Sensing and Diagnostic Devices

The sensing and diagnostic biodevices thrust is focused on research related to novel materials, devices, or platforms, that can aid detection and monitoring of health-related biomarkers.

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Faculty 

Aida Ebrahimi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering

Steve Hicks, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Teresa Aditya, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Scholar in Nuclear Engineering
Research: Nanoparticle, nano drug delivery system, plasma nanomedicine

Larry Cheng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Professor in Engineering
Research: Wearable devices, transient sensors, standalone stretchable device platforms

Paul Cremer, Ph.D.
J. Lloyd Huck Professor of Chemistry and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research: Lipid membrane-small molecule interactions and liquid-liquid phase separation
Research lab website

Christopher Engeland, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Nursing

Weihua Guan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering
Research: Point of care testing, BioMEMS, lab on chip

Raj Kothapalli, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research lab website

Zhiwen Liu, Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical Engineering

Parikshit Moitra
Assistant Research Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Research: Biosensors, infectious diseases, bioorganic chemistry

Dipanjan Pan
Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and Professor
Research: Nanomedicine, Point-of-care diagnostics, molecular imaging, drug delivery

Mark Stephens
Associate Dean for Medical Education, Penn State University Park
Research: Community-Based Participatory

Moriah Szpara
Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Research: Bioinformatics, genomics, neurovirology
Research lab website

Mauricio Terrones, Ph.D.
Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics
Distinguished Professor of Physics
Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering
Research: 2D materials, synthesis, metrology, workforce

Yong Wang, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research lab website

Stephen Wilson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology

Pak kin Wong, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
Research: Cancer bacteria diagnostics
Research lab website

Tak-Sing Wong, Ph.D.
Wormley Early Career Professor and Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering
Research: Bioinspired materials, slippery and antifouling coatings, ultrasensitive detection
Research lab website

Jian Yang, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering
Research lab website

Cunjiang Yu, Ph.D.
Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Paul T. Kocis, RPh, PharmaD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Phamacology

Gerd Brunner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Medicine

Scott Bunce, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Research: Functional near infrared spectroscopy; translational neuroimaging; motivation and addiction 

Steve Hicks, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Andrea Hobkirk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

Xuemei Huang, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Physician-Scientist Development

Kent Vrana, Ph.D.
Elliott S. Vesell Professor and Department Chair of Pharmacology

Amanda Clase, Ph.D.
Associate Professor at Applied Research Laboratory

Richard L. Tutwiler, Ph.Ed. 
Professor Emeritus at Applied Research Laboratory
Research: Ultrasound, computer vision, and biomedical devices

Josh Cysyk, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Surgery 
Research: Circulatory support, biosensors, implantable devices 

Yusheng Zhu, Ph.D. 
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 
Research: Mass spectrometry, biomarkers, HPV 

Yun Jing, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Acoustics 
Research: Ultrasound imaging, photoacoustic imaging, therapeutic ultrasound 

Julianna Simon, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor of Acoustics 
Research: Ultrasound imaging, ultrasound therapeutics, tendinopathy 
Research lab website

Sanaz M. Takaghaj, Ph.D. 
Assistant Teaching Professor in Engineering Design  
Research: Neuromorphic computing, ultrasonic medical devices, control systems design 

Howard Salis, Ph.D 
Associate Professor of Biological and Chemical Engineering 
Research: Biosensors, synthetic biology, cell-free expression 
Research lab website

Timothy Mosher, M.D. 
Kenneth L. Miller Chair and Distinguished Professor of Radiology, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, and Pediatrics 
Research: Diagnostic error, imaging, MRI

Yuguo Lei, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering 
Research: Cell manufacturing, cell therapy, bioreactor 

Elie Sarraf, M.D. 
Anesthesiologist 
Research: Perioperative medicine, Ultrasound, Pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics control systems 

Gregory D. Arnone, M.D. 
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery 
Research: Microsurgical techniques. Minimally invasive surgery. Endoscopic brain and spine surgery 

Joseph Najem, Ph.D. 
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering 
Research: Smart materials, sensing, soft energy sources
Research lab website

Michael A. Bruno, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.R. 
Professor of Radiology and Medicine 
Research: Radiologist perceptual errors, functional brain imaging, fNIRs  

Daniel Cortes, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering 
Research: Imaging, musculoskeletal injuries, elastography 
Research lab website

E. Scott Halstead, Ph.D., M.D. 
Associate Professor of Pediatrics 
Research: Immune profiling, pneumonia, sepsis

Rita Castro, Ph.D. 
Assistant Research Professor of Nutritional Sciences
Research: Atherosclerosis, mice model, imaging   

Qiming Zhang, Ph.D. 
Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering 
Research: Biosensors, wearables, and soft actuators 

Esther Gomez, Ph.D 
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering 
Research: Biosensors, biomaterials, mechanobiology 
Research lab website

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Sample Projects

Highly sensitive dopamine detector uses 2D materials
Aida Ebrahimi et al.

Sequence-specific recognition of HIV-1 DNA with solid-state CRISPR-Cas12a-assisted nanopores (SCAN)
Weihua Guan et al.

Detection of bacterial metabolism in lag-phase using impedance spectroscopy of agar-integrated 3D microelectrodes
Aida Ebrahimi et al.

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