CfB Seed Grant Program

Applications are sought for the Center for Biodevices (CfB) Seed Grant Program to support productive collaborations among engineers, scientists, and clinicians. Applications should focus on biodevice innovations that improve human health, agricultural resiliency and/or environmental sustainability. Seed awards are offered at three funding levels, spark, ignite and launch to support projects along a continuum from early technology inception through device translation.

Apply to the CfB Seed Grant Program

Previous Seed Grant Recipients

2025

Enhancing Cognitive Function through Ultrasound Stimulation: A study of brain Toxic Clearance Mechanisms

  • Yang Yang (College of Medicine)

  • Yun Jiang (Acoustics)

Developing Innovative Digital Twin Framework for Biodevices through Integrating Clinical Data with Zentropy

  • Zi-Kui Liu (Materials Science & Engineering)

  • Wenrui Hao (Mathematics)

Real-Time Cytokine Tracking via Skin-Interfaced Sensors for Predicting Sepsis Trajectory

  • Anthony Bonavia (College of Medicine)

  • Larry Cheng (Materials Science & Engineering)

Development of Citrate-based Intrinsic Compliance Punctal Plug for Long Term Glaucoma Treatment

  • Seth Pantanelli (College of Medicine)

  • Su Yan (Biomedical Engineering)

2024

A Novel Diagnostic Ultrasound Device to Characterize Acute Ischemic Strokes to Improve Clinical Outcomes

  • Keefe Manning (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Susan Trolier-McKinstry (Materials Science & Engineering)

  • Mehdi Kiani (Electrical Engineering)

Precision Blood–Brain Barrier Opening via Nanoemulsion-Assisted Ultrasound

  • Scott Medina (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Nikki Crowley (Biology)

Engineered Coacervates for Ultrasensitive Raman Sensing and Photothermally Activated In Situ Drug Delivery

  • Christine Keating (Chemistry)

  • Zhiwen Liu (Electrical Engineering)

A Local Sustained-Release Implantable Biodevice for Osteoarthritis Treatment

  • Amir Sheikhi (Chemical Engineering)

  • Fadia Kamal (Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation)

A Head-Held Multimodal Imaging Device for Brain Tumor Characterization and Intraoperative Detection

  • Raj Kothapalli (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Wei Li (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

2023

AI-Based Medical Image Segmentation for 3D Patient-Specific Surgical Planning

  • Greg Lewis (Orthopaedics)

  • Vishal Monga (Electrical Engineering)

Non-Invasive Blood Perfusion Device to Reduce Flap Failure

  • Mohammad-Reza Tofighi (Electrical Engineering, Harrisburg)

  • Dino Ravnic (Surgery)

Developing Biodevices with Embodied Interactions to Empower People with Complex Communication Needs

  • Krista Wilkinson (Communication Sciences)

  • Syed Billah (Information Sciences & Technology)

Wearable Sensor Development for Individualized Indoor Comfort and Circadian Health Monitoring

  • Julian Wang (Architectural Engineering)

  • Ying-Lao Jao (Nursing)

Immunotherapy for Charcot Neuroarthropathy — A Proof-of-Concept Study in Mice

  • Yuguo Lei (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Michael Aynardi (Orthopaedic Surgery)

2022

Nanoparticle–miRNA-Based Photodynamic Therapy and Metabolic Imaging for Glioblastoma

  • Seyed Alireza Mansouri (Neurosurgery)

  • Daniel Hayes (Biomedical Engineering)

Low-Cost, Flexible, Physical-Plasma Devices for Treatment of Inflammatory Skin Conditions

  • Amanda Nelson (Dermatology)

  • Martin de Jesus Nieto-Perez (Nuclear Engineering)

Label-Free and Rapid Bacterial Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Using Intelligent Dynamic Holographic Laser Speckle Imaging and Raman Spectroscopy

  • Aida Ebrahimi (Electrical Engineering)

  • Jasna Kovac (Food Science)

Supplemental Oxygen to Improve Kidney Stone Detection with Ultrasound

  • Nicole Streeper (Urology)

  • Juli Simon (Acoustics)

2021

Novel Single-Incision, Free-Motion Laparoscopic Surgical System

  • Jason Moore (Mechanical Engineering)

  • Joshua Winder (Surgery)

  • Randy Haluck (Surgery)

  • Paris von Lockette (Mechanical Engineering)

High-Throughput Bioprinting of Islets for Fabrication of Pancreatic Devices for Type 1 Diabetes

  • Ibrahim Ozbolat (Engineering Science & Mechanics)

  • Thomas Samson (Plastic Surgery)

  • Francesco Costanzo (Engineering Science & Mechanics)

  • Douglas Cavener (Biology)

  • Srinivas Koduru (Surgery)

New Radiofrequency Ablation Procedure for Facet Joint Pain

  • Daniel Cortes (Mechanical Engineering)

  • Vitaly Gordin (Anesthesiology)

Gastric Vagal Stimulation to Reduce Adverse Behavioral Outcomes of Gastric Bypass

  • Mehdi Kiani (Electrical Engineering)

  • Andras Hajnal (Surgery)

2020

Rapid Measurement of Concussion-Related Saliva microRNA with a Novel Biodevice

  • Steve Hicks (Pediatrics)

  • Weihua Guan (Electrical Engineering)

  • Eric Schaefer (Public Health Sciences)

Biodegradable Artificial Urinary Sphincter

  • Larry Cheng (Engineering Science & Mechanics)

  • Qing Wang (Materials Science & Engineering)

  • Jian Yang (Biomedical Engineering)

  • Joe Littlejohn (Surgery)

Biomechanics Study Toward Patient-Specific Implants for Osteoarthritic Shoulders

  • April Armstrong (Orthopaedics)

  • Jing Du (Mechanical Engineering)

Development and Validation of a Multimodal Endoscopy System for Early Diagnosis and Image-Guided Surgery of Pancreatic Cancer

  • Gail Matters (Pharmacology)

  • Raj Kothapalli (Biomedical Engineering)