Dr. Samuel Achilefu is the inaugural chair and professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) in Dallas. He is the Lyda Hill Distinguished University Chair and a professor of radiology and the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before joining UTSW in February 2022, Dr. Achilefu spent over 20 years at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, where he was the inaugural Michel M. Ter-Pogossian professor of radiology and served as the vice chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma Nanotherapy, and director of the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center .

Dr. Samuel Achilefu is an expert in the molecular imaging of human diseases, utilizing multimodal imaging methods to address imaging challenges, focusing on optical imaging platforms. His current research interests include image-guided cancer surgery, portable imaging devices, and nanotechnology. Through a multidisciplinary team of investigators, he has guided multiple research endeavors from concept to clinic.

Dr. Achilefu is an inventor of 71 U.S. patents, published over 300 scientific papers, and received over 30 local, national, and international honors and awards for research excellence, including the first Distinguished Investigator Award (Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program), the Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, and the St. Louis Award. He is a fellow of many professional societies, including the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, SPIE, Optica (formerly OSA), the Royal Society of Chemistry, AAAS, and the Royal Society of Medicine. Dr. Achilefu is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, and the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Dr. Chan is the President’s Chair of Engineering and Dean of Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore   He is a Professor in the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology.  He received his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 1996, Ph.D. from Indiana University in 2001, and post-doctoral training at the University of California (San Diego).  He was faculty at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto before moving to NTU Singapore.  His lab develops nanotechnology for diagnosing and treating cancer and infectious diseases. Some of his awards include NSERC E. W. R. Memorial Steacie Fellowship, Kabiller Young Investigator Award in Nanomedicine (Northwestern University), Rank Prize Fund award in Optoelectronics (England), and Dennis Gabor Award (Hungary).  He is currently an Executive Editor of ACS Nano. 

Tejal A. Desai is currently the Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering at Brown University. An accomplished biomedical engineer and academic leader, Desai’s research spans multiple disciplines including materials engineering, cell biology, tissue engineering, and pharmacological delivery systems to develop new therapeutic interventions for disease. She seeks to design new platforms, enabled by advances in micro and nanotechnology, to overcome challenges in therapeutic delivery.

With more than 275 peer-reviewed articles and patents, Desai’s research has earned her numerous recognitions including Technology Review’s “Top 100 Young Innovators,” Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” and the Dawson Biotechnology Award. She served as president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering from 2020 to 2022 and is a fellow of AIMBE, IAMBE, CRS, and BMES. She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015, the National Academy of Inventors in 2019, and to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024.  Desai was also awarded the 2023 Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award at the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting — the highest honor the organization can bestow upon an individual who has demonstrated impactful leadership and accomplishments in biomedical engineering science and practice. 

Prior to coming to Brown, she was the Deborah Cowan Endowed Professor of the Department of Bioengineering & Therapeutic Sciences at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); and Professor in Residence, Department of Bioengineering, UC Berkeley (UCB). She served as director of the NIH training grant for the Joint UCSF/UCB Graduate Program in Bioengineering for over 15 years, and founding director of the UCSF/UCB Masters Program in Translational Medicine. She was also the Ernest L. Prien Chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF from 2014-2021 and the Inaugural Director of the UCSF Engineering and Applied Sciences Initiative known as HIVE (Health Innovation Via Engineering).  She currently sit on the National Advisory Council for the NIH National Institute for Biomedical imaging and Bioengineering.  

A vocal advocate for education and outreach to historically underrepresented groups in STEM, Desai’s work to break down institutional barriers to equity and cultivate a climate of inclusion has earned numerous honors and awards, including the AWIS Judith Poole Award in Mentorship, the 2021 UCSF Chancellors Award for the Advancement of Women, and the 2022 Controlled Release Woman in Science Award. As president of AIMBE (2020-2022), she led advocacy efforts for increased scientific funding and addressing workforce disparities in science/engineering. To foster the next generation of scientists, she has been involved in the SF Science Education partnership and has worked with outreach organizations such as the Lawrence Hall of Science, PBS, and the UN Women’s council to develop hand-on exhibits and videos related to nanotechnology and women in engineering.

She received her B.S. from Brown University in biomedical engineering in 1994, and was awarded a Ph.D. in bioengineering jointly from UCSF and UC Berkeley in 1998.

Roger D. Kamm is the Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering. Kamm’s research focuses on problems at the interface of biology and mechanics, formerly in cell and molecular mechanics, and now in engineered living systems.  Current interests are in developing models of healthy and diseased organ function using microfluidic technologies, with a focus on vascularization, cancer and neurological disease.  Kamm is a member of the National Academies of Medicine and Engineering. He is co-founder of AIM Biotech, a manufacturer of microfluidic systems for 3D culture.

President of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago, Neena B. Schwartz Professor of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University

Michael I. Miller is the Bessie Darling Massey Professor and Director of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He is also co-director of the Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute.

