadership — and our aspirations for the future of Bioengineering & Life Sciences at Notre Dame,” said John T. McGreevy, Notre Dame’s Charles and Jill Fischer Provost. “John Fisher is a visionary leader and excellent scholar-teacher whose experience aligns perfectly with the initiative’s trajectory and Notre Dame’s ambitions as the leading global Catholic research university.”

Fisher holds bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a doctorate in bioengineering from Rice University. He joined Maryland’s Department of Chemical Engineering in 2003 and three years later became a founding member of the bioengineering department he now chairs. During his two decades at Maryland, Fisher has won a variety of awards for teaching excellence, graduate student mentorship and scholarship, including a National Science Foundation CAREER award and a Fulbright. In 2024, he was appointed Distinguished University Professor, the institution’s highest honor for a tenured faculty member, recognizing excellence, impact and significant contribution to the field both nationally and internationally.

“We are thrilled to have John, who is an extraordinary biomedical engineer, join us in the college and lead the BELS Initiative,” said Patricia Culligan, the Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering. “Advancing research and training in bioengineering is among our highest priorities for the College of Engineering, and I look forward to working with him to elevate collaborations within our college and across science, engineering and other units on campus.”

As director of the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Lab, Fisher leads a research team that focuses on computational modeling and tissue engineering, bioprinting, and bioreactors for the regeneration of lost tissues. He also directs the Center for Engineering Complex Tissues, which aims to create a broad community focusing on 3D printing and bioprinting for regenerative medicine applications.

Fisher has served in numerous leadership positions in his field, including as the 2025 chair of the Council of Chairs, a national assembly of bioengineering and biomedical engineering department chairs, and as 2018-20 chair of the Americas Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society. Fisher is a fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society. He is currently a member of the society’s board of directors and co-editor-in-chief of Tissue Engineering. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration, among others.

“What attracted me to Notre Dame is the excellence and rigor of the research,” Fisher said. “The types of questions people in science and engineering are exploring, and the execution of their research programs, is really top-notch. I’m also a big believer that we’re here to educate as well as to do research. I love teaching, and I love Notre Dame’s commitment to teaching.

“What really speaks to me is the mission — the commitment to pursue research and to educate at the highest level, but doing it in a way that positively impacts society. There are some personal things as well. I grew up in the Midwest, our family is Irish Catholic, so it’s wonderful to bring that aspect of who I am together with my work.”

Fisher joins the University at a pivotal moment for the Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative, as it accelerates efforts to expand research, training and shared infrastructure.

Since its launch in 2024, the initiative has gained significant momentum. It has identified core research themes and awarded nearly $1.25 million in seed funding to support multidisciplinary teams working in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, global health and emerging infectious threats. It has also expanded training opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and made major investments in shared research infrastructure — including the acquisition of a Glacios 2 cryo-TEM microscope, the first of its kind at Notre Dame, scheduled for installation in April, along with complementary efforts to restructure flow cytometry resources.

To learn more about the Bioengineering & Life Sciences Initiative, visit go.nd.edu/BELS.

Originally published by Kate Garry at news.nd.edu on February 19, 2026.

CMBE-SIG recognizes exceptional junior principal investigators for their high-impact, innovative research through this annual award. With the goal of advancing human and veterinary medicine, CMBE unites researchers to study how physical forces shape biology.

Meenal Datta

Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

2026 CMBE Rising Star Award

Datta’s TIME Lab (Tumor Immune Microenvironment and Mechanics Lab) uses engineering approaches to decipher the atypical tumor microenvironment that drives disease progression and treatment resistance in incurable cancers, such as glioblastoma. By understanding and overcoming the biological, chemical, electrical, and mechanical abnormalities found in solid tumors, the TIME lab is discovering new therapeutic approaches. Datta also researches cancer in the microgravity environment of space to benefit patients on earth; that work was featured in an episode of the Notre Dame video series “What Would You Fight For?” that aired Oct. 16, 2025. She also received the 2025 BMES Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award, the society’s award for early-career researchers.

Yichun Wang

Keating-Crawford Collegiate Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

2025 CMBE Rising Star Award

Wang’s research is dedicated to developing nanomaterials-enabled therapies and diagnostics that address urgent challenges in human health. She and members of the Wang Lab advance the fundamental understanding of how materials interact with biomolecules and apply these insights to drug delivery for cancer and neurodegenerative disease, as well as biosensors for opioid detection and surveillance, driving biomedical innovations.

