Spring 2021
Funding
Botvinick Awarded Grant to Develop Advanced Monitor for Type 1 Diabetes
UC Irvine’s Elliot Botvinick, professor of biomedical engineering, has been awarded a three-year, $3.5 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to further the development of an innovative continuous-use monitor for those with Type 1 diabetes.
UCI Researchers Win $2 Million NIH Grant to Develop Biologic Implant for Spinal Facet Joints
The National Institutes of Health has awarded $2 million to researchers in UCI’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering to develop a biologic implant for the spinal facet joint.
Lopour Earns Research Funding to Improve Epilepsy Surgery
UC Irvine’s Beth Lopour, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, recently won a $1.8 million five-year R01 grant from the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop and validate computerized tools to more accurately and objectively identify regions in the brain where epileptic seizures originate.
Two BME Students Receive Graduate Research Fellowship Program Awards
Four students from the Samueli School of Engineering have received Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards from the National Science Foundation.
Research
Helping Humans Heal
In a lab on the upper floors of Engineering Hall, something is growing.

It’s not a plant. And it’s not an animal.
Recording Cells' Stories
Histories hold keys to understanding the present and anticipating the future by looking at the past.
New Imaging Method Developed for Investigating Live Cells
UC Irvine biomedical engineering researchers have developed a new fast, robust microscopy imaging technique that could better capture detailed and precise information of cellular processes, such as characterizing migrating cancer cells.
UCI Biomedical Engineers Spotlight Disparities in Knee and Jaw Joint Treatments
If you haven’t had knee surgery, you may have a friend or relative who has. But do you know anyone who has had an operation on their jaw?
Accolades
Michael Berns Elected British Royal Society of Medicine Fellow
Among numerous prestigious scientists and physicians, Michael Berns, cofounder and founding director of UCI Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the United Kingdom.
Gratton Wins Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award
The International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) recognized Enrico Gratton with the 2021 Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award at the SPIE Photonics West virtual conference in March. 
Kheradvar Named an AIMBE Fellow
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has selected Dr. Arash Kheradvar for its 2021 Class of the College of Fellows.
Chesler Recognized for Professional Impact in Mentoring
Naomi Chesler, Samueli School professor of biomedical engineering, received a Professional Impact Award from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) at its virtual Annual Event on March 26, 2021.
Highlights
Biomedical Engineering Class Popular with Students of All Majors
One of the Samueli School of Engineering’s largest, most popular classes is filled with students of many different majors. Engineering Innovations in Treating Diabetes (Biomedical Engineering 3) is an innovative and completely online course taught by James Brody, associate professor of biomedical engineering.
BME Researchers Join Forces to Tackle Challenges in Human Health
The newly opened Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building at the University of California, Irvine was conceived with one goal in mind: providing a place where researchers in disparate academic fields could work together to address grand challenges, principally in human health and the planet’s climate crisis.
University of California, Irvine | Department of Biomedical Engineering | (949) 824-9196 | Website