As a biomedical engineer who specializes in data science, Miller is pioneering cutting-edge technologies in computational medicine to understand and diagnose neurodegenerative diseases. His research focuses on the functional and structural characteristics of the human brain in health and disease, including Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and epilepsy. By developing new tools to analyze patient brain scans, derived from advanced medical imaging technologies, Miller aims to predict the risk of developing neurological disorders years before the onset of clinical symptoms.

Roderic Ivan Pettigrew, PhD, MD, is the Robert A. Welch Professor of Medicine and CEO of Engineering Health (EnHealth) at Texas A&M University, where he also served as the inaugural dean of the School of Engineering Medicine. He is now Vice Chancellor for Health & Strategic Initiatives for the TAMU System. Dr. Pettigrew previously led the US National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) as its founding Director, from 2002 to 2017, where he significantly advanced medical technologies and secured high returns on research investments. He was recruited to the NIH based on his prior career as a pioneer in cardiovascular 4D MRI having helped develop some of the earliest technologies. Dr. Pettigrew's current focus with EnHealth and ENMED integrates engineering into medical education to create innovative physician-engineers, or Physicianeers, who simultaneously earn MD and Master of Engineering Innovation in Medicine degrees in four years. Notably, ENMED students are also required to invent a solution to a healthcare challenge.

Dr. Pettigrew, an expert in health technologies and imaging, holds a PhD in Applied Radiation Physics from MIT and completed his medical training in Nuclear Medicine at UCSD. His work includes non-invasive cardiovascular imaging and research on coronary atheroma and strategies to expand diagnostic boundaries and prevention. He is an editor of the recent book Biomechanics of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque: From Model to Patient, the first comprehensive text on this topic. Elected memberships include the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India. Awards include the Pierre Galletti Award (highest honor) of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Inaugural Gold Medal of the Academy of Radiology Research, the Spirit of the Heart Award of the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America, the Arthur M. Bueche Award of the National Academy of Engineering, the Vannevar Bush Award (highest honor) of the US National Science Board, the 2023 Boston Globe’s STATUSList as one of the nation’s Ultimate Leaders in Life Sciences, and the 2024 American Heart Association Research Achievement Award.

Steve Quake is Head of Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, overseeing a shared, comprehensive strategy across CZI’s science program and technology teams, the CZ Biohub Network, and the Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging.

His research is at the nexus of biology, physics, and technology development. He has invented many measurement tools for biology, including new DNA sequencing technologies that have enabled rapid analysis of the human genome, and microfluidic automation that allows scientists to efficiently isolate individual cells and decipher their genetic code.

Quake is also the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and professor of applied physics at Stanford University. He joined Stanford in 2005 to help found and lead Stanford’s new bioengineering department as it grew to nearly two dozen faculty members. He was also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2006 to 2016.

Professor John A. Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989.  From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and a PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1995.  From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows.  He joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in 1997 and served as Director of the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department from the end of 2000 to 2002.  He then spent thirteen years on the faculty at the University of Illinois, most recently as the Swanlund Chair Professor and Director of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory.  In the Fall of 2016, he moved to Northwestern University where he is Director of the Querrey-Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics.  He has co-authored nearly 1000 papers and he is co-inventor on more than 100 patents, more than 70 or which are licensed to large companies or to startups that have emerged from his labs.  His research has been recognized by many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship (2009), the Lemelson-MIT Prize (2011), the Smithsonian Award for American Ingenuity in the Physical Sciences (2013), the MRS Medal (2018), the Benjamin Franklin Medal from the Franklin Institute (2019), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2021), the James Prize for Science and Technology Integration from the NAS (2022) and the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award (2024).  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Dr. Tromberg is the Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at NIH where he oversees research programs focused on developing, translating, and commercializing engineering, physical science, and computational technologies in biology and medicine.  He leads NIBIB’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics technology (RADx Tech) initiative, established in 2020 to increase SARS-COV-2 testing capacity & performance and broadened in 2023 to include over the counter (OTC) and point of care (POC) devices for additional diseases and conditions. Prior to joining NIH in January 2019, Dr. Tromberg was a professor of biomedical engineering and surgery at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).  During his 30-year academic career Dr. Tromberg served in multiple leadership roles, including, director of UCI’s Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic (BLIMC), PI of the Laser Microbeam and Medical Program (LAMMP), an NIH National Biomedical Technology Center, and co-founder of UC Irvine’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.  Dr. Tromberg specializes in the development of optics and photonics technologies for biomedical imaging and therapy. He has co-authored more than 450 publications and holds 25 patents in new technology development as well as bench-to-bedside clinical translation, validation, and commercialization of devices.  Honors and awards include the Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award from Optica, the Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award from the International Society of Optical Engineering (SPIE), and membership in the National Academies of Medicine and Engineering.

