bioengineering

Engineering students had a bright idea: A new kind of surgical lamp for doctors in Ethiopia

At the second-largest hospital in Ethiopia, medical devices are often donated, and the overwhelming majority are faulty after five years, says bioengineering student Joe Iskander. He and a team of students traveled to Addis Ababa in March, where they equipped the hospital with a surgical lamp that can be recreated and repaired with locally sourced parts.

by Irvin Zhang May 19, 2020

She’s solving global health issues on a local level

Bioengineering student Kerry Eller has studied international law and policy in Geneva, started developing a low-cost wearable pesticide monitor for agricultural workers in Santiago, and taught technicians, technical students, and engineers in Ethiopia critical skills for developing medical devices. She has been named a Truman Scholar.

by Khalida Sarwari April 19, 2020

He wants to find ways to prevent or slow the spread of cancer

Jake Potts, a bioengineering student at Northeastern, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study how DNA repair pathways cause mutations. He’ll attend Sorbonne University in Paris in the fall.

by Khalida Sarwari March 26, 2020

If cells could talk… Actually, they do. But what are they saying?

How our cells talk—and what they say—is complicated, and it’s different body to body. To boil down this performance to its characters, assistant professor Abigail Koppes is letting them play out on a chip, clarifying both their roles and how sensitive they are to a set change.

by Aria Bracci January 31, 2020

What if birth control pills could be taken monthly, instead of every day?

Currently, oral contraceptives need to be taken at the same time every day to be effective. Ambika Bajpayee, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern, has created a birth control pill that needs to be taken just once per month.

by Laura Castañón December 4, 2019

She realized that her blindness was a strength

The research of Mona Minkara, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern, could help researchers understand how vaping affects our lung function, as well as lead to better treatments for diseases such as respiratory distress syndrome. And she’s hoping to pave the way for other blind scientists.

by Laura Castañón November 7, 2019

From the NHL to the local rink, he’s helping ice hockey players stay sharp

People would roll their eyes whenever Northeastern graduate Russell Layton described his invention: a machine that enables hockey players to sharpen their skates at home. His fast-growing company, Sparx, has silenced the doubters.

by Ian Thomsen August 23, 2019

A faster way to bounce back from injury

Tendon injuries can be devastating—but Jeff Ruberti, a professor of bioengineering at Northeastern, is creating new ways to reverse the damage.

by David Levin - contributor August 1, 2019

Of mice and women

Victorian-era stereotypes that were originally used to keep women out of leadership positions are still with us today, says Rebecca Shansky, an associate professor of…

by Adam Fischer and Benjamin Bertsch July 23, 2019

This new technology can analyze more proteins in a single cell than ever before. What does it mean for cancer treatments?

Nikolai Slavov, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern, has developed a data-driven technique to detect more than 2,000 proteins in a single cell. He says the method could be used to help scientists create new therapies to treat cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa July 8, 2019