Donny Hanjaya-Putra

Associate Professor, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

2024 CMBE Rising Star Award

Hanjaya-Putra leads a research group that works at the interface of engineering and medicine, with a goal of making stem cell and molecular therapies an effective method to model and treat various diseases. His group focuses on projects that emphasize fundamental principles of engineering and stem cell biology, while also pointing the way to translational science. Applications include cardiovascular and lymphatic disorders, as well as the delivery of therapeutics for wound healing and cancers.

All three Rising Star awardees are faculty affiliates of Notre Dame Engineering’s Bioengineering Graduate Program. Notre Dame faculty Jeremiah Zartman, associate professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Pinar Zorlutuna, Roth-Gibson Professor of Bioengineering, received the CMBE Rising Star Award in 2018 and 2016 respectively.

—Mary Hendriksen, Notre Dame Engineering

This intricate communication network is built of billions of neurons connected by synapses and managed and modified by glial cells. When neurons die, this communication network is disrupted and since this loss is irreversible, neuron death causes sensory loss, motor impairment and cognitive decline.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame is investigating the mechanisms of neuron death caused by chronic compression — such as the pressure exerted by a brain tumor — to better understand how to prevent neuron loss.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their study found that chronic compression triggers neuron death by a variety of mechanisms, both directly and indirectly. The research is helping lay the groundwork for identifying therapies to prevent indirect neuron death.

“The impetus for this project was to figure out those underlying mechanisms. In cancer research, most researchers are focused on the tumor itself, but in the meantime, while the tumor is sitting there and growing, it’s damaging the organ that it’s living in,” said Meenal Datta, the Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame and co-lead author of the study. “We fully believe that these growth-induced mechanical forces of the tumor as it expands is part of the reason we see damage in the brain.”

As an engineer who leads the TIME Lab, Datta studies the mechanics of tumors and the microenvironment, specifically for glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer. She had found in prior work that tumors damage the surrounding brain. But to understand the mechanisms by which tumors kill neurons from compression alone, Datta needed a “hardcore neuroscientist.”

That neuroscientist is Christopher Patzke, the John M. and Mary Jo Boler Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame and co-lead author of the study. Patzke utilizes induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are either obtained from external sources or generated directly in his lab. Unlike cells derived from fetal tissue, iPSCs are created by reprogramming a donor's blood or skin cells — often collected during a routine medical visit.

These cells function like embryonic stem cells and can be differentiated or changed in the lab into any cell type in the body, including neurons.

For this study, iPSCs were used to create neural cells and develop a model system of neurons and glial cells that behave as a neuronal network would in the brain. Researchers grew the cells and then applied pressure to the system to mimic the chronic compression of a glioblastoma tumor.

After compressing the cells, graduate students Maksym Zarodniuk and Anna Wenninger, from Datta and Patzke’s labs respectively, compared how many neurons and glial cells died versus lived.

“For the neurons that are still alive, many of them have this programmed self-destruction signaling activated,” Patzke said. “We wanted to understand which molecular pathway was responsible for this; is there a way to save neurons from going down the drain to this cell death mechanism?”

By sequencing and analyzing all messenger RNA from the living neuronal and glial cells, the researchers found an increase in HIF-1 molecules, signalling for stress adaptive genes to improve cell survival, which leads to inflammation in the brain. The compression also triggered AP-1 gene expression, a type of neuroinflammatory response.

Both neurological reactions are indicators that neuronal damage and death is underway.

An analysis of data from the Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas Project shows that glioblastoma patients also reflect these compressive stress patterns and gene expression changes as well as synaptic dysfunction in line with the experiment’s results. The researchers confirmed these results by mimicking force via a live compression system applied to preclinical models of brains.

Overall, the findings may help explain why glioblastoma patients experience cognitive impairments, motor deficits and elevated seizure risk. Additionally, the signaling pathways offer opportunities for researchers to explore as drug targets to reduce neuronal death.

“Our approach to this study was disease agnostic, so our research could potentially extend to other brain pathologies that affect mechanical forces in the brain such as traumatic brain injury,” Datta said. “I’m all in on mechanics. Whatever it is that you’re interested in when it comes to cancer, above your question of interest, mechanics is sitting there and many don’t even know they should be considering it.”

The mechanics of compression and its effect on neuron loss is key for future research.

“Understanding why neurons are so vulnerable and die upon compression is critical to prevent excessive sensory loss, motor impairment and cognitive decline,” Patzke said. “This is how we will help patients.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Harper Cancer Research Institute (Harper) at Notre Dame. Additional funding and research support from Notre Dame was provided by the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health (Berthiaume), the Genomics and Bioinformatics Core Facility, the Center for Research Computing, the Histology Core Facility and the Integrated Imaging Facility. Both Datta and Patzke are affiliated with Notre Dame’s Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare Diseases and the Warren Center for Drug Discovery.