Dr. May Dongmei Wang is Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Fellow and full professor of BME, ECE, CSE at Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) and Emory University (EU) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She received BEng from Tsinghua University China and MS/PhD from GT. She is Director of Biomedical Big Data Initiative, Georgia Distinguished Cancer Scholar, Board of Directors of American Board of AI in Medicine, Petit Institute Faculty Fellow, Kavli Fellow, AIMBE Fellow, IAMBE Fellow, IEEE Fellow, and ELATES Fellow. Dr. Wang works in Biomedical AI, Big Data, Health Informatics, and Metaverse for predictive, personalized, and precision health (pHealth). She published over 320 articles in referred journals and conference proceedings with over 18,000 Google Scholar citations, and has delivered more than 330 invited and keynote lectures. She was awarded GT Outstanding Faculty Mentor for Undergrad Research, and EU MilliPub Award for a high-impact paper cited over 1,000 times. Dr. Wang is the Senior Editor for IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (JBHI), an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on BME and IEEE Reviews in BME. She is a panelist for NIH CDMA Study Section, NSF Smart and Connect Health, and Brain Canada. Dr. Wang is ACM Special Interest Group in Bioinformatics (SGIBio) Chair, IEEE Future Directions Committee Member, and The International Academy of Med. and Bio. Eng. (IAMBE) Governing Council Secretary. She was 2014-2015 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE-EMBS) Distinguished Lecturer, an Emerging Area Editor for Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 2022 GT President LeadingWomen, 2021 GT Provost Emerging Leaders, and 2018-2021 GT Carol Ann and David Flanagan Distinguished Faculty Fellow. She was 2015-2017 GT BMI Co-Director in Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI), Director of Bioinformatics and Biocomputing Core in NIH/NCI-sponsored U54 CCNE, and Co-Director of GT Center of Bio-Imaging Mass Spectrometry. Her research has been supported by NIH, NSF, CDC, Georgia Research Alliance, Georgia Cancer Coalition, Shriners’ Children, Children’s Health Care of Atlanta, Enduring Heart Foundation, Coulter Foundation, Imlay Foundation, Carol Ann and David Flanagan Foundation, Horizon Europe, Microsoft Research, HP, UCB, and Amazon.

Dr. Wang obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanics and Fluid Mechanics from Peking University, Beijing, P.R. China, in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering in 2002 and continued his postdoctoral work at UC San Diego working under Bioengineering Professor Shu Chien and Professor Roger Y. Tsien in the Department of Pharmacology. He is current the department chair and a professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering at USC and a fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering Society. Before joining the USC in 2023, he was a faculty of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and University of California, San Diego. Dr. Wang is the recipient of the Wallace H. Coulter Early Career Award (both Phase I and Phase II), the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and National Institutes of Health Independent Scientist Award. His research is on cellular and molecular engineering for live cell imaging and controllable cell-based therapy. His lab is supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and private foundations.

Bruce Wheeler served as the Founding and Acting Head of the Bioengineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He takes great pride in having hired the first Bioengineering faculty and establishing the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degree programs, especially in selecting and later guiding the first class of UIUC Bioengineering undergraduates across the graduation stage. Dr. Wheeler also started the BS Biomedical Engineering degree program at Florida, seeing the first class of UF Biomedical Engineering undergraduates across the graduation stage. He was key to the implementation that enabled the first class of UCSD Bioengineering: Biosystems undergraduates to walk across the stage. He is likely the only person to have started three bioengineering bachelor degree programs.

Dr. Wheeler, from Schenectady NY, obtained a double bachelor’s degree in 1971 from MIT in physical science and in history. He taught high school math in Schenectady, then elementary school (and served on a school board) in Blacksburg VA. During this time he was influenced by reading Wooldridge’ Machinery of the Brain. Somehow Cornell University thought this background appropriate for entering graduate study in Electrical Engineering. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1977 and 1981 with bioengineering/neuroengineering research theses and six years as a Teaching Assistant.

He joined the UIUC Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in 1980, advancing to Professor in 2000. Prior to formation of the Bioengineering Department, he served as Chair of the Bioengineering Program, Chair of the Neuroscience Program, and Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs for the ECE Department. In 2008 he moved to the University of Florida where he served four years as Acting Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department. In 2015 he moved to the University of California San Diego as Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering. He retired in 2023 but still serves as Department Vice Chair and UG Committee Chair.

Dr. Wheeler pursued a research career exploiting Electrical Engineering methodologies to advance fundamental neuroscience, including signal processing, microelectrode arrays, and micro lithography to influence growth in neural cell cultures. This neural engineering work preceded the existence of the term “neuroengineering.” He is likely the first to use the phrase “brain on chip” for his work using microlithography to control precise positioning of neurons in culture on electrode arrays.

Dr. Wheeler has a strong record of service, including a term as President of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society and six years as Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, winning the IEEE EMBS Distinguished Service Award.

He has won multiple awards, including UIUC Campus Outstanding Advisor, Knight of St. Pat, Illinois Dads’ Outstanding Professor, the Pierce Award, and the UCSD campus wide Distinguished Teaching Award. He is a Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, BMES, AIMBE, and IAMBE.

He was MVP of the Greater Boston Baseball League 1969 and ECAC Basketball Player of the Week in 1971. He has bicycled from Seattle to the Mexican Border and hopes to ride across the USA West to East.

He is immensely grateful to far more people than he could possibly acknowledge here.