Faculty

Extracellular vesicles, or EVs, are nanoparticles released by every known cell and relay important messages across the human body — but how they exactly function is not well understood. Professors at the University of California, Davis, seek to change that.

Much like a fresh set of eyes, a small pen-shaped device is showing surgeons a more accurate way to treat cancer and heart disease. The device uses new technology developed at UC Davis to scan and illuminate unhealthy tissue in real time so it can be removed.

Just as the Department of Biomedical Engineering takes a holistic approach to health research, so too is their approach to improving the health of the culture within the department. In 2020, the department created the Health, Equity and Wellness Committee.

Biomedical engineers at the University of California, Davis, have created semi-living “cyborg cells.” Retaining the capabilities of living cells, but unable to replicate, the cyborg cells could have a wide range of applications, from producing therapeutic drugs to cleaning up pollution.

A groundbreaking approach to treating spina bifida in developing babies combining fetal surgery with stem cells at UC Davis Health received research assistance from Biomedical Engineering Professor Aijun Wang.

Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Randy Carney has received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development, or NSF CAREER, Award.   The CAREER program offers the foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models and lead advances in the mission of their department. 

It is, perhaps, inevitable that Xianglong Wang was to become a new assistant professor of teaching at the UC Davis College of Engineering. He’s been teaching since grade school.

Audrey Fan, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and neurology, was recently awarded a Trailblazer R21 Award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to pursue creating non-invasive, accessible MRI scans that show oxygen usage in the human brain.

Assistant Professor Randy Carney from the Department of Biomedical Engineering is the recipient of the 2022 University of California’s Shu Chien Early Career Jury Award. The annual UC-wide award is given to the pre-tenured faculty who demonstrates outstanding scholarly achievement and is awarded at the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Symposium held each summer.