Datta is a concurrent faculty member in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and faculty advisor for Notre Dame’s graduate programs in bioengineering and materials science and engineering. She is affiliated with Harper, the Eck Institute for Global Health, Berthiaume, NDnano and the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society.

Patzke is a faculty advisor for Notre Dame’s graduate programs in biological sciences and integrated biomedical sciences as well as affiliated with the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.

Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu

Originally published by Brandi Wampler at news.nd.edu on February 09, 2026.

iGEM—the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition—is an annual global event that challenges undergraduate and high school teams to apply synthetic biology to real-world problems. The inaugural Notre Dame team was recognized for its experimental rigor, innovative design, and strong presentation, as well as for excellence in entrepreneurship, mathematical modeling and engineering.

Notre Dame’s chapter, iGEM@ND, worked with faculty and graduate student advisors to develop its project, Fleur—an engineered probiotic that assists with weight control.

“The journey to Paris for the Grand Jamboree was a proof of concept for not just our probiotic yogurt, but for what Notre Dame students can achieve when given access to the infrastructure of biotech innovation,” said senior computer science major Swindar (Keyang) Zhou. Zhou served as the inaugural club president, recruiting members, driving the project from idea to execution, and facilitating the administrative work necessary for international travel.

The project required interdisciplinary cooperation across colleges and majors. Mckenna Douglas, a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering, participated as a member of the team’s dry lab, where she helped use software-based tools to assess GLP-1 peptide structure. “This experience expanded my knowledge of what synthetic biology is,” she said. “Visiting different teams and seeing the variety of their work demonstrated the breadth of synthetic biology’s applications. The event allowed me to explore exactly what I was interested in and speak with several industry representatives about what careers in synthetic biology entail.”

Canta Litanto, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, worked in the team’s wet lab. “iGEM@ND was a great way to get involved in research and see a project through,” she said. “Engaging with members of other teams and the competition judges has given me the ability to practice communicating my research to others. It’s exciting to receive that live feedback from members of the synthetic biology community.”

Both Litanto and Douglas plan to participate in iGEM@ND next year. “My goal is to see this team continue to grow and develop. With more members, we can make more significant research contributions, and hopefully secure one of the grand prizes,” said Litanto.

Zhou plans to move to an advisory role, as she finishes up her undergraduate career. “Securing a gold medal in our first year showed me that students need iGEM@ND to solve critical problems. I think it’s important to create the infrastructure that makes biotech innovation accessible, so we can make the breakthroughs to help serve humanity.”

—Christopher Turlo, Notre Dame Science

BMES is the leading society for biomedical engineers and bioengineers. Its nearly 7000 members include innovators across academia, industry, and healthcare.

Datta’s lab focuses on deciphering the atypical tumor microenvironment that drives disease progression and treatment resistance in incurable cancers such as glioblastoma. To this end, Datta’s lab has pioneered work at the intersection of mechanical engineering and immunology (“immunomechanics” and “mechano-immunology”) to understand and overcome cancer’s resistance to immune detection and immunotherapy.

By understanding and overcoming the biological, chemical, electrical, and mechanical abnormalities found in solid tumors, her team develops new knowledge and therapeutic approaches. Most recently, they have pioneered a technique for measuring a brain tumor’s mechanical force that provides a new model to estimate how much brain tissue a patient has lost—a technique that, ideally, surgeons can easily adopt into their daily workflow.

One key direction of the Datta lab is health science in space, using microgravity to model and treat cancer. At the BMES conference in San Diego on October 11, where she will receive her award, Datta will present “Mechano-immunology: On Earth and in Space.” She will share findings on how macrophages—immune cells in tissues and tumors—apply mechanical forces, respond to compression, and behave differently in cancer-immune organoids grown on the International Space Station versus those grown on earth.

Datta has previously received the Young Investigator Program award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2025), the BMES Young Innovator Award in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2024), a National Institutes of Health award for early-stage investigators (2023), and a National Institutes of Health career transition award (2021). She is also leading a team of engineers and scientists to leverage microgravity and mechanics for immune cell-based therapies, funded by the Bioengineering and Life Sciences (BELS) Initiative.

She serves as a concurrent faculty member in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and is a faculty adviser for Notre Dame’s graduate programs in bioengineering and materials science and engineering.

Datta is affiliated with Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, the Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health, Harper Cancer Research Institute, NDnano, the Warren Center for Drug Discovery, the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, and the Boler-Parseghian Center for Rare Diseases.

Originally published by Meenal Datta at timelab.nd.edu on November 04, 2025.

Originally published by Meenal Datta at timelab.nd.edu on November 04, 2025.

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Zorlutuna designs biomimetic environments in order to understand and control cell behavior. Her lab addresses health challenges such as myocardial infarction, tissue aging, and breast cancer.

In a project that leverages the heart muscle cells’ natural ability to carry electrical signals, Zorlutuna leads a multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary team in building next-generation biological hardware and biocomputing systems. The project, funded with a competitive National Science Foundation Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) award, also addresses the significant ethical, legal, and social implications of biocomputing.

This most recent honor for Zorlutuna follows recognition and awards in several spheres. In 2019, she received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). In 2021, she was named a member of the Cellular and Molecular Technologies Study Section of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review; and, in 2022, the National Academy of Sciences named her a Kavli Fellow in recognition of her exceptional contributions to science.

Zorlutuna received her doctoral degree from the Middle East Technical University in 2009. She joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2014 after completing postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010) and the Harvard Medical School (2012).

She will be recognized as a new BMES fellow during the society’s annual meeting in San Diego, Oct. 9.

—Mary Hendriksen, Notre Dame Engineering

Originally published by Mary Hendriksen at tissueeng.nd.edu on October 14, 2025.

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Study section members are recognized as leading experts in their fields for both their outstanding research accomplishments and ongoing contributions to science.

At Notre Dame, Holland’s focus is on the role of mechanical forces in living tissues. She directs the CoMMaND (Computational Mechanics of Morphology at Notre Dame) Lab, which studies the role of mechanical forces in the growth and swelling of living organisms and their tissues, particularly in the brain.

As a member of the MABS study section, Holland will review funding proposals focused on the development of modeling approaches to better understand complex biological systems. She and fellow study section members will also advise NIH national advisory councils and boards and assess the current state of research in this area.

Having twice served on MABS as an ad hoc reviewer, Holland began her four-year term in July already familiar with study section protocol, processes, and systems. “I appreciate the thoughtfulness of my fellow reviewers and look forward to the opportunity to see the cutting edge of what researchers across the country are proposing,” she said.

In 2022, Holland received the National Science Foundation CAREER award—one of the highest honors awarded to young faculty—to advance her biomechanics-informed research on variations in cerebral cortex thickness. A year later, she received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the NIH, to expand her work on the mechanical implications of inflammatory swelling.

Holland joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2017 after completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University.

—Mary Hendriksen, Notre Dame Engineering

Originally published by Mary Hendriksen, ND Engineering at commandlab.nd.edu on August 08, 2025.

Study Section members are recognized as leading experts in their fields, selected for their outstanding research accomplishments and ongoing contributions to science. As a member, Wang will play a critical role in shaping federal funding priorities for biomedical research. Members evaluate research proposals submitted to the NIH in areas such as medicine, diagnostics, and therapeutics. They also advise NIH national advisory councils and boards and assess the current state of research in their respective disciplines.

Wang’s research focuses on developing nanomaterials for advanced therapeutic and diagnostic applications through experimental, computational, and data-driven methods. She and members of the Wang Lab advance biointerface engineering—the interface between materials and biomolecules—by uncovering the mechanisms of material-bio interactions, driving innovations in nanomedicine, diagnostics, regenerative engineering, and biomanufacturing.

“This appointment is not only a personal honor,” said Wang “but also reflects Notre Dame Engineering’s growing leadership at the intersection of nanotechnology, bioengineering, and translational medicine. Through this role, I will contribute directly to steering national research investments in nanoscale innovation, which aligns closely with our College’s mission to advance technologies that address urgent societal challenges.”

Wang began her four-year term in July.

Previous honors for Wang include a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award—one of the highest honors awarded to young faculty—and the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the NIH.

Wang, who received her Ph.D in biomedical and medical engineering at the University of Michigan, joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2020.

She was even more excited when the stadium’s brand-new video board aired an NBC Fighting For story about Basar Bilgicer’s research into blocking peanut allergens from triggering immune system overreactions. She asked her father, a drug company executive and Notre Dame business school alumnus, if this might be an opportunity to get involved with a solution to a condition that had complicated her life since childhood.

“I remember to this day her looking at that screen and turning to me,” Dr. Erik Eglite said. “She said, ‘Daddy, can I meet him? I really want to do something about it.’ This kid actually did that.”

Originally published by Office of Brand Content at news.nd.edu on July 01, 2025.

Smith is a neurosurgeon at Beacon Health System’s Memorial Hospital in downtown South Bend, Indiana, about a mile southwest of the University’s campus. He is talking with Ryan Roeder, a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, about a spinal fusion surgery Smith had just performed using a brand-new type of implant. Although he is looking at bones, it is clear that where others might see death, Smith sees a system teeming with life.

“Bone is an active organ,” Smith says, “and it undergoes continuous remodeling.”

“Remodeling” is not just an apt metaphor; it’s a technical term for the three-part biological process whereby cells digest old bone and deposit fresh, hardened bone in replacement. Remodeling is a key word for this surgery, because for the surgery to be successful, bone has to fuse with an implant—a lifeless material that Smith must insert into the living system of vertebrae and nerves that make up the cervical spine.

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Originally published by Brett Beasley at news.nd.edu on June 05, 2025.

A common complication in hip replacement surgery is a fractured trochanter—the bony lump on the top of the femur where muscles attach. Devices and implants are available to fix fractures when surgeons access the back side of the hip, but fewer options exist for surgeons who opt for an anterior, or front-of-the-hip approach.

“Trochanteric fractures remain an unsolved problem with elevated rates of delayed healing and high rates of reoperation,” said orthopedic surgeon Dr. Justin LaReau (ND ’99). “They’re a significant source of frustration for patients and surgeons.

To help address this problem, LaReau patented a device called a “Direct Anterior Hip Replacement Trochanter Securement Apparatus” and recruited two Notre Dame students, Sam Thornton, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, and Molly Maxwell, a junior preprofessional studies major from the College of Science, to figure out the optimal way to secure and stabilize the device.

LaReau said that Notre Dame’s resources together with the students’ research advisor, Professor James Schmiedeler—an expert in both gait and biomedical research—and the quality and inquisitiveness of Notre Dame undergraduates, argued strongly for bringing his research questions to Notre Dame.*

Maxwell and Thornton both aspire to being orthopedic surgeons, so this research enables them to apply concepts they’ve learned in the classroom to actual medical problems.

Thornton uses his engineering background to tackle challenges like efficient force or load distributions in the hip and uses CAD to design testing components.

“This research project requires us to completely design our own tests from scratch,” said Thornton. “Being able to view the project as a whole, break it down into a series of objectives, and come up with designs to achieve those objectives—skills I developed in my Introduction to Design Thinking in Engineering class—has been extremely useful.”

Maxwell enlists her science background to review existing literature on hip replacement surgeries, study current protocol and hardware designs, and help brainstorm modifications to the testing system.

Using the artificial bones provided by Dr. LaReau and the Instron machine at the Engineering Innovation Hub, Maxwell and Thornton apply various forces— tensile, compression, flexural—to determine the best means of securing sutures to the apparatus. Next, they will 3D print their design concepts for anchoring sutures and retest them.

Ultimately, the goal is to stabilize the trochanter with sutures on the exterior of the bone, which are also anchored inside the bone. Thornton compares this approach to the way an acoustic guitar string is fastened at the bridge.

“I think our different niches interact really nicely during this project because it’s essential to keep a balance between an understanding of the human body and the fundamentals of mechanics,” said Maxwell. “Our brainstorming and troubleshooting are dependent on our different areas of expertise, but our success is a result of a collaborative approach.”

—Karla Cruise, Notre Dame Engineering; Photos by Wes Evard, Notre Dame Engineering; Diagram provided by Dr. Justin LaReau.

*Students utilized STRAND (Student Research @ Notre Dame), an online posting board, to secure this research opportunity. STRAND provides undergraduate students with a clear, scheduled, and equitable way to apply for research opportunities.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers. AIMBE fellows include four Nobel Prize laureates and 27 Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation awardees.

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.”

Chang was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows “for pioneering contributions to new diagnostic and microfluidic technologies, particularly for purifying and characterizing exosomes.”

Chang’s research has impacted a variety of disciplines, including reaction engineering, control, fluid mechanics, soft materials, and biosensing. His lab focuses on developing low-cost liquid biopsy nanotechnologies for cancer screening and therapy management.

In addition to holding 14 patents, Chang is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AES Electrophoresis Society, the 1st Source Commercialization Award, the APS François Frenkiel Award for Fluid Mechanics, the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, and the 2024 Notre Dame Provost Research Achievement Award.

Chang was inducted during the AIMBE Annual Event in Arlington, Virginia, on March 31, 2025.

Other AIMBE fellows from Notre Dame are Matthew J. Webber (2023) and Pinar Zorlutuna (2024).

Originally posted at engineering.nd.edu by Karla Cruise on April 1, 